The Johns Hopkins Heart Institute last week announced
a $1.5 million gift from the Mirowski
Family Foundation for cardiovascular research. The Michel
Mirowski, M.D. Discovery Fund, named in
honor of Mirowski and his wife, Anna, will support
researchers pursuing novel ideas not yet eligible for
traditional sources of funding.
Mirowski, who died in 1990, conceived the idea of an
implantable defibrillator, and he led the
team that designed and tested the implantable cardioverter
defibrillator, the first alternative to
drugs and surgery for the treatment of life-threatening
heart rhythm disturbances.
"Michel Mirowski knew how difficult it could be to be
an innovator," said Edward D. Miller, the
Frances Watt Baker, M.D., and Lenox D. Baker Jr., M.D.,
dean of the medical faculty at the School of
Medicine and chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins
Medicine. "This gift is a fitting tribute to his
life and work and ensures that his legacy of ingenuity and
determination will continue through today's
research pioneers."
The Michel Mirowski, M.D., Discovery Fund will provide
funding for innovative proposals from
investigators at any level of seniority, working in any
area of research in cardiovascular medicine.
Requests for application will begin in 2010, and the
process is open to all members of the Hopkins
School of Medicine community.
Gordon Tomaselli, the Michel Mirowski, M.D., Professor
of Medicine at Johns Hopkins, said,
"Michel, with the support of his wife, Anna, helped shape
the history of cardiovascular care around
the world. This gift from their family is a perfect tribute
to their commitment, both scientific and
philanthropic, to improving outcomes for patients and
ensuring that promising researchers will be
given the support they need." Tomaselli is also chief of
cardiology at Johns Hopkins and co-director of
the institute.
Born in Warsaw, Poland, Mirowski was the only member
of his family to survive the Holocaust.
After World War II, he went to France and attended medical
school in Lyon, where he met and
married his wife. He completed his residency in Israel, at
Tel Hashomer Hospital. This was followed by
a cardiology fellowship at the Institute of Cardiology in
Mexico City and a pediatric cardiology
fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He returned to
Israel in 1962 to become the chief of
cardiology at Asaf Horofeh Hospital.
After the death of his mentor in 1966 from sudden
cardiac death, Mirowski conceived of an
implantable device that could save patients from
ventricular arrhythmias. Unable to gain funding for
his idea in Israel, he came to Baltimore to pursue his
research. In 1968, he became the first director
of the coronary care unit at Sinai Hospital, where he
conducted his research and developed the initial
implantable cardioverter defibrillator with Morton Mower.
The two men had to overcome tremendous
skepticism and received no external support. The first
human implant was performed at The Johns
Hopkins Hospital in 1980. Today, millions of patients
worldwide have benefited from the implantable
defibrillator.
This gift brings total commitments to the Johns
Hopkins Knowledge for the World campaign to
more than $2.8 billion. Priorities of the campaign, which
benefits both The Johns Hopkins University
and The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, include
strengthening the endowment for student
aid and faculty support; advancing research, academic and
clinical initiatives; and building and
upgrading facilities on all campuses. The campaign began in
July 2000.