The Children’s Foundation of Memphis (CFOM) recently announced a $2.5 million donation to Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center. The hospital will name the new inpatient research area the “Children’s Foundation Pediatric Clinical Research Unit” in honor of their gift. The gift is part of a $100-million campaign to fund the new 12-story, $327-million Le Bonheur Children’s facility.

Housed in the new Le Bonheur, the Children’s Foundation Pediatric Clinical Research Unit (PCRU) will feature 12,000 square feet of research space, and will consolidate all pediatric clinical research currently done at Le Bonheur Children’s into the new unit. Researchers at the Children’s Foundation Pediatric Clinical Research Unit will perform clinical and translational (bench-to-bedside) research studies, including Phase I clinical trials, or tests of the first dose of new drugs in children. Physicians and researchers will also conduct clinical trials of therapies for fever, analgesia, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, epilepsy, asthma, infectious diseases, renal diseases, migraine, sedation and many others.

“This gift from the Children’s Foundation of Memphis is wonderful because it will allow us to double the number of active clinical studies from 30 to 60 within five years,” said Le Bonheur President and CEO Meri Armour. “Our researchers expect to make significant contributions to the field of pediatrics.”

Le Bonheur will hire additional research nurses and assistants to help physician investigators with research protocols. The Children’s Foundation grant will also allow the current PCRU to immediately expand by 600 square feet before moving to the new facility in 2010.

Extensive infrastructure and other support for the new PCRU will also be provided through the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).

“The research in pediatrics is important because children have been largely excluded from the many therapeutic advances that have marked the last 75 years of medical research,” said Dr. Dennis Black, director of the Children’s Foundation Research Center. Black is also vice president of research at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center and the J.D. Buckman professor of pediatrics at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. “It is important for us to have a better understanding of the effects of prescription drugs and other therapies on children of all ages.”

The Children's Foundation of Memphis, formerly the Crippled Children's Foundation, has a long history of giving in Memphis. They began giving to Memphis in 1917 with the founding and fund-raising for the Crippled Children’s Hospital, which was a Memphis institution for many years. Its goal was to serve children who needed to be hospitalized long term for the treatment of polio, scoliosis, and other orthopedic problems. It also operated as a school (part of the Memphis School System) and often awarded diplomas as children graduated.

Thousands of Memphis and Mid-South children were treated there through the efforts of the 35 women who have served as its Board of Managers over the years. In 1982, when the advances in medical treatment ended the need for that type of long-term care, the hospital was closed and sold. The Board of Managers used the proceeds of the sale to continue on as the Children’s Foundation of Memphis.

In 1949, while still operating the hospital, the board saw the great need for a children’s hospital with comprehensive services like Le Bonheur Children’s and granted $200,000 to Le Bonheur Club to help found the hospital.

In 1993, the foundation made a significant pledge of support for the Children’s Foundation Research Center at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, a partnership with Le Bonheur Children’s and The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Since that time the CFOM has given The Children’s Foundation Research Center more than $10 million of support.

Many other large and small grants are awarded to organizations providing services that fit the mission of the Children’s Foundation of Memphis.

“This gift is a perfect fit for the Children's Foundation's commitment to pediatric research,” said Children’s Foundation President Lucia Crenshaw. “We are delighted to make a $2,500,000 grant to Le Bonheur Children’s knowing that the hospital will continue to represent the very best in healthcare for children while exploring new frontiers in research.”

Founded in 1952, Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center is the Mid-South’s first and only comprehensive pediatric medical facility. Every year Le Bonheur treats almost 140,000 children from 47 states and many countries. Le Bonheur is home to one of the nation’s 10 busiest pediatric emergency departments and hosts one of the largest pediatric surgical brain tumor programs.

Le Bonheur is currently in the midst of a fundraising campaign to build a new state-of-the art hospital. The $327-million facility is scheduled to open in 2010 and will double the space for patient care, research and teaching. For more information, please call (901) 287-6030 or visit www.lebonheur.org.

The Children's Foundation Research Center is a non-profit laboratory-based and clinical research organization created to promote the health of children. The center was created in 1995 by the Children’s Foundation of Memphis, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center. Located in Le Bonheur Children’s, it is the home of both basic science laboratories and clinical and translational research facilities. It hosts more than 30 pediatric researchers. For more information, visit www.utmem.edu/cfrc.

The mission of the Children’s Foundation of Memphis is to promote the health and well-being of children in the Memphis area. The Board of Trustees continues to govern the foundation. Today it is comprised of 35 women, many with ties to the original Crippled Children’s Hospital.