Shriners Hospital Receives $1 Million Research Gift (NAPSA)—The Cincinnati Shriners Hospital for Children recently received a $1 million gift from the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust, Fifth Third Bank trustee, which will assist the hospital’s burn research program by funding a director of research position for the Cincinnati Shriners Hospital. The gift comes in the form of an endowment, which will be invested, with proceeds going to the full-time director’s salary. A part-time director of research has been directing the program at the Cincinnati Hospital since 1991. The new director of research will help expand and accelerate burn research at one of Shriners’ largest burn hospitals. “Today, children with burn injuries over 95 percent of their bodies can be saved, due to treatments that have been developed in our facilities,” said Richard Kagan, M.D., acting Chief of Staff at the Cincinnati Shriners Hospitals. “With a director of research, the future potential is even more significant.” The Cincinnati Hospital has been actively involved in clinical and basic research since its opening in 1968. Of the major advances in the treatment of burned children in the last 20 years, half of them are the direct result of activities at the four Shriners burn hospitals located throughout North America. Much of the Cincinnati Hospital’s research investigations focus on nutrition and metabolism, wound healing, immunology and respiratory complications. The 2004 hospital research budget is over $3 million. One of the Cincinnati Hospital’s major burn advances has been the creation and use of cultured skin grafts, led by Steven Boyce, Ph.D. Commonly called a “eultured skin substitute,” these patches of skin are madeby using a patient’s own skin cells, and can be used to cover areas over 65 times as large. They are most valuable in patients with second- 2 Dr. Steven Boyce showsrepresentatives from Fifth Third Bank the research facilities at the Cincinnati Shriners Hospital. or third-degree burns over more than 50 percent of their body. “More advances in the laboratory are expected to lead more quickly to improvements in patient care,” said Dr. Boyce. “It may also be expected that improved care for children with burns will provide new medical benefits for adults as well.” In 2003, the four Shriners’ burn hospitals admitted more than 4,000 burn patients, and the Cincinnati Shriners Hospital admitted more than 1,000 patients for burn treatment. The Cincinnati Shriners Hospital also employs the only pediatric air transport team in the country devoted entirely to the transport of burned children. The team was recently awarded the “Fixed Wing Team of the Year” award by the Association of Air Medical Services. For more information on Shriners’ network of 22 hospitals that provide medical care and services totally free of charge to children with orthopaedic problems, burns and spinal cord injuries, write to: Shriners International Headquarters, Public Relations Dept., 2900 Rocky Point Dr., Tampa, FL 33607, or visit the Web site at www.shrinershq.org. Treatment is provided to children under age 18 without regard to race,religion or relationship to a Shriner. If you know a child Shriners can help, call 1-800-237-5055 in the United States, or 1-800-3617256 in Canada.
