AHA marks 100th birthday at site where organization was founded
Centennial event in Chicago celebrates volunteers, supporters and a century of progress.
一个世纪以前, six physicians assembled at the Drake Hotel in Chicago with one goal in mind: to save lives. 6月10日, 1924 — they signed the founding documents that created the 美国心脏协会.
周一, exactly 100 years after that historic day, the 美国心脏协会 gathered at the same hotel for two Founders Day celebrations to honor volunteers, supporters and other organization luminaries.
"Today is a unique moment as we look back at an astonishing number of accomplishments," AHA Chief Executive Officer Nancy Brown said in opening remarks at the evening's Bold Hearts Celebration. "And we look forward to a second century filled with more bold moves and continued mission impact."
晚上的庆祝活动, 由律师主持, 电视名人, heart disease survivor and AHA National 志愿者 Star Jones, 包括诱惑合唱团的音乐, 红毯活动, birthday cake of course — and the opportunity to celebrate people and organizations that have helped shape the AHA.
“敬我们的第一个100年, 我们的第二个世纪的影响, 去一个更长久的世界, 更健康的生活," Jones told a crowd of some 500 people in the Drake's Gold Coast Room.
傍晚时分, Brown presented the National Football League with the AHA's Award of Meritorious Achievement for a longstanding collaboration focused on physical activity and heart health.
The collaboration began when the NFL Play 60 program was created with the goal of encouraging children to get at least an hour of physical activity each day. The two organizations' shared efforts gained significant momentum this past year following the on-field cardiac arrest, resuscitation and recovery of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin in early 2023.
Understanding the opportunity to potentially save lives, the NFL began using its powerful brand platform to drive global awareness and behavior change. In doing so, it turned legions of worldwide football fans into lifesavers.
In 2023, the NFL also established the Smart Heart Sports Coalition with the 美国心脏协会 and Damar Hamlin's Chasing M's Foundation as founding members. Today the coalition works in all 50 states to adopt evidence-based public policies that will prevent fatal outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest among high school students. Since the founding of the coalition, more than a dozen states have signed these policies into law.
The league is also a national youth supporter of the 美国心脏协会's 救生员国家 movement, which is empowering bystanders with lifesaving 心肺复苏 skills.
今年, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league hosted the AHA to teach 心肺复苏 at the Super Bowl experience. 美国全国橄榄球联盟的球队.S. followed with their own 心肺复苏 events for staff, 家庭, fans and communities; and the league incorporated 心肺复苏 training as part of the NFL Draft.
"It is a true honor for us to partner with the 美国心脏协会," Goodell said in accepting the AHA award, noting that the collaboration provides the NFL a chance to urge the public: "Don't be a bystander; be an active participant in saving lives."
庆祝百年
-
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell and AHA CEO Nancy Brown
-
Lawyer and 电视名人 Star Jones, host of the evening’s Bold Hearts Celebration
-
Actress Susan Lucci, emcee of the 二世纪战役 Cornerstone Luncheon
-
Past AHA chief executives Cass Wheeler (left) and Dudley Hafner with Nancy Brown
-
Jim Postl, chair of the AHA’s 二世纪战役, at the luncheon 周一
-
The Temptations on stage at the Drake Hotel during the Bold Hearts Celebration
周一's celebration also hailed philanthropist Sarah Ross Soter for a landmark $15 million investment to jump-start a new Go Red for Women Venture Fund as part of AHA Ventures, to more rapidly develop solutions to improve women's health. A previous gift from Soter helped launch the AHA's Go Red for Women Strategically Focused Research Network.
By driving investment in innovative companies during their early launch stage, the new fund will expand research focused on women, accelerate translation of those research findings into better ways to care for patients, and help bring to market products and technologies to improve women's health. 该基金的重点包括心血管疾病, metabolic and neurologic solutions across a women's entire life span.
"Think of it this way — when science shows us new ways to help, the fund will speed the delivery of those answers to the hands of people who need them,布朗说.
The evening also featured an announcement of $12.9 million in seminal funding, from the Henrietta B. 弗雷德里克·H. Bugher Foundation, for research investigating stroke as a systemic and chronic disease. Details on that research project are set to be announced at the 国际中风会议 在2月份. The stroke research funding is the latest in a series of Bugher Foundation gifts dating back to the mid-1980s and totaling more than $63 million.
The Chicago events provided a chance to look to the future of the AHA as well as reflect on the past 100 years. Founded in 1924 as a professional society for doctors to discover more about heart and other circulatory diseases, the organization within just one year convened its first Scientific Sessions, a meeting that today is the largest annual cardiovascular meeting in the country.
As outlined in its 1924 New York state incorporation papers, the early AHA also aimed to gather and publish information about "occupations suitable for patients with diseases or disorders of the heart or circulation" and encourage development of special facilities for treatment, convalescent care and even permanent care for heart patients in need.
At 周一's celebration and an earlier luncheon at the Drake, the AHA recognized other philanthropists whose exceptional support over the years has made a significant impact in improving heart and brain health, 包括:
- Leona M. 和Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and trustee Walter Panzirer for support exceeding $83 million, including to fund crucial initiatives to improve health care for rural residents
- Joe and Linda Chlapaty for pivotal gifts funding atrial fibrillation research, supporting scholars at historically black colleges and universities, and most recently a $10 million pledge to the AHA through the 保罗·达德利·怀特遗产协会
- "Cornerstone" supporters who are helping to lay the groundwork for the next 100 years. 该协会的 二世纪战役 is soaring past its $500 million goal toward a total of $600 million by the end of the calendar year
Actress and heart disease survivor Susan Lucci, emcee for the afternoon's 二世纪战役 Cornerstone Luncheon, told more than 90 attendees that among many AHA events she has participated in, 这一天是特别的.
“有太多值得骄傲的事情了, so many ways that our mission has been brought to life, 有那么多让人兴奋的未来计划,她说.
The evening event acknowledged the 美国心脏协会's past chief executives, whom Brown described as "incredible leaders (who) built the foundation that has allowed the 美国心脏协会 to see all of this great success.达德利·哈夫纳(Dudley Hafner)于1980年掌权, 其次是卡斯·惠勒, 谁在1997年到2008年担任首席执行官. 两人都出席了.
In addition to leaders such as Hafner and Wheeler, the association has been strengthened by countless volunteers. In 1948, the AHA reorganized to become a voluntary health organization including laypeople in addition to medical professionals. Today, there are more than 32 million volunteers, donors and supporters.
周一晚上, the association honored this year's volunteer leaders: former PNC Financial Services executive and AHA Chairperson of the Board Marsha Jones, and Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Director and AHA President Dr. 约瑟夫·吴.
Also spotlighted were 14 descendants of the AHA's founding physicians and other luminaries. “一个活生生的遗产就在房间里," Star Jones said as she joined the group in the event's Descendants Lounge.
在午餐会上, longtime volunteer and 二世纪战役 chairman Jim Postl emphasized how essential the AHA's mission remains, 即使在100年后. "The world needs the 美国心脏协会 to keep improving, because despite all the success that we've enjoyed, heart disease and stroke remain the top two killers worldwide,他说. "With your help, that won't always be the case."
