Page 22 - Gates-AnnualReport-2019

“I’m thrilled,” she said. “I’m excited to receive coordinated care and treatments that will help me get back to my life. What if I could go to the grocery store and not have to use a wheelchair anymore?”
By bringing research together with clinical care, the EDS Center of Excellence is helping turn such possibilities into realities.
Calla’s care plan is coordinated by a team of experts at the EDS multidisciplinary clinic at Children’s Hospital Colorado, led by the Medical Director of the Special Care Clinic Ellen Roy Elias, M.D., in close collaboration with Kourtney Santucci, M.D.
The clinic places the patient at the center of care, and brings forward all of the right health professionals required to determine a comprehensive care plan. In this model, the patient is seen by a team of specialists in a single day, with the goal of having a treatment plan at the end of the visit.
Calla’s grandfather, Dr. Schorr, says no more will Calla and others like her have to create a “center of excellence” for themselves as they traverse a complex and fragmented healthcare system to ensure their needs are met.
The pioneering work taking place at the EDS Center of Excellence began with Dr. Schorr’s vision. In 2016, as a member of the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine Advisory Board, Dr. Schorr approached director Dennis Roop and began laying the groundwork for research efforts in EDS, which he and Annalee funded later that year. Dr. Schorr’s vision and commitment made it possible to develop the EDS Center of Excellence as a place to realize scientific advances
in EDS research (see page 59 to learn more about Dr. Schorr’s long and prolific career).
“CU is poised for another breakthrough in medicine,” said Dr. Schorr. “I believe that EDS patients will soon have access to effective treatments, and possibly even a cure. If we are precise with our research and resources, we can resume our place at the forefront of the medical world. That’s our responsibility.”
Another must, said Dr. Schorr, is to empower visionaries in their fields to pave the path toward new discoveries and major medical advances.
Leading this charge is CU School of Medicine Dean and Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs John Reilly, Jr., M.D. Dean Reilly said, “One of the great advantages of having our pediatric hospital partner, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and a research entity like the Gates Center on campus is the opportunity to collaborate. By bringing some of the best minds together to lead the next generation in EDS research, we get remarkable innovation, and leading-edge treatments and care. What our philanthropic partners have built here is inspiring, and together we are determined to bring hope to patients and their families. It has been exciting to see two families with a long friendship come together with a shared goal to create a center that will have a positive effect on so many patients and families.”
With each new discovery at the EDS Center of Excellence, lives will improve through better care and better health. Each new discovery brings new opportunity for people with EDS to live lives they never knew they could have.
We chose to support this center because we envision a future where there is a cure for EDS. As donors, we understand the power that philanthropy can have to accelerate research discoveries and transform patient care through collaborations like this one.
~Suzanne and Bob Fanch
Suzanne and Bob Fanch
22 Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine Photo Courtesy of Devil’s Thumb Ranch