Sigma-Aldrich Creates Endowment Fund for Pediatric Research at St. Louis Children’s Hospital
August 1, 2013 /3BL Media/ - Sigma-Aldrich, a leading life science and high technology company focused on enabling science to improve the quality of life, recently announced the creation of the Sigma-Aldrich Endowment Fund for Pediatric Research at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The fund will reside within St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation in perpetuity, accomplishing the important goal of funding pediatric research through the Children’s Discover Institute in partnership with Washington University School of Medicine.
“The Children’s Discovery Institute has been doing amazing work for many years,” said Jeffrey Whitford, Global Citizenship Manager for Sigma-Aldrich. “Sigma-Aldrich is excited to fund this potentially life-saving research and to enable these researchers to continue doing such impactful work.”
The Children’s Discovery Institute, an unprecedented, multidisciplinary research partnership with the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM), seeks to accelerate the understanding, prevention and ultimately cures of the deadliest childhood diseases.
“Nowhere else does one of the nation’s finest hospitals work so closely with one of the nation’s finest medical schools, said Janice Bailey, vice president of the Children’s Hospital Foundation. “Together we can achieve incredible things, but we can’t do it alone. We need the support of companies like Sigma-Aldrich that are willing to fund what has historically been the under-funded area of childhood diseases. As with any investment in research, the risks are high, but in this case, the rewards are profound.”
“Sigma-Aldrich has excellent synergy with Children’s Hospital and has been a long-time supporter of the hospital’s important work, both in research and in the community,” said Whitford. “The fact that we’re able to help improve the health of children worldwide not just today, but also in the future is phenomenal. As a Company, we’re working to make the world a safer, healthier and cleaner place and this is a major step in that direction.”
The Children’s Discovery Institute is a multidisciplinary, innovation-based research partnership between St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. Founded in 2006, the Institute has awarded more than $30 million in scientific grants to pediatric research projects aimed at some of the most devastating childhood diseases and disorders. For more information about the Children’s Discovery Institute, visit ChildrensDiscovery.org
St. Louis Children’s Hospital (SLCH) is a world renown, nationally ranked institution and has been listed on U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll of Children’s Hospitals in America for ten consecutive years, achieving rank in every category measured. It also has an international reputation; SLCH accommodates some 275,000 patient visits each year with patients deriving from all 50 states and more than 80 countries. Children come to SLCH when they require the very best of highly specialized medicine and care and the hospital has never turned away a child based on a family’s inability to pay for services.
