Colin’s Kids Inc., Selects Drs. Matthew Crystal and Dina Ferdman as 2013 Research Awardees
NEW YORK, December 17, 2013— Colin’s Kids has honored Matthew Crystal, MD, and Dina Ferdman, MD, both of Columbia University Medical Center, with research grants toward their work in pediatric cardiology. Dr. Crystal is the recipient of the $10,000 Colin Molloy Research Award and Dr. Ferdman is the recipient of the $5,000 Andrew King Research Award.
The awards, presented annually, were established to support the Colin’s Kids’ mission of providing critical funding to advance medical research related to the diagnosis, life-improving treatment, prevention and cure of congenital heart defects.
Kelly Molloy, David King and Nancy King founded Colin’s Kids in 2008. Their children, Colin Molloy and Andrew King, were born with congenital heart defects and subsequently were treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. While there, the families became each other’s support system and built a lasting friendship in the face of unforeseen adversity.
Andrew survived a transposition of the great arteries, in part due to an arterial switch procedure that did not exist until thirty years ago. Unfortunately, Colin, diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, passed away due to surgical complications. He was only 47 days old. Even though Colin did not survive, he lives on through Colin’s Kids and the work it continues to do in an effort to better the lives of children and spare the heartache that so many families, like the Molloys, are all too familiar with.
“It is a privilege to celebrate the life of Colin in such an impactful way,” said Molloy. “I believe that supporting research that can ultimately change the course of a child and their loved one’s lives, is the greatest way to honor him.”
Adds Nancy King, “Colin was Andrew’s first friend. He spent most of his life right next to my son. I know that he is still there, as his guardian angel, watching over him.”
The recipients of these awards are grateful for the continued support of Colin’s Kids and its commitment to the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center.
Dr. Crystal, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, will focus his research on the creation of a non-surgical animal model of pulmonary vein stenosis. This model will allow experimental, novel and innovative devices to be tested in the hopes of improving clinical outcomes for children with pulmonary vein stenosis.
Dr. Ferdman, Postdoctoral Clinical Fellow, will use her award to support her ongoing research on validation of a measurement of fetal cardiac function. It is her hope that these studies will help illuminate detection of normal and abnormal cardiac function in various forms of congenital heart disease so that physicians can manage patients from an earlier age and better predict their outcomes.
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Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the M.D. degree and is among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest in the United States.
Media Contact:
[email protected] or (347) 963-7479
The awards, presented annually, were established to support the Colin’s Kids’ mission of providing critical funding to advance medical research related to the diagnosis, life-improving treatment, prevention and cure of congenital heart defects.
Kelly Molloy, David King and Nancy King founded Colin’s Kids in 2008. Their children, Colin Molloy and Andrew King, were born with congenital heart defects and subsequently were treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. While there, the families became each other’s support system and built a lasting friendship in the face of unforeseen adversity.
Andrew survived a transposition of the great arteries, in part due to an arterial switch procedure that did not exist until thirty years ago. Unfortunately, Colin, diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, passed away due to surgical complications. He was only 47 days old. Even though Colin did not survive, he lives on through Colin’s Kids and the work it continues to do in an effort to better the lives of children and spare the heartache that so many families, like the Molloys, are all too familiar with.
“It is a privilege to celebrate the life of Colin in such an impactful way,” said Molloy. “I believe that supporting research that can ultimately change the course of a child and their loved one’s lives, is the greatest way to honor him.”
Adds Nancy King, “Colin was Andrew’s first friend. He spent most of his life right next to my son. I know that he is still there, as his guardian angel, watching over him.”
The recipients of these awards are grateful for the continued support of Colin’s Kids and its commitment to the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center.
Dr. Crystal, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, will focus his research on the creation of a non-surgical animal model of pulmonary vein stenosis. This model will allow experimental, novel and innovative devices to be tested in the hopes of improving clinical outcomes for children with pulmonary vein stenosis.
Dr. Ferdman, Postdoctoral Clinical Fellow, will use her award to support her ongoing research on validation of a measurement of fetal cardiac function. It is her hope that these studies will help illuminate detection of normal and abnormal cardiac function in various forms of congenital heart disease so that physicians can manage patients from an earlier age and better predict their outcomes.
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Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the M.D. degree and is among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest in the United States.
Media Contact:
[email protected] or (347) 963-7479
