University of Virginia Health System

U.VA. CARDIOLOGY DEPARTMENT RECEIVES GRANT FROM ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION

Dr. George Beller, chair of the department of cardiology at the University of Virginia, accepted a $100,000 grant from the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) on Thursday, Feb. 14 as part of the Love Rocks: Celebrating the Biggest Hearts in Entertainment concert at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. The grant is a portion of $3 million in first-year support that EIF will award to five of the nation's leading cardiovascular research centers and two patient outreach programs.

The concert officially marked the launch of EIF's National Cardiovascular Research Initiative (NCRI), a program created to raise public awareness and funds for scientific research of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in America.

We are very proud to have been recognized by the NCRI for our research accomplishments, Beller said. The grant will be used to enhance U.Va.'s cardiac imaging area. We are developing new technology to visualize the heart and its blood vessels using ultrasound, nuclear scanning and magnetic resonance imaging.

The concert, hosted by comedian Drew Carey, featured performances by the bands No Doubt and R.E.M. In addition, U2's Bono was honored for his philanthropic work with the foundation.

For 60 years, EIF has represented the collective philanthropy of the entertainment industry and has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars and countless volunteer hours to support charitable initiatives. EIF also has established the National Women's Cancer Research Alliance, the National Colorectal Cancer Research and Hunger Free America.

March 5, 2002