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There is a critical shortage of donated hearts for children. Every year, roughly 50 children in Canada are on the waitlist for a heart transplant, and roughly 20-25 will be left waiting. Currently, the only hearts accepted for paediatric donation are from donors who suffer brain death; it was previously thought that donors whose hearts stopped (cardiac death) could not offer viable organs for transplantation. However, thanks to investments from the James H. Cummings Foundation, SickKids is on the cusp of increasing the number of viable donated hearts via Dr. Osami Honjo’s Death After Cardiac Death (DCD) Transplant Research Project.

In the first phase of this project, Dr. Honjo and his team developed the world’s first paediatric ex-vivo perfusion machine to… GET THE FULL STORY >

The Tool Library’s campaign to purchase and renovate its new home will play a pivotal role in expanding the services and programs of the region’s only community-based tool lending-library. The historic mixed-use building located at 2626 Main Street in Buffalo will also serve as a major catalyst for the surrounding neighborhoods, an underdeveloped section of Main Street, and an underutilized light rail station. With a larger redesigned and renovated space, The Tool Library will be able to grow its inventory of tools, serve more members, offer more programs and training, and continue fostering a culture of sharing, sustainability, and self-reliance across Western New York.  Since opening its doors in 2011, The Tool Library has signed up more than 4,600 members,… GET THE FULL STORY >

Buffalo Prenatal Perinatal Network is dedicated to promoting health equity, and honoring the dignity of all women, fathers, and families by providing educational information, empowering support, advocacy, and emphasizing connection to community resources and services in WNY. Cardiac issues have been identified as one of the major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality and can cause recurrences in future pregnancies or cause chronic health problems later in life. BPPN wanted to assist in reducing these numbers by monitoring for hypertension through the use of a Self-Monitoring BP program for pregnant and postpartum mothers. BPPN purchased 65 automatic blood pressure cuffs to be utilized by pregnant and postpartum women through funding from the James H. Cummings Foundation. The goal is to… GET THE FULL STORY >

The Jacobs Institute’s i2R, or Idea to Reality Center, is at the cutting edge of vascular medicine. The i2R is focused on developing novel, smart-engineered endovascular medical devices at a faster pace and in a more cost-effective way, getting them to patients sooner. The i2R creates devices designed by or with the physicians who use them. Physicians are on-site and available to i2R engineers so that our engineering team can quickly prototype and validate potential devices. Our unique medical device development model streamlines the proof-of-concept process. With a grant from the James H. Cummings Foundation, we were able to purchase a catheter braider machine as well as a catheter laminator that allows us to customize our devices in house.

To learn… GET THE FULL STORY >

Founded 20 years ago by the Women Religious Congregations of Western New York, Gerard Place, in response to the long-term effects of the pandemic, has opened a new permanent food pantry in the Bailey-Delevan neighborhood to meet the nutritional needs of people who reside in what is classified as a food desert.  Gerard Place also partners with FeedMore for a monthly Food Express delivery and with Friends of the Night People to offer this very poor community a meal program  (now take-out due to pandemic) twice per week. The increased need for the take-out meal program highlighted a critical need for food and other basic supplies for the families of this neighborhood.

The Food Pantry is located on the Gerard Place… GET THE FULL STORY >