A Century of Support

It started in 1917 with a group of women from Memphis’ Calvary Episcopal Church who raised money to buy a wheelchair for a child with polio. Today, their daughters and granddaughters are supporting

a research institute committed to the prevention, treatment and elimination of pediatric disease.

For more than a hundred years, the women of the Children’s Foundation of Memphis have faithfully served the children of the Mid-South. Perhaps their biggest impact is happening today at the Children’s Foundation Research Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

“The mission of both Le Bonheur and the Children’s Foundation has always been to improve the lives and health of children. Through the years we both have grown and morphed, but we have not lost sight of that mission,” said Roberta Anderson, president of the Children’s Foundation of Memphis. “The board of the Children’s Foundation does not have the physical presence or ability to heal, but we have money to help the doctors and staff at a first-rate children’s hospital who do.”

In 1993, the Children’s Foundation formed a partnership with Le Bonheur and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to advance research for the challenges facing children. Since then, the Foundation has invested a total of $17 million and committed to an additional $5 million for the next five years.

Located on Le Bonheur’s medical district campus, the Children’s Foundation Research Institute supports physician scientists who are researching some of the most complex medical conditions in children – including neurological disorders, respiratory illnesses, genetic conditions and congenital heart defects.

John DeVincenzo, MD, has benefited from the Children’s Foundation’s support and was recently awarded its first endowed professorship – the Children’s Foundation of Memphis Chair of Excellence. DeVincenzo’s research focuses on understanding how respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children worldwide – occurs in children. He and his colleagues have developed the first RSV antivirals to be tested in children in the past 40 years, and he is now working to develop RSV vaccines as well.

“Our work depends on donors like the Children’s Foundation, who have remained steadfast in their commitment to research,” DeVincenzo said. “Their gifts allow us to dedicate our time to finding cures for childhood disease. We couldn’t do this work without them.”

The Children’s Foundation support was instrumental in developing a comprehensive research institute at Le Bonheur. The initial gift of $5 million funded the construction of laboratories and major equipment, as well as research grants. Throughout the years, the Children’s Foundation support continued to provide the infrastructure researchers need – resources like biomedical informatics, scientific editing and clinical trial support.

“We understood that paying the light bill and equipping the labs were not very exciting when the hospital was looking for donors. But without the infrastructure in place, researchers would not want to come to Le Bonheur. The groundwork needed to be laid,” Anderson said.

The CFRI has been an attractive feature for physician-scientists recruited to Le Bonheur and UTHSC. Melody Taylor, past president, said, “We know that investments in research will help the hospital attract and keep great physicians. In turn, that talent helps us build a world-class academic research health center – one that can discover new cures for so many childhood conditions. 

Scientific Director of the Institute Dennis Black, MD, calls the Children’s Foundation members visionaries.

“The Children’s Foundation set up the Institute for long-term success. In 1993, they could envision a comprehensive research center where discoveries change the lives of children we’re serving in our hospital and children around the world,” Black said. “Their visionary leadership allows us to recruit and mentor young researchers who are poised to make great discoveries.”

As the field of pediatric medicine has evolved, so too has the Institute. Children’s Foundation of Memphis is now supporting precision-based medicine with a gift that will be used to study the link between epilepsy and genetic makeup. Soon, children younger than 3 who receive an epilepsy diagnosis will also receive full genome testing. Neurologists at the Le Bonheur’s FedEx Neuroscience Institute know that understanding the genetic cause of a child’s epilepsy – and identifying it early in life – can dramatically change a child’s prognosis.

“As we learn more about epilepsy, we’ve found that it is really a broad-spectrum condition – and a child’s genome can unlock secret details about each child’s condition and educate us on how to treat each individual case,” said Le Bonheur Epileptologist and Researcher Sarah Weatherspoon, MD. “If we can better understand the genetic cause of the seizures, we can personalize treatment early and improve the long-term effects of the disease,” she said.