Perfect partners

Professor and president join to fund cardiovascular disease endowment

S. Adil Husain, M.D., and his wife, Rebecca Husain, have established an endowment for cardiothoracic surgical fellows and pediatric residents.

S. Adil Husain, M.D., and his wife, Rebecca Husain, have established an endowment to fund study and travel for cardiothoracic surgical fellows and pediatric residents.

The Husain Family Educational Fund in Pediatric and Adult Cardiovascular Disease was funded by an initial $15,000 gift, with an additional $30,000 to be given over the next two years. Health Science Center President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, has designated matching funds through community gifts to the President’s Council, bringing the endowment’s value to $78,750.

“It’s a true partnership between my family, the university and the community,” Dr. Husain said. “I’m very honored and humbled.”

The fund will pay for one cardio-thoracic surgical fellow each year to travel for one to two months to other institutions to learn novel techniques.

“We want to afford them the opportunity to go to other institutions to learn some unique, surgical technical skills, but we don’t want to burden them with the financial costs of doing that,” Dr. Husain said.

The fund will also cover the cost of sending one pediatric resident with an interest in pediatric heart disease each year to a national pediatric cardiology conference.

“They are exposed to people who are leaders in the field and to a highly focused set of lectures over a short period of time. I think it fertilizes and fosters their interest in the area of pediatric heart disease,” he said, adding that he values his relationships with pediatricians and appreciates all the gifts he has received in his own life, from the expertise and guidance of mentors, to the support of fellow trainees and family.

Dr. Husain joined the Health Science Center in 2008. He is a professor within the departments of cardiothoracic surgery and pediatrics, chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery and holds the William Randolph Hearst Chair in Congenital Heart Disease funded by The Hearst Foundations, with a matching gift from the Greehey Family Foundation. Dr. Husain also is associate program director of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship Training Program and is surgeon-in-chief for pediatric services at University Health System.