Giving

Vascular Surgery, the youngest of the surgical subspecialties, became a section at the University of Michigan in 1987. Its formation recognized a legacy since the middle of the last century when the operative treatment of vascular diseases by surgical means was first introduced. The pioneers of this discipline in Ann Arbor were Drs. Marion S. DeWeese and William J. Fry.

The Section of Vascular Surgery has gained worldwide prominence for the education of practitioners, its research activities, and the development of innovative surgical approaches to treat vascular disease. These activities have been substantially impacted by the generous philanthropic support of grateful patients, friends and alumni. The DeWeese, Koivunen, and Lindenauer awards support educational opportunities for our young trainees, and the Doan, Jobst, and Handleman funds have provided a base for our general research activities. Outstanding investigators have delivered the endowed Jobst and Bryant lectures every year. The section has been honored to have the Lindenauer Professorship provided to one of its own. Support for these activities has provided a margin for excellence in the scholarly and clinical activities of our section and the Department of Surgery.

Recruiting and retaining outstanding clinicians, teachers, and researchers benefits our patients and trainees. Often this is done through gifts for professorships and programs. Private donors can have a significant impact on a school or program by making an endowed gift which results in a prominent and permanent investment in the institution.

Focused Clinical And Laboratory Research Programs

Michigan Aneurysm Fund

Aortic aneurysms represent the twelfth most common cause of death in the United States and aneurysms of other arteries represent serious threats to life. The basic mechanisms causing aneurysms have been studied by the faculty and new methods of treating these lesions by less intrusive procedures have been developed, such as the placement of grafts within a catheter through a small incision. The long-term goal of this fund is to devise safer means of treatment and eventually identify the cause and prevent the formation of aneurysms.

Michigan Thrombosis Fund

Thrombosis (clotting) of a vessel, often a vein associated with inflammation (phlebitis) is a major contributor to patient disability. In some instances the clot breaks loose and travels to the lung causing a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Contemporary entrapment of these moving clots with Greenfield filters has been perfected in the section's laboratories. The goal of this fund is to develop a better understanding of the clotting process and its treatment.

Michigan Renovascular Disease Fund

Obstructive disease of an artery to the kidney is a cause of severe hypertension. The first successful bypass to a kidney for this disease was performed by Dr. DeWeese at the University of Michigan in the late 1950's and the recognition of the various types of renal artery disease, their physiologic consequences, and contemporary treatment have been the focus of the section's faculty during the past five decades. The purpose of this fund is to create opportunities for clinicians and investigators to better understand renovascular diseases, their diagnosis, and treatment.

Michigan Stroke Fund

Stroke is the third most common cause of death, with 70% of these patients having cholesterol-containing plaque within the neck's carotid artery as a cause. The emergent as well as late treatment of patients with this disease has undergone dramatic changes in the past decade. The purpose of this fund is to develop the nonoperative management of this disease, identify those patients with lesser degrees of plaque that may cause a stroke later, and create safer operative therapies for removing or bypassing these dangerous lesions.

Michigan Ischemic Extremity Fund

Poor blood flow (ischemia) to the lower extremities is a disease causing cramping with physical activity (claudication), and in approximately 5% of patients leads to extremity gangrene if not treated. The purpose of this fund is to provide opportunities to develop bypass materials to better re-establish blood flow in these diseased extremities, and when such is not possible to use sophisticated molecular therapies including gene transfer to assist the body in developing new blood vessels.

Visiting Scientist Program

The Section of Vascular Surgery has two distinguished lectures a year by well-known clinicians. This program will allow more frequent visits by investigators to take part in a workshop environment with both clinicians and laboratory personnel involved with section research activities. Although in contemporary times electronic communication facilitates a great deal of information exchange, direct face-to-face opportunities for investigators to communicate with each other will provide geometric increases in our understanding of vascular disease processes and their treatment.

Faculty Professorships

A professorship is one of the highest honors the University can bestow on a faculty member. This will allow a senior faculty member to pursue academic ventures that will enhance our knowledge of vascular disease and improve our treatment of afflicted patients. It will allow the recipient to concentrate their intellectual energies and time without the distractions that might otherwise impede their productiveness. This type of professorship, often endowed by an individual or group of individuals, may be named in honor of someone who the benefactors wish to recognize with their gift.

Collegiate Professorships

This Professorship will be provided to a faculty member whose work is of the highest quality and who has reached that point in his or her career where a commitment to focus on specific intellectual activities is appropriate. Collegiate professorships are often created through endowed gifts from individuals who wish to honor a former faculty member whose name will be carried with the professorship.

Research Professorship

This professorship will be established to allow a faculty member to commit full-time to investigative activities. It will be offered to an individual with established credentials in the research arena who will provide a model for younger clinician-scientists and postdoctoral students beginning their own academic careers. This will be endowed by an individual or individuals with a commitment to the generation of new knowledge who wish to name the Professorship after a particular individual representing the focus of their gift.

Cardiovascular Center

The University of Michigan will complete the building of a freestanding Cardiovascular Center in 2007 that will provide care for patients with a wide spectrum of vascular diseases. This five-story interdisciplinary facility will include clinics, diagnostic laboratories, operating rooms, intensive care units, and all the support services essential for a 21st century medical enterprise. In addition to the clinical building, a second building of research laboratories is to be constructed as a later phase of the Center. Many giving opportunities including naming opportunities of various programs and areas within the Cardiovascular Center exist. Support of this unique facility deserves the attention of those having a philanthropic mindset. The completed Center will have a major impact at enhancing our understanding of cardiovascular diseases and improving care of patients burdened by these illnesses.