Newswise — June 1, 2011 – Oakland, Calif. – Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland announced today a $1 million gift from The Clorox Company to support research with an aim of developing a vaccine against meningococcal disease – a potentially deadly bacterial infection that affects millions of children and young adults throughout the world.
The gift establishes The Clorox Endowed Chair for Immunobiology & Vaccine Development at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), supporting the groundbreaking research of Dan Granoff, MD, a physician scientist who played a major role in the development and evaluation of vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae in children. Dr. Granoff is also the author or co-author of more than 175 peer-reviewed research articles in areas of microbiology and vaccine research.
“Clorox is thrilled to partner with Children’s in the fight against this devastating disease,” said Donald R. Knauss, Chairman and CEO of The Clorox Company. “Establishing this chair and the research it will foster aligns strategically with our company’s global cause platform to safeguard family well-being with a focus on infection prevention.”
Bertram Lubin, MD, President and CEO of Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, agrees. “Our shared vision of a world free of meningococcal disease translates into potentially preventing disease in millions of children and young adults,” said Dr. Lubin. “Children’s is excited and humbled by this transformative and generous gift.”
Meningococcal bacteria cause potentially deadly infections triggering meningitis and sepsis -- a serious whole-body inflammatory state that is especially virulent among infants and young adults -- in Africa, the United States, and Europe. Dr. Granoff’s laboratory focuses on Group B strain and on vaccines for prevention of epidemics in Africa caused by other strains.
The Clorox Endowed Chair for Immunobiology & Vaccine Development at CHORI will allow Dr. Granoff to expand his vaccine research against meningococcal disease, and in the years ahead, recruit his replacement at the Research Institute.
“I am confident that a successful vaccine can be made to control meningococcal disease,” said Dr. Dan Granoff. “This generous gift from The Clorox Company brings us closer than ever to finding a means for eradicating this devastating bacterial infection.”
About The Clorox CompanyThe Clorox Company is a leading manufacturer and marketer of consumer products with 8,300 employees and fiscal year 2010 revenues of $5.2 billion. Clorox markets some of consumers' most trusted and recognized brand names, including its namesake bleach, cleaning and disinfecting products. Since 2008, the company has been focused on a platform to “stop the spread of infection” as a source of growth and also as a matter of human welfare. Clorox is dedicated to educating the public about the steps they can take to help protect themselves and their families from germs that can cause illness and to help prevent the spread of viruses. For more information about Clorox, please visit TheCloroxCompany.com.
About Children’s Hospital & Research Center OaklandChildren’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland is Northern California’s only independent not-for-profit regional medical center for children, and is a national leader in many pediatric specialties and sub-specialties including hematology/oncology, neonatology, cardiology, orthopedics, sports medicine, and neurosurgery. The hospital is one of only two solely designated California Level 1 pediatric trauma centers, and has the largest pediatric inpatient critical care unit in the region. Children’s Hospital has 190 licensed beds, 201 hospital-based physicians in 30 specialties, more than 2,700 employees, and an annual operating budget of more than $350 million. Children’s is also a premier teaching hospital with an outstanding pediatric residency program and unique pediatric subspecialty fellowship programs.
Children’s research program, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), is internationally-renowned for taking state-of-the-art basic and clinical research and translating it into interventions for treating and preventing human diseases. CHORI has 300 investigative staff members, a budget of about $50 million, and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 research centers in National Institutes of Health funding to children’s hospitals. For more information, go to www.childrenshospitaloakland.org and www.chori.org.
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