CSL Behring Foundation
Search    
Include All CSL Behring Country Sites

Aventis Behring Foundation Awards First Round of 2004 Grants to Benefit Bleeding Disorders Community

 

King of Prussia, PA — 04/15/2004

The Aventis Behring Foundation for Research and Advancement of Patient Health has recently selected the first of two rounds of grant recipients for 2004. In this cycle of awards, the Aventis Behring Foundation extended 11 grants for a variety of projects designed to benefit the bleeding disorders community, including the first awards selected under the "unrestricted patient organization grant" category for smaller, community based organizations announced in December 2003. This is the first disbursement of the $1 million in incremental funding provided to the Foundation by Aventis Behring in 2004.

Governed by an independent Advisory Council that has the sole authority to award grants, the Aventis Behring Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to charitable, scientific and educational purposes that advance the standard of care for persons affected by bleeding disorders.

The projects funded during this grant cycle range in scope, and include several educational and outreach initiatives, a support program for families of newborns with bleeding disorders, and an event for teen girls with von Willebrand disease (VWD). The Foundation also allocated a significant amount of funding to encourage much-needed research initiatives designed to enhance the treatment and quality of life for people with bleeding disorders. Such initiatives include a retrospective study of the impact of regular sports on adolescent boys and a research study of bleeding factors in patients with type 1 VWD.

In response to this grant cycle, applications were received from several Hemophilia Treatment Centers (HTCs), non-profit organizations such as hemophilia chapters, foundations, and associations, and healthcare professionals dedicated to the treatment of people with bleeding disorders. The deadline for the current grant cycle is July 31, 2004.

"Supporting smaller community-based organizations as well as healthcare professionals in their research efforts are two critical goals of the Foundation in 2004," said Val Bias, Advisory Council Chair of the Foundation. "By doing so, we help to ensure that people with bleeding disorders and their families continue to receive critical support and education at a very local level, while encouraging research initiatives that have the potential to have a positive impact nationally, and perhaps internationally."

Since its inception in 2002, the Aventis Behring Foundation has awarded approximately $2.5 million in funding to the bleeding disorders community. "We are pleased with the impact the Foundation has made within the community, and we are honored to support the work of the healthcare professionals and community advocates who are dedicated to providing counsel and care to people with bleeding disorders and their families," said Michael Sumner, M.D., Executive Director of the Aventis Behring Foundation and Senior Medical Director, ZLB Behring.

About the Grant Recipients
Following is a list of the 11 grant recipients with brief descriptions of the projects that received funding:

  • Bleeding Disorders Association of Northeastern NY (Albany, New York): Unrestricted Patient Organization Grant to help fund ongoing educational outreach programs, such as forums, retreats, and informational booths and to implement new programs, including a billboard public education project and medical alert support project for families in need.
  • Bleeding Disorders Association of the Southern Tier (Binghamton, New York): Unrestricted Patient Organization Grant to help fund ongoing operations, including three summer camps, one of which is specifically for von Willebrand disease (VWD).
  • Children's Hospital of Orange County (Orange, California): Research study, in collaboration with eight HTCs in Region IX, designed to investigate the role of molecular assays in predicting the risk of bleeding in type 1 VWD.
  • Heartland Hemophilia Association (Omaha, Nebraska): Unrestricted Patient Organization Grant for the development of a Web site designed to help the Association keep in contact with people in the communities it serves.
  • Hemophilia Center at Phoenix Children's Hospital (Phoenix, AZ): "Effect of Intensive Intervention in the Lives of Adolescent Males with Severe Bleeding Disorders," a multi-institutional pilot study designed to determine the impact of more intensive intervention by HTC staff in the lives of adolescent males with bleeding disorders.
  • Mississippi Chapter of The National Hemophilia Foundation (Jackson, Mississippi): Funding to support a new project specialist position. This person will coordinate a new education and support program for families of newborns with bleeding disorders.
  • Mountain States Regional Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center (Aurora, Colorado): "The Hemophilia Sports Study: Supervised Participation in Organized Recreational and Team Sports," a retrospective clinical study to evaluate the impact of regular participation of boys with hemophilia in organized adult-supervised sports and activities such as basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, football, and martial arts on frequency of bleeding events and rate of significant injuries.
  • Sangre de Oro, Inc. Hemophilia Foundation of New Mexico (Albuquerque, New Mexico): Unrestricted Patient Organization Grant for outreach programs, support of its family camp, and a "Women and Bleeding" weekend conference.
  • Southwestern Ohio Hemophilia Foundation (Vandalia, Ohio): Unrestricted Patient Organization Grant to help fund activities related to the development of an interactive Web site, implementation of quarterly meetings and an educational event for teen girls with VWD, the reorganization of a VWD advisory counsel, and development and distribution of a quarterly newsletter. Texas Central Hemophilia Association (Dallas, Texas): Unrestricted Patient Organization Grant to help fund ongoing operations and expand the Association's Outreach Assistance Program for people in financial need.
  • University of Southern California, School of Pharmacy (Los Angeles, California): Prospective study to examine the cost and burden of hemophilia on patients, including joint disease, economic impact, and quality of life issues.