Fayez K. Ghishan, MD PANDA Endowed Directorship
This year marks Dr. Fayez K. Ghishan’s 25th anniversary as director of the Steele Children’s Research Center. To celebrate this momentous occasion and honor Dr. Ghishan for his transformative work and dedication to saving the lives of children everywhere, PANDA created an Endowed Directorship in Dr. Ghishan’s name, the Fayez K. Ghishan MD, PANDA Endowed Directorship.
The $5 million endowment is comprised of $1.5 million from PANDA, $1.5 million in gifts from two anonymous PANDA members, and a $2 million gift from PANDA member Jacquie Dorrance and her family. With this endowment, PANDA has created $11 million in endowments at the Steele Children’s Research Center since 2013. PANDA members surprised Dr. Ghishan with the news during an August 29, 2020 PANDA event held via video conference.
DR. GHISHAN’S VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Funds from the Endowed Directorship will be used to fuel powerful research initiatives and invest in future physician-scientists. Dr. Ghishan is passionate about teaching and training future pediatricians who are motivated to lead in their fields as both practicing clinicians and as research scientists. Dr. Ghishan’s team is actively pursuing cures for the youngest sufferers of autoimmune diseases, so that they may avoid a lifetime of illness, and are working to advance personalized medicine to find the most effective treatments for individual patients.
HOW DOES AN ENDOWMENT WORK?
Donations to the endowment are invested as principal and never spent. Then, every year in perpetuity, an average 4% interest payout will be awarded to Dr. Ghishan to direct toward research, programs, and initiatives to improve children’s health. You can join us in honoring Dr. Ghishan today through a gift to PANDA. Your gift goes towards increasing the endowment, which in turn increases the annual payout. Donate here.
FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Born in Jordan as the oldest of nine children, Dr. Ghishan credits his mother with instilling in him a desire to pursue medicine. When he was 16 years old, Dr. Ghishan left home with only $30 to his name and a grand ambition to become a doctor. That same year he was accepted into medical school in Turkey, the first step on his journey to becoming a pediatrician. From Dr. Ghishan’s early experiences, he realized most children in the world were dying of diarrheal diseases, which fueled him on his path to become a pediatric gastroenterologist.
AN ARIZONA SUPERSTAR
Dr. Ghishan has made it his life’s work to transform the lives of as many children as possible and put an end to childhood suffering. Today, he is internationally recognized for his research in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition and is a passionate advocate for children’s health. As a physician-researcher, he has received two MERIT awards from the National Institutes of Health, a distinction achieved by less than 1% of scientists in the U.S.
“If I spend an hour with one child, I help one child. If I spend an hour in the lab, I help 1,000 children.”
-Dr. Fayez K. Ghishan
