LOS ANGELES, June 30, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), other elected officials and special guests joined members of the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Board of Trustees yesterday (June 29) at the hospital to dedicate its internationally known Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Research Institute as The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and the new 88,500 square-foot state-of-the-art research laboratory facilities as the Saban Research Institute building -- in recognition of Cheryl and Haim Saban's "...commitment to the children and families of Los Angeles and children everywhere."
On June 22, the Saban Family Foundation announced that Cheryl and Haim Saban had made contributions and pledges totaling more than $100 million to organizations in the United States and Israel to support research, health care and education to benefit children, senior citizens and the disabled, including $40 million to support and stimulate pediatric medical research at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles -- a contribution that is expected to advance the search for solutions to some of the most complex and vexing medical issues affecting children and adolescents.
It is believed to be the largest single gift of its kind to a children's hospital in North America.
"Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is able to make a difference in the lives of children, and their families, not only in Los Angeles but throughout the United States and around the world," says Childrens Hospital Los Angeles President and CEO Walter W. Noce, Jr., "because of people like Cheryl and Haim Saban."
The Saban commitment is the lead gift in the recently announced $500 Million Campaign for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Cheryl Saban was the first member of the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Board of Trustees to make a commitment to the campaign, pledging $1 million when trustees met in April 2000 to consider the feasibility of a fundraising drive for new facilities, as well as for endowment, program and annual support.
Cheryl and Haim Saban have now given more than $41 million to the hospital.
"Haim and I are thrilled to be able to make this level of commitment to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, especially to further medical research, which is too often under-funded and is so critical to the continued well being of all children," said Cheryl Saban, a children's advocate who has been a member of the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Board of Trustees for seven years, and is a member of the Los Angeles City Commission for Children, Youth and their Families. "We believe there is an extraordinary opportunity here to invest in scientific discovery at Childrens Hospital, making a significant difference in the rapidly changing world of medical research, with the emphasis on finding better ways to treat, prevent and cure pediatric illness and injury."
"Cheryl and I have decided to mobilize our personal resources to positively impact the healthy development of children and their families through research, education and services," added Haim Saban, chairman and CEO of the Saban Capital Group, Inc., a private investment firm, and a leading philanthropist. "We believe that advances in research, which ultimately will help millions of children worldwide, will be possible through this partnership with the physician-scientists at Childrens Hospital."
The gift from Cheryl and Haim Saban, and the Saban Family Foundation, is expected to dramatically advance scientific investigations at The Saban Research Institute, which is engaged in pediatric research in crucial areas such as cancer, cardiovascular research, developmental biology, gene, immune and stem cell therapy, infectious disease, bone metabolism, imaging research, diabetes and community health research.
"This gift comes at the ideal time as plans for a major expansion of our research efforts are under way," says Yves A. DeClerck, M.D., vice president of research at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and director of The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. "We are deeply appreciative of the Saban family's generosity, foresight and support to our vision." Dr. DeClerck is professor of pediatrics, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Cheryl Saban, chairwoman of the Saban Family Foundation, is deeply committed to improving the quality of medical care and providing much needed resources to educational organizations around the globe. In 1999, Mrs. Saban, an author who holds a master's degree in psychology, established 50 Ways to Save Our Children, a not-for-profit organization encouraging philanthropy and community Service, and has since published a related book and launched a website (www.50ways.org).
Haim Saban is the former co-owner, chairman and CEO of Fox Family Worldwide, Inc., and founder of Saban Entertainment, which produced successful children's television programs and films such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Mr. Saban is a Regent of the University of California, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution, and a member of the President's Export Council, appointed by President Clinton.
Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America's premier teaching hospitals, training more young pediatricians than any other facility in California through its 70-year association with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is the largest and most productive pediatric research center in the western United States, with 86 investigators at work on more than 200 laboratory studies and clinical trials. It is one of the few freestanding research centers in the nation to combine scientific laboratory inquiry with patient clinical care -- dedicated exclusively to children and adolescents -- and its base of knowledge is widely considered to be among the best in pediatric medicine.
Scientists at the Saban Research Institute are engaged in seeking new therapeutic approaches to childhood cancer, in finding ways to correct the function of abnormal genes through a combination of gene therapy and cell therapy, and in seeking insight into the molecular control of organ development. Other areas of investigation include advancing research in tissue engineering, harnessing the power of digital imaging to provide better ways to monitor the benefits of new therapies, and seeking new ways to prevent and manage diabetes. It is engaged in new scientific initiatives that will probe the functions of the brain to address the most vexing pediatric brain diseases and injuries, as well as studies that target the child, the family and the community to ensure that children grow and mature into healthy, productive adults.
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