Menu

The Pediatric Asthma Center of Excellence to Award College Scholarships to Graduating High School Asthma Patients

Jun 23, 2008

Brooklyn, NY - Stanley Fisher, MD, professor and chair of pediatrics, The Children’s Hospital at Downstate, announced today that the Department of Pediatrics Asthma Center of Excellence will award college scholarships to Jurrell Rodgers and Kyron Galvez, graduating Brooklyn high school students who will be attending college in the fall. Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Galvez have been patients of the Pediatric Asthma Center of Excellence for more than a decade.

The scholarship award presentation will take place on Friday, June 27, 2008, at 5:00 pm in the Morris Steiner Library, Pediatrics Department, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. The two scholarship recipients have demonstrated that young people with chronic diseases can still achieve academic excellence.

The Madu Rao Pediatric Asthma Center of Excellence Scholarship Program was launched to help graduating high school students succeed in school and life, in spite of the chronic burden of asthma. The scholarship program is reserved for patients in the Pediatric Asthma Center of Excellence.

In 1996, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics Madu Rao, MD, created a comprehensive pediatric asthma clinic where patients and their families could be evaluated, instructed in taking their medication and become better informed about what can trigger an asthma reaction. Dr. Haesoon Lee, director of the Pediatric Asthma Center of Excellence, said, “We want to ensure that children with asthma receive excellent and consistent care. Our goal is to assist families with asthma to improve their quality of life through state-of-the art medical care.”

The college scholarship program is the brainchild of Dr. Rao, who said, “Asthma is one of the most prevalent childhood chronic illnesses in the United States and is overrepresented in children from urban areas. Children with asthma experience more absenteeism and grade failure than children without asthma. We realize the challenge that our asthmatic patients face as they control their asthma and complete their schoolwork. The scholarship program was developed to encourage our pediatric asthma patients to strive for academic excellence. We are extremely proud of Jurrell Rodgers and Kyron Galvez.”

"We feel that it is important to reward academic excellence,” says Dr. Fisher. Because skyrocketing academic costs are often a barrier for many students to pursue higher education, we are happy to make this scholarship program possible. We are proud of Jurell and Kyron’s academic success despite school absences, activity restriction and missed sleep.  Studies have shown significant associations between asthma and children’s school functioning. Jurrell and Kalvin are excellent examples of asthma patients who manage their asthma by being compliant, keeping their medical appointments, and taking their medications.”

The scholarship money was raised through bake sales organized by the staff of the Pediatric Asthma Center of Excellence and the generous donation of Madu Rao, MD. Members of the scholarship committee include Gail Solomon, PA, Orintha Johsnon, RN, Deborah Pointer, MEd and Haesoon Lee, MD. For more information about the Asthma Center of Excellence, contact Haesoon Lee, MD, Director, Pediatric Asthma Center of Excellence, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Department of Pediatrics, at 718-270-4247.

 

###


About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.

UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.