Nancy Ghanayem, MD, MS, Professor of Pediatrics, Chief of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Chicago and Comer Children’s Hospital, and Medical Director of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Advocate Children’s Hospital, has been named the new Chair of The Children’s Heart Foundation’s Medical Advisory Council.

The Children’s Heart Foundation (CHF) is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to funding congenital heart defect research. Every 15 minutes in the United States, a baby is born with a congenital heart defect, or CHD, making CHDs the nation’s most common birth defect. The Children’s Heart Foundation’s mission is to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of CHDs by funding the most promising research.

The Medical Advisory Council (MAC), which oversees the foundation’s research granting process, is comprised of 16 esteemed pediatric cardiologists, surgeons, cardiac intensivists, and PhD professionals from across the country. In the review process, the MAC helps evaluate the potential impact of research applications on the mission of The Children's Heart Foundation. CHF aims to fund research that directly impacts patients living with congenital heart disease over the course of their lifetime, and seeks to support investigations in clinical cardiology, as well as translational research and population science.

"We’re thrilled to have Dr. Ghanayem as our new chair,” said Gail Roddie-Hamlin, President & CEO of The Children’s Heart Foundation. “She herself is a CHF-funded researcher, so the impact that her leadership will have on the Foundation’s legacy of funding the most promising research will be immense.”

Since 1996, The Children’s Heart Foundation has funded $16.5 million of CHD research and scientific collaborations— driving breakthroughs that have improved survival rates and quality of life for individuals living with CHDs in life-changing ways.