Women’s Heart Fund announces launch of ‘Community Conversations with the CDI’

Reviewed by Kate Anderton, B.Sc. (Editor)Feb 3 2020

The Women's Heart Fund, a philanthropic arm of Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation, has announced that for its newest venture, the organization will sponsor 'Community Conversations with the CDI,' a women-focused, three-year lecture series featuring researchers from Hackensack Meridian Health's Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI). The lectures will focus on topics relevant to community members throughout the state, including heart disease, breast and ovarian cancer, vaccines, Alzheimer's Disease and diabetes.

Over the years, the Women's Heart Fund has raised valuable funding for a wide variety of Hackensack Meridian Health initiatives. Their dedication and passion have helped to advance health care and education for our community and we are thankful for all that they do to help our organization, and more importantly, for the impact they have made on the health of women in our region."

Joseph Stampe, president and chief development officer of the Meridian Health Foundation

The first of the lecture series will feature a panel of Hackensack Meridian Health physicians and researchers from the CDI. It will take place at 2:30 p.m. on February 9 during the Count Basie Center for the Arts and Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center HeartHealthExpo taking place at the Basie's Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre. The panel will be moderated by Alla Rabinovich, chief operating officer of the Center for Discovery and Innovation, and will include the following physicians:

• Evelyn Minaya, M.D., obstetrics and gynecology
• Rajney Bais, M.D., internal medicine
• Dawn Calderon, D.O., cardiology
• David Leopold, M.D., integrative health and medicine
• Claire Carter, PhD, researcher at the CDI
• Ravi Diwan, M.D., cardiology

"Advanced biomedical research is just one aspect of the CDI's work – another big part of our mission is to serve as a forum for public education about how science innovation is improving peoples' lives," said David Perlin, Ph.D., the chief scientific officer and senior vice president of the CDI. "Awareness events like these, done in partnership with the Women's Heart Fund, help us further that mission."

The Women's Heart Fund 2018 to 2019 initiative raised funds in support of The Center for Survivorship and Wellness Care at Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center, which will open its doors to the public later this quarter. The center will offer face-to-face meetings with cancer survivors, help to create Survivorship Care Plans, provide referrals to social workers and host cancer and caregiver support groups.

"The Women's Heart Fund has raised more than $700,000 for many different Hackensack Meridian Health programs and services throughout the years," says Heidi Maggs, board chair of the Women's Heart Fund. "We have supported the purchase of new vascular screening equipment, provided nursing scholarships, created a peaceful waiting area in the CardioVascular Intensive Care Unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, offered CPR training to the community and more. This next initiative will really help to provide education on issues that are impacting us every day and we are excited to sponsor the innovative researchers at the CDI who will be able to impart invaluable information on breakthroughs on our selected topics."

'Community Conversations with the CDI' will be free to the public and dates, times and locations will be announced prior to each lecture. For more information about the Women's Heart Fund and the upcoming lecture series, please visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/womens-heart-fund. For more information about the Center for Discovery and Innovation, please visit https://hmh-cdi.org/.