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Rady Children’s Receives $2.5 Million Challenge Grant for Kawasaki Disease Research

San Diego – Aug. 12, 2015 – Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego has received a $2.5 million challenge grant from the Gordon and Marilyn Macklin Foundation to support Kawasaki Disease (KD) research. The Macklin Foundation located in Great Falls, VA will match gifts dollar for dollar for the next five years.

“This is an incredible opportunity to receive the support from the Macklin Foundation. This challenge grant will allow us to continue the cutting-edge research we are doing here in San Diego,” said Jane C. Burns, MD, a world leader in Kawasaki disease research and also the director of the Kawasaki Disease Research Center at Rady Children’s and the University of California, San Diego. “The Foundation has made a commitment to invest and help us find life-saving discoveries for children with Kawasaki disease all around the world.”

Dr. Burns has dedicated her career to studying KD, in collaboration with Adriana Tremoulet, MD, a physician at the Rady Children’s Kawasaki Disease Clinic and associate director of the Center. Dr. Burns and her team will focus their efforts on solving the mysteries of KD in the next five years. Their research agenda is comprised of three core areas:

  • Discovering the cause of KD by identifying the environmental factor(s) whose concentrations fluctuate with disease incidence.
  • Creating a robust diagnostic test that can be used world-wide.
  • Developing new treatments to protect the heart.

The Center works with researchers throughout North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Australia, and Asia to advance the understanding of the mysterious disease. Along with supporting clinical, laboratory, and epidemiologic investigation into the etiology, pathophysiology and history of the disease, the Center serves to foster excellence in patient care.

KD is a severe childhood disease that many doctors mistake for an inconsequential viral infection. If not diagnosed or treated in time, it can lead to irreversible heart damage. Signs of KD include prolonged fever associated with rash, red eyes, mouth, lips and tongue, and swollen hands and feet with peeling skin. The disease causes damage to the coronary arteries in a quarter of untreated children and may lead to serious heart problems in early adulthood.

To make a gift, please visit www.radyfoundation.org/kdresearch.

Media Contact: Carlos Delgado
Office: 858-966-4901
cdelgado@rchsd.org