At the مرکز قلب کودکان بتی ایرنه مور, exceptional care is not a goal, but a guarantee. So, where do we go next? Our best-in-class physicians, surgeons, and scientists have the audacious aim of curing congenital heart disease (CHD) in این generation.
In honor of American Heart Month, let’s look at the clinical and research advances achieved at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health since last February—all powered by our generous donor community.
Beyond Survival
For the first 75 years of pediatric cardiac care, the goal was simple: survival. In the 1950s, a baby born with a major heart defect had a mere 1% chance of reaching adulthood. Today, thanks to tireless innovation, that number has climbed to over 90%.
While we celebrate this victory, it has revealed a new challenge. Survival does not mean a child is thriving. Many of our patients face lifelong hurdles: multiple re-operations, the risk of organ rejection, physical limitations of repaired heart, and neurodevelopmental and learning differences.
To ensure هر child with CHD can achieve their best possible health, we’ve assembled an exceptional team. At the hospital, clinicians care for kids with innovative surgical approaches and unrivaled wrap-around support. Meanwhile, in the lab, basic scientists work to uncover the genetic causes of CHD. Together, we can find new treatments and, one day soon, a cure.
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Build Healthier Hearts
Where Hope Meets Innovation: Hazel’s Story
The Moore Children’s Heart Center is known as a place of hope, where physicians don’t take “no” for an answer and pursue treatments others call impossible. Take Hazel, for example, who was born with a rare, complex combination of heart defects called Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF). At three weeks old, Hazel’s local doctors told her parents there was nothing more they could do, and she was sent home on hospice. A friend of a friend suggested they try Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.
When he heard Hazel’s story, Dr. Michael Ma, Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, knew he could help. He performed a heart-lung unifocalization, a surgery that Dr. Frank Hanley pioneered at Stanford. But first, Dr. Ma mapped out Hazel’s heart with a custom, 3-D model—his unique approach that promises to improve surgical planning for complex heart defects here and around the world.
امروز، Hazel is a happy toddler reaching milestones like crawling, walking, and dancing. Best of all? Her heart function is normal.
Harnessing AI for Kids with CHD:
Another hallmark of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health is the way collaboration and innovation come together to advance care for children with complex heart conditions. At the forefront of this work is Dr. Shreyas Vasanawala, Division Chief of Pediatric Radiology, a leader in harnessing artificial intelligence to help diagnose some of the most complex childhood disorders.
With their advanced MRI technology, Dr. Vasanawala and his colleagues can now detect complications that might otherwise remain hidden — equipping care teams with the insights they need to act quickly and guide treatment.
In one recent case, the technology pinpointed a previously undetectable complication in a newborn heart patient, enabling surgeons to repair the issue. Moments like this illustrate how innovation is strengthening diagnosis, informing clinical decisions, and helping more children recover and return home to their families.
Comprehensive Care for Kids with Learning Differences
Children with CHD are about 50% more likely to receive special education services—for developmental, behavioral, and learning differences—compared to those without birth defects. The American Heart Association recommends every child with CHD or who has undergone heart surgery in the first year of life receive ongoing support for their cognitive, social, and emotional development.
Led by Dr. Kate Ryan, our Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program is one of a few comprehensive neurodevelopmental clinics on the West Coast offering services as our patients grow. Powered by donor support, the program has a chance to change the lives of countless heart patients. Due to limited resources, Dr. Ryan can only see a tiny fraction of the more than 900 patients who are eligible. Philanthropy could rewrite that story. “It’s not enough to be alive,” says Dr. Ryan. “Kids need to live« ». (یا: « ...
The BASE Initiative: Engineering the End of Heart Disease
The dream of helping every child thrive is exactly why we launched the طرح ابتکاری علوم و مهندسی پایه (BASE). Supported by a transformative gift from Gordon and Betty Moore, our BASE team is working to make CHD a disease of the past.
Geneticist Jesse Engreitz, PhD, is building a comprehensive atlas of how the heart develops. By pinpointing the exact genetic variants that cause heart defects, he is paving the way for curative gene therapies. Developmental biologist Casey Gifford, PhD, and computer scientist Xiaojie Qiu, PhD, use cardiac organoids and virtual, 3D embryos to predict heart defects before a baby is even born. Their work aims to interrupt these defects in utero, shifting the paradigm from repair to total prevention.
Bioengineer Mark Skylar-Scott, PhD, is turning science fiction into reality with his moonshot project of 3D-printing a human heart using a patient’s own cells. Babies and young children who receive a heart transplant end up needing second and even third transplants as donor hearts do not grow. Dr. Skylar-Scott plans to solve this issue—and make the threat of organ rejection obsolete—by bio-printing hearts that grow with کودکان
In a major 2025 breakthrough, Dr. Skylar-Scott’s lab developed a way to design and print complex “vascular trees”—the intricate network of blood vessels needed to keep an organ alive—up to 200 times faster than previous methods.
A Partnership for the Future
Caring for kids with the most complex heart diseases requires philanthropic partners who refuse to accept the status quo. We’re grateful to our forward-thinking, compassionate donor community that empowers scientists to take moonshots, while providing the holistic, support services that every family needs.
As we celebrate American Heart Month, we invite you to join us. Whether it’s by expanding our clinical programs or powering our BASE scientists, your partnership turns the impossible into reality. Together, we aren’t just repairing hearts. We’re rewriting the future for patients like Hazel, who, like all children, deserve to thrive.
Interested in learning more about how you can support the future of pediatric cardiac care? We’d love to connect with you. Please reach out to our Foundation team to schedule a visit to the Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center or read more impact stories.
