The documentary will highlight congenital heart defects, America’s most common birth defect.
Feb. 7, 2022 — The Children’s Heart Foundation will be profiled in the twenty fifth season of The Visionaries, the award-winning public television series hosted by acclaimed actor Sam Waterston of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie and formerly of HBO’s The Newsroom and NBC’s Law & Order.
PBS stations across the country will air the 5-part documentary series focused on highlighting the work of nonprofit and public service organizations from around the world. Now in its 25th season, The Visionaries will showcase important topics, including congenital heart defect research by featuring The Children’s Heart Foundation. Selected from hundreds of organizations, The Children’s Heart Foundation is the country’s leading organization solely dedicated to funding congenital heart defect research.
“We are thrilled to be featured in the 25th season of The Visionaries,” says Gail Roddie-Hamlin, President and CEO of The Children’s Heart Foundation. “The work we do is critically important for babies born with, and children and adults living with CHDs, and we look forward to more people learning about this cause.”
Congenital heart defects, or CHDs, are America’s most common birth defect, affecting nearly 40,000 babies each year. Since 1996, The Children’s Heart Foundation has funded $15 million of CHD research and scientific collaborations, leading to dramatic increases in survival, longevity, and quality of life for individuals living with CHDs.
“I believe that the central idea of The Visionaries - doing what you can about huge, intractable problems - is an idea worth encouraging,” says actor Sam Waterston, the host of the series.
The Children’s Heart Foundation’s episode was made possible by generous underwriting from Medtronic.
Jody Santos, Senior Producer at The Visionaries said, “Despite the challenges of filming during a pandemic, we’ve delivered one of our strongest seasons yet. The organizations profiled, including The Children’s Heart Foundation, have overcome tremendous challenges this year to continue doing their work. It’s only fitting that we’re profiling them during our 25th season on public television.”
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About The Children’s Heart Foundation
The Children’s Heart Foundation (CHF) is the country’s leading organization solely dedicated to funding congenital heart defect (CHD) research. The mission of CHF is to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of CHDs by funding the most promising research. Since 1996, CHF has funded $15 million of CHD research and scientific collaborations.
About The Visionaries
The Visionaries documentary series, hosted by acclaimed actor Sam Waterston, highlights the rarely told stories of individuals and nonprofit organizations that are working to create positive social change throughout the world. Visionaries, winner of several Telly Awards and Emmy nominations for Best Documentary, has produced over 240 documentaries shot in over 65 countries and all over the US. Visionaries has aired on PBS stations throughout the nation for 24 seasons. For more information, please visit www.visionaries.org.
