Upstate gears up for Heart Walk April 1

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association made it official this week: Upstate Medical University was the top corporate fundraiser for last year’s Heart Walk.

The award-winning Upstate team enlisted 653 participants and raised $42, 812. That means nearly one out of every five Heart Walk participants were associated with Upstate, and more than 8 percent of the total proceeds raised at the Heart Walk were from Upstate.

The award was presented at Upstate’s annual Heart Walk kick off, held Jan. 24, where Upstate staff members, serving as team captains for the Heart Walk, gathered to hear details of this year’s walk, which is set for Saturday, April 1 at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College.

Upstate President Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD, thanked the Upstate community and especially those staff members who serve as team captains for the outstanding work and bringing recognition to the university as the top fundraiser at the Heart Walk.

Laraque-Arena said she was grateful for the partnership with the heart and stroke association and noted Upstate’s work at fighting heart disease takes place on various fronts, including clinical care, research and community education.

Joseph Sanger, PhD, professor and chair of the Department Cell and Developmental Biology, added his thanks to the heart and stroke association and to Upstate’s Heart Walk team for raising the resources for Upstate to work at finding new cures and a new understanding of the underlying causes of heart disease.

Sanger noted that two faculty members in his department, Jeffrey Amack, PhD, and David W. Pruyne, PhD, received research grants from the American Heart Association before winning grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Association officials also recognized Upstate team captains for their outstanding work in supporting the Heart Walk. Those honored include Cheryl Brown, Yvonne Goodman, Zanette Howe, Amy Nesbitt, Beth Sellers, Richard Veenstra, PhD, Danielle Wheeler Vickery and Patty Warga, who was the top individual Upstate fundraiser for the Heart Walk last year, raising $2,736.

To register to participate in this year’s Heart Walk, go to Heart Walk.

On-site registration for the Heart Walk will be held on the Downtown Campus March 1 on the second floor of Upstate University Hospital from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on the Community Campus March 2 in the cafeteria from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The money raised at the Heart Walk helps support advocacy, education and research.

Caption: Upstate Medical University President Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD, fourth from left, accepts honors from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association as Upstate was recognized as the top corporate fundraiser for the 2016 Heart Walk. Also honored for their work as team captains for the Heart Walk, were Upstate employees, from left, Patty Warga, Beth Sellers, Laraque-Arena, Zanette Howe and Yvonne Goodman. Franklin Fry, executive director of the Greater Syracuse Division of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, is at left.