The Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation has pledged $2 million to The UCLA [University of California, Los Angeles] Foundation to fund two endowed chairs that will benefit cerebral palsy research, teaching, patient care, and public service at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
The Shapiro Family Chair in Child Development Studies and Cerebral Palsy, funded by a $1 million endowment, will support the teaching and research activities of a distinguished faculty member in the department of pediatrics who is dedicated to improving outcomes for children with developmental and behavioral problems. The department is in the process of identifying a distinguished individual as chair holder.
"The establishment of this chair will provide vital resources to promote innovative research and education in child development studies and cerebral palsyand result in better treatments and programs for pediatric patients at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA," said Edward R.B. McCabe MD, PhD, physician-in-chief of Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and executive chair of the department of pediatrics at the Geffen School of Medicine. "We are grateful for this very generous gift from the Shapiro family."
The Peter William Shapiro Chair for the Center for Cerebral Palsy will reside in the department of orthopedic surgery at the Geffen School of Medicine. The creation of this chair is intended to supply important resources to further promote and strengthen clinical services, professional, and consumer education, and relevant research to meet the needs of people with cerebral palsy.
William L. Oppenheim, director of the Center for Cerebral Palsy, said, "We at the Center for Cerebral Palsy are extremely grateful for Shirley, Ralph, and Peter Shapiro's committed support to promote and enhance our teaching and clinical investigations, as they clearly understand our goal to emphasize ability over disability."
Eileen Fowler, the newly named holder of the chair, is the UCLA/Orthopaedic Hospital Center for Cerebral Palsy's director of research and education. She also is director of the Kameron Gait and Motion Analysis Laboratory, UCLA, and a faculty member at the Tarjan Center at UCLA. Fowler's research covers a variety of areas, including the effect of exercise and pharmacological agents on movement ability in persons with cerebral palsy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. She was lead investigator of a multicenter study that demonstrated the benefits of exercise on strength, endurance, and function in children with cerebral palsy.
Fowler completed her physical therapy degree at Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, worked as a physical therapist at Orthopaedic Hospital, Los Angeles, for five years, and received her PhD from the physiological science department (formerly kinesiology) at UCLA, with a major in biomechanics and a minor in motor control. She was the director of the UCLA Rehabilitation Department's Functional Assessment Laboratory before joining the department of orthopaedic surgery, where she is currently an associate professor. UCLA describes Fowler as "integral to the development of the Center for Cerebral Palsy."
"The Shapiros' generous gift to UCLA's pediatric and orthopaedic programs will help lead to exciting breakthroughs in child development and cerebral palsy," said Gerald S. Levey, MD, vice chancellor for UCLA Medical Sciences and dean of the Geffen School of Medicine. "We applaud their commitment to support the work of our dedicated researchers and improve the lives of both pediatric and adult patients in need of lifesaving medical treatments."
