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NEWS RELEASES
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Dan and Jan Duncan
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HOUSTON (Oct.
23, 2007) – Texas Children’s Hospital today announced a record $50
million gift to launch the world’s preeminent collaborative
institute to study and treat pediatric neurological disorders.
The gift, made
by Jan
and Dan Duncan, will support the creation and development of
the Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital,
the first dedicated facility to use a multidisciplinary research
approach to understand the unique issues of a child’s brain
structure, development patterns and related diseases. Scheduled for
completion in 2010, the Jan
and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s
will be located within the Texas Medical Center and is a core
initiative in Texas Children’s previously announced Vision 2010
$1.5 Billion expansion project.
Worldwide, one
billion people suffer from some form of the more than 600 disorders
that afflict the nervous system. In the United States, 50 million
children and adults—more than the number of Americans with heart
disease or cancer combined—are affected by a neurological or
neurodevelopmentally-handicapping condition.
“Brain-related
disorders account for the majority of the nation’s long-term care
costs, and when combined with psychiatric disorders, they account
for more hospitalization and prolonged care than nearly all other
diseases combined,” said Ralph
D. Feigin, M.D., physician-in-chief at Texas Children’s
Hospital and J.S. Abercrombie Professor of Pediatrics and chairman
of the department of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. “Yet,
research funding for neurological diseases, particularly pediatric
diseases, is less than half of what is devoted to conditions like
heart disease or cancer.”
According to Huda
Zoghbi, M.D., director of the institute and professor of
pediatrics, neuroscience, and molecular and human genetics at Baylor
College of Medicine, the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research
Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital will bring all the needed
experts—chemists, biochemists, neurobiologists, geneticists,
physicists, computer scientists, and mathematicians—under one roof
to solve these complex problems.
The institute
will focus on collaborative research, education and identification
of new treatments for pediatric neurological disorders like autism,
epilepsy, Rett syndrome, cerebral palsy and learning disorders.
Zoghbi added that many of these studies will also impact adult
conditions as such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and
inherited balance disorders.
“Having diverse
expertise in one place along with a strong infrastructure of core
facilities will create an efficient research environment, where the
technology and tools are readily available to allow researchers to
quickly conduct a multitude of biochemical, genetic and
pharmacological tests in a high throughput fashion, accelerating the
pace of discovery to increase the likelihood of bringing novel
therapies to patients,” said Zoghbi, also a Howard Hughes Medical
Institute investigator.
Mrs. Duncan, a
member of the Texas Children’s Board of Trustees, said she and her
husband were moved by the burden of the overwhelming number of
different neurological disorders and were surprised to see how many
are interrelated.
“Research
support in this area is not commensurate with the impact of these
diseases. Dan and I want to help call attention to the great need to
focus on research and treatments to help those who are suffering.
It’s not being done anywhere else,” said Mrs. Duncan.
Mr. Duncan is
chairman and director of Houston-based Enterprise Products, a
leading North American provider of midstream energy services. He has
made a number of significant philanthropic investments in and
outside of the Houston community to advance medicine, education,
spiritual endeavors, and conservation efforts.
For more
information about the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research
Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital visit
www.NRI.texaschildrens.org.
For more information:
Blue Bird Clinic for Pediatric Neurology
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