In a sweeping gesture that illustrates both his generosity of spirit and a deep commitment to medical research, Ronald O. Perelman, chairman of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., has donated $50 million to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College to further research and clinical care initiatives in cardiac and reproductive medicine.
The gift will establish the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and help support the ongoing work of the internationally renowned Center for Reproductive Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. The center will be renamed the Ronald O. Perelman and Claudia Cohen Center for Reproductive Medicine.
"Through Mr. Perelman's enormous generosity and dedication, we will have a new state-of-the-art facility that will not only treat patients, but also educate and advocate particularly to women who falsely believe that they are at less risk for heart disease," said NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital President and CEO Dr. Herbert Pardes.
Mr. Perelman joined Dr. Pardes, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and other Hospital and Medical College leadership at a press event Thursday, February 28, to announce his gift.
"I am honored to establish this new state-of-the-art Heart Institute at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and support groundbreaking research and clinical care initiatives in reproductive medicine," Mr. Perelman said. "I felt this was a very appropriate way to honor Claudia."
Perelman's former wife Claudia Cohen, to whom he was married for nine years, died in 2007.
The new Heart Institute will function as a "medical town square" complete with a patient-friendly center, a clinical trials enrollment center, and an interactive education resource center that will include the latest medical information on heart disease with an added focus on cardiac disease in women. The reproductive center will be uniquely positioned to build upon Weill Cornell's tradition of groundbreaking developments that have changed the lives of people, making it possible for them to have a child.
"We will all, in this city and in this government, try to live up to the example you are setting," said Council Speaker Quinn to Mr. Perelman.
Charitable donations and expansion projects such as Mr. Perelman's not only serve as vehicles of increased research and clinical capabilities, but also signal to current and prospective medical students that NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College are dedicated to remaining at the forefront of medical discovery.
"A big reason students come here is the opportunity that awaits them, in terms of clinical research, in terms of translational research and in terms of education," said Ankit Patel, the student representative on the Weill Cornell Board of Overseers. "And that is a direct product of generous donations like Mr. Perelman's."
Photography by Richard Lobell.