A Genetic Connection to the CVC
By Gael Garbarino Cullen, CVC Advisory Board member
Jan. 2008 CVC UPBEAT - Genetics may seem a curious explanation for supporting the work of the Cardiovascular Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin, but in my family's case, it makes perfect sense. My husband, Steve, was a young man…just 40-years old…a devoted father to four little girls, at the peak of his personal and professional life, when he was stricken by sudden cardiac arrhythmia. His untimely death, the deaths of his father at 41 and two brothers in their early 50s, all the result of heart disease, make the mission of discovering potential genetic links to this killer, and, ultimately, treatments for it, a particularly personal one.
It was in this spirit, accompanied by a bit of good fortune, that I came to serve on the Cardiovascular Center's Advisory Board. Shortly after Steve's death, our family started a run and walk in his memory, with the goal of donating any dollars raised to heart research. After seven years aligned with one local organization, changes in its leadership and direction left our run/walk in an unusual predicament: we no longer had a beneficiary for the money we raised.
Unwilling to give up the cause and anxious to continue to build on the successes of the Steve Cullen Healthy Heart Run/Walk, we set out to find a new recipient for the event's proceeds. Ironically, we didn't need to look very far. The Medical College of Wisconsin campus abuts the parkway where the run/walk is held every year.
While familiar with the College in general, the Cardiovascular Center was an unknown entity. When we inquired about the possibility of the College partnering with us on the run/walk, we were treated to a tour where the groundbreaking heart disease research being done at the CVC made an immediate impression. The money our event would generate would go directly into the hands of the researchers, helping to provide seed money for more extensive research. Talk about making a difference!
A short time after launching this partnership, I was honored to accept a position on the CVC Advisory Board, and I've come to appreciate even more the outstanding work that is being done on so many fronts relating to heart disease and stroke. Seeing the ongoing efforts to take this research and translate it into improved patient care is truly exciting and rewarding.
Over the past four years, the Cullen Run/Walk has had the privilege of directing its proceeds to several exciting research efforts, perhaps most notably the groundbreaking work of Dr. Ulrich Broeckel. Dr. Broeckel and his colleagues are zeroing in on genetic links to certain types of heart attacks, ultimately hoping to develop targeted therapies to prevent them. With four daughters who carry a frightening legacy as it relates to heart disease, I can't think of a more important mission to support.