The Children's Heart Foundation

Research - The Children's Heart Foundation funds The most promising congenital Heart defect (chd)research. Since 1996, chf has invested $16.5 million into chd research and scientific collaborations.in 2022, chf funded nearly $1.5 million in chd research and scientific collaborations across four key initiatives: 1. Independent research funded by The Foundation, 2. Collaborative research with The Heart association through joint congenital Heart defect research awards, 3. Funding The american academy of pediatrics' pediatric cardiology research fellowship award, and 4. Funding cardiac networks united (cnu), a national pediatric and congenital cardiovascular research network.chf provided funding for The following independent research:-samantha butler, phd (boston Children's hospital) received funding from The Children's Heart Foundation for her work on developmental intervention in The cardiac intensive care unit for newborns with congenital Heart disease.-vahid serpooshan, phd (emory university) received funding from The cortney barnett research award for his efforts on a 3d bioprinted platform for modeling and treatment planning of hepatic disorders in fontan patients.-nimrod goldshtrom, md, ms (columbus university irving medical center) received funding from The mend a Heart Foundation award for his efforts on cerebral autoregulation and neurodevelopment outcomes in neonates with single ventricle congenital Heart disease.these research efforts will help experts learn more about The life-long care needs of individuals living with chds and how to continue to improve their overall quality of life. The Children's Heart Foundation provides funding to cardiac networks united to improve outcomes for children with chds. One of cnu's current research efforts - The pac3 chest tube project - is now being implemented at nearly 20 u.s. Hospitals as researchers consider The optimal time for chest tube removal in young chd patients.in addition, The Foundation funded The american academy of pediatrics' 2022 pediatric cardiology research fellowship award given to kari phillips, md, of The university of Utah health. Her research - exploring patient and family decision making in pediatric Heart transplant - aims to understand what is important to families as they make life changing decisions, including The decision to proceed with Heart transplant and employ intensive therapies such as dialysis and ventricular assist device while waiting for a transplant.

Advocacy - we endeavored to create more awareness of The need for advocacy for those with chds and their family members by telling their story on our websites, in video, and through special broadcast productions, like The pbs visionaries series. Our advocacy efforts focus on raising awareness of The need for increased funding for research, survivival,longevity and quality of life efforts which have dramatically increased for chd patients. There has been a 37.5% decrease in babies dying at birth which is a tremendous result, but we know that babies are still being born daily with chds.we are moving forward to engage more in advocacy efforts by recruiting grassroots volunteers, creating a strategic legislative agenda, and advocating through volunteer efforts to influence more funding for cardiac Heart defects.

Awareness- congenital Heart walks: The Children's Heart Foundation's congenital Heart walk series is The nation's largest walk series solely dedicated to raising awareness and funds for congenital Heart defect research. 31 congenital Heart walk events took place in 2022. For The first time since 2019, all walks were back to in-person events, and so many of our Heart families and teams joined together again in our walk for chd research. The walks offer a chance to strengthen our community and spread awareness about america's most common birth defect - chds, and we raised more than $2,000,000!fundraising events and campaigns: various fundraising events and campaigns took place throughout 2022, including #givingtuesday, Heart month, volunteer appreciation month, and our matching from The Heart campaign - all of which helped raise awareness and funds of The Children's Heart Foundation's critical mission.general awareness: The Children's Heart Foundation utilizes social media and video storytelling to spread further awareness of chds and chf. Our social media efforts focus on sharing stories of children, adults, and families impacted by chds, as well as telling our audience about The important research efforts we are funding. These tools help us reach people who may not have previously known about our important work.