By
Blake Smith
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Facility dedication set for Oct. 28
For nearly 30 years, physicians and scientists of the UA Sarver Heart Center have been working in various offices spread throughout the University Medical Center.
On Oct. 28, more than 1,000 people are expected to attend the formal dedication of the new University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center building.
The three-story building - constructed on top of the existing Arizona Health Sciences Library - will consolidate many of the 100 Sarver physicians and scientists under one roof.
The addition, which will be gifted to the state once it is completed, is expected to increase the size of the center to about 43,000 square feet. By Thanksgiving, expanded research facilities, classrooms and administrative offices will officially call the new facility home.
For the director, the new UA Sarver Heart Center is the realization of a dream.
New facility, new opportunities
Papers and reports covered the desk of Dr. Gordon Ewy. They all contained important information, but the blueprints on the corner of the desktop were the focus of his attention.
"This will be responsible for the physicians and researchers of tomorrow," Ewy said as he unraveled page after page of construction plans.
Each page showed a different level of Ewy's long-envisioned dream. For many years the head of the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center has been working to bring researchers and professors into one building.
Because of private donations, his dream has been realized.
"We got $10 million and not a cent into the state (funds)," Ewy said.
Not only did the center get donations for construction of the new facility, they also got a boost in the form of endowments - which earmark funds for specific uses.
A painting of the largest donor, Helen Lovaas, currently sits on the floor of Ewy's office. Once the administration moves to the new facility, he plans to hang the artwork in a prominent location.
Ewy added Lovaas' endowment will be used to hire world-class researchers.
"What makes Harvard and Stanford the best? In a way, they are well-endowed. As a school becomes more endowed, they attract the best and get the best," he said.
Cramped facilities are hampering the advancement and distinction of Sarver.
"Right now I couldn't hire a Nobel laureate because we don't have any place to put them," Ewy said.
With adequate facilities and a foundation built on research, education and patient care, the director said the UA Sarver Heart Center will garner greater respect from the national medical community.
While a new facility will help the UA Sarver Heart Center grow into a research giant, the fact remains that without money, scientific breakthroughs would not become a reality.
Nearly two months ago, an $8.8 million grant was awarded to UA Sarver Heart Center researchers, which gives the go-ahead for five separate projects working toward a common goal - understanding how the heart develops.
"We now become one of the top three or four in heart development across the country," said Raymond Runyan, UA associate professor of cell biology and anatomy.
The five projects being investigated revolve around the development of the heart during embryo growth in the womb.
Runyan will be examining the formation of heart valves. His fellow researchers will look at how to separate cells to create heart valves, investigate heart muscle development using frogs, explore how the human heart contracts and examine a mouse missing vital enzymes.
Runyan said that once the normal mechanisms of the vital organ are completely understood, doctors will be able to detect and correct heart problems in developing fetuses.
The number of abortions and still-births could decline as a result of the research as well, he added.
UA professor of cell biology and anatomy Paul Krieg said that for a center known for clinical research and less for scientific research, this project could balance the focus of the facility.
"What this does is add substantially to the science side of the Sarver Heart Center," said Krieg, who is conducting the project on heart muscle development.
Researchers are focusing on a common problem, which means more can be achieved.
"One percent of all children are born with heart defects," he said. "We need to understand how a normal heart forms first."
