Philanthropy

We depend on the Columbia Children’s Health philanthropic community to enable us to pursue our commitment to innovation and excellence in clinical medicine, education, research, community health, global health, and the development of our faculty.

Charitable contributions to Columbia Children’s Health play a crucial role in supporting a variety of strategic initiatives to improve health outcomes for so many young patients and their families. Donors have the opportunity to support all of our 45 pediatric subspecialties and can fund initiatives around research, new programs, recruitment of faculty, outpatient offices, and facilities.

The Children’s Board at Columbia

Founded in 2013, the Children’s Board at Columbia is a unique group of dedicated volunteers made up of parents, former patients, donors, physicians, faculty members, and representatives from an array of professions. The Board shares a common belief that families should easily be able to find answers to and receive treatment for the often-complex medical challenges they face regardless of their circumstances.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Columbia Children’s Gala, guests were treated to a performance from GRAMMY nominated husband-and-wife duo The War And Treaty, Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, pictured above. The 2024 Columbia Children’s Gala focused on pediatric precision medicine – how doctors harness a child’s unique mix of personal genetic, genomic, and clinical information to develop effective and targeted courses of treatment designed specifically for them. Learn how we saved our patient, Michael here.

For over a decade Children’s Board members have partnered with the outstanding leadership team at Columbia’s Department of Pediatrics, raising tens of millions of dollars for Columbia Children’s Health. The Board’s activities and philanthropy provide support and increase awareness for cutting-edge care, new research, innovative treatments, and therapies that can offer children and their families new hope, or even life-changing outcomes.

A few of the programs supported include:

• Complex Care Center
  • Supports families and children facing the most complex medical conditions
• Garrett Isaac Neubauer Center for Cardiovascular Innovation
• Clinical Trials Program
• Center for Rare Pediatric Genetic Diseases
• Innovation Nucleation Fund
  • Underwrites the pioneering research of young investigators
• Precision in Pediatric Sequencing (PIPseq) Program
• Solid organ and stem cell transplantation
• Center for Children’s Digital Health Research
• Reduction and elimination of health care disparities for children and their families

Support the Columbia Children’s Fund online or call Natalie Schweizer at 646-770-7763.

Babies Heart Fund

Founded in 1986 by families, the Babies Heart Fund supports pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery research that leads to breakthroughs in care for children with complex heart conditions, in our local community and across the globe. Columbia’s physician-scientists are world leaders in developing novel ways to treat and save children with congenital heart disease, the most common birth defect affecting nearly 1% of births each year. Around the world, 12 million people born with CHD face a lifetime of reinterventions and surgeries. Funding from the Babies Heart Fund accelerates innovations that raise a new standard of care, through safer treatments, reduced trauma, and fewer risks and long-term complications. 

Columbia Launches Garrett Isaac Neubauer Center for Cardiovascular Innovation

In 2024, we announced the launch and establishment of a new center for pediatric cardiovascular innovation, made possible through a gift by Lawrence Neubauer. The mission of the new center is to improve outcomes for patients through groundbreaking research and care and to define the next cures for and future practice in congenital heart disease (CHD)—here and across the world.

The center is named the Garrett Isaac Neubauer Center for Cardiovascular Innovation in memory of Lawrence Neubauer’s son, Garrett, who passed away from CHD in 2001. The $50 million center was launched with a $15 million gift from Lawrence Neubauer, with additional support from Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian. Columbia’s new center seeks to ensure that more children born with heart disease will not only survive to adulthood but also thrive.

Lawrence Neubauer shared news of his gift with attendees at Columbia’s annual Babies Heart Fund Gala, where he was honored for his support of pediatric cardiology.

Herbert and Florence Irving Oncology Fund

Herbert and Florence Irving have been among the most significant donors to Columbia University’s medical center, supporting programs and facilities dedicated to cancer research and treatment, radiation oncology, bone marrow transplantation, and more. In 2016, the medical campus was renamed Columbia University Irving Medical Center in honor of a gift from the Irvings. Mr. and Mrs. Irving had a long-standing interest in child and adolescent oncology, and over the past three years, our Hope & Heroes Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation has received generous funding from their estate in support of endowed professorships, a comprehensive long-term survivor program, an immunotherapy–gene therapy program, a proof-of-concept research fund, and the renovation of a new ambulatory diagnostic and treatment center.