Team Upstate sets new records for giving and participation at Heart Walk

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- Upstate Medical University set new records for giving and participation in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s annual Heart Walk event.

Team Upstate raised $48,468 this year; that’s nearly 28 percent more than 2014’s total and amounts to nearly 10 percent of the association’s total take at the event.

And as for participation, 704 members of the Upstate community and friends walked or ran in the event, held at Onondaga Community College March 28. 2015 was the first year Upstate’s participation in the event topped 700. Upstate added 133 participants from last year’s total and broke a previous record for participation of 670 that was set in 2010.

“The support from our employees, various offices and departments is so gratifying,” said Zanette Howe, who serves as one of the coordinators of Team Upstate’s participation in the event. “We would not be nearly as successful if it weren’t for our Heart Walk team captains, who have really taken ownership of this event and increased our participation as a result of their enthusiasm and hard work.”

Franklin Fry, executive director of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association of the Greater Syracuse Division, is grateful for the support Upstate offers. “We at the American Heart Association are incredibly thankful for the support of Upstate Medical University. Your efforts at the Syracuse Heart Walk are truly making a difference in the Central New York community.”

Upstate was present at the Heart Walk in many ways. Not only did it bring the largest crowd to the event, but members of Upstate’s Comprehensive Stroke Center team were out in force offering Heart Walk participants healthy doses of stroke awareness information. Additionally, the Heart Walk’s inspirational speaker was retired Onondaga County Undersheriff Warren Darby, who was treated for a stroke at Upstate. Darby has been speaking locally about his care at Upstate and the stroke survivorship.

The money raised at the Heart Walk helps support advocacy, education and research, including some studies at Upstate.

A recent American Heart Association grant, totaling $308,000, was awarded to Vladimir A. Sirotkin, PhD, to study the development of the actin-myosin filament contractile apparatus of heart and skeletal muscle. Other Upstate faculty members receiving AHA research support have included Steven Taffett, PhD; David Pruyne, PhD; Michael Princiotta, PhD; Jeffrey Amack, PhD; Guangliang Wang, PhD; Jianxin Yu, PhD; Danielle Sliter, PhD; Bogdan Mitrea, PhD; and Styliani Goulopoulou.

Caption: Upstate’s various offices and departments showed up in force for the Syracuse Heart Walk to benefit the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.