About the Foundation

The PHTS Foundation was established in 2010 as a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to raise and administer funds to advance the science and treatment of children while listed for and following heart transplantation. The PHTS Foundation supports the good works of the Pediatric Heart Transplant Society (PHTS).

The Pediatric Heart Transplant Society (PHTS) is dedicated to the advancement of the science and treatment of children during listing for and following heart transplantation. Although there are 500 transplants a year, any individual center may only do a few and even the largest centers rarely do more than 20. It is essential that each center’s experience and information is collected together, analyzed and the lessons learned passed on to everyone to advance the knowledge and improve the treatment of children’s transplants. The purposes of the PHTS are to establish and maintain an international database for heart transplantation, to use the database to encourage and stimulate basic and clinical research in the field of pediatric heart transplantation, and to promote new therapeutic strategies.

Mission

The PHTS Foundation’s mission is to raise and administer funds to advance the science and treatment of children while listed for and following heart transplantation. The Foundation supports the good works of the Pediatric Heart Transplant Society (PHTS).

Fast Facts:

• There are about 500 pediatric heart transplants every year world-wide.
• Most infants (< 1 year old) that get a transplant have congenital heart disease.
• Most older children that get a heart transplant have cardiomyopathy.
• Increasing numbers of children are getting supported by a mechanical device to wait for a heart transplant (14% in 2011 worldwide, 30% in North America).
• Survival continues to improve after a pediatric heart transplant. Over 80% of children are alive 5 years after their transplant. For babies, over 50% are alive 19 years after their transplant.
• About 30% of patients have rejection that needs to be treated in the first year after the transplant.
• Coronary artery vasculopathy (narrowing of the coronary arteries) is still the biggest cause of death long term after the heart transplant.
• There is a lot to learn about problems after a heart transplant in children to improve quality of life and survival of these patients.

Board of Directors

Officers

Heather Henderson, MD
Chair/Secretary
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC
hendhea@musc.edu

Scott Auerbach, MD
PHTS President
Children’s Hospital of Colorado
Denver, Colorado
Scott.Auerbach@childrenscolorado.org

James Kirklin, MD (Ex-Officio)
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
jkirklin@uabmc.edu

Craig Collum, MPH (Ex-Officio)
Executive Director
Birmingham, AL
phtsfexecutivedirector@gmail.com

Micheal Kuhn, MD
Loma Linda University Medical Center
Loma Linda, CA
mkuhn@llu.edu

Jay Fricker, MD
University of Florida, Shands Hospital
Gainesville, FL
frickfj@ufl.edu

Mariah Trowbridge, MSN, CPNP–AC/PC, CCTC
Children’s of Alabama
Birmingham, AL
mariah.trowbridge@childrensal.org

Mike Paseornek
Lion’s Gate Entertainment
Santa Monica, CA