Gootter-Jensen Foundation

Gifts to the Gootter-Jensen Foundation fund research at the stanford cardiovascular institute, where doctors and scientists are working to find better ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent sudden cardiac death.in 2022, the Foundation provided a grant of $150,000 to the stanford cardiovascular institute. These funds are part of a 3-year study to test the effects of marijuana causing cardiac arrhythmia. The project will determine how marijuana causes arrhythmias and screen for novel cbi antagonists that can prevent arrythmias. With increasing consumption due to the legalization of marijuana in the us, an increase in marijuana-induced arrythmias is anticipated which can be associated with sudden cardiac death. With more insight into the causes and consequences of cannabis-induced arrythmias, we expect to discover novel markers of cardiac arrythmias and perhaps develop novel drug therapies to help prevent adverse outcomes such as sudden cardiac death.

A newsletter is published and distributed to provide information about the organization's mission and accomplishments, and to raise awareness and promote education about cardiac death.

In an unparalleled move to prevent avoidable deaths from sudden cardiac arrest, the Gootter-Jensen Foundation has provided over 450 automated external defibrillators (aeds) to the tucson police department, pima county sheriff's department, southern Arizona schools, places of worship and recreational centers that did not have these life saving devices. The long-range goal of the Foundation is to make sure that all the places where people work, worship and play will have an aed in case it is ever needed. In 2022, the Foundation donated $67,953 of aeds to various organizations.