Steven Gootter was an entrepreneur with a heart so big that sudden cardiac death hasn’t stopped it.
His love of innovation, optimism and philanthropic spirit continue to pulse through the community and beyond as a result of the Steven M. Gootter Foundation, which will stage the 16th Annual Gootter Grand Slam Gala virtually at 6 p.m. Friday, April 30 at www.gootter.org.
The free event is open to the public and will offer a short program and a distinctive online auction.
It’s a fitting fundraising platform for the nonprofit that supports increasingly cutting-edge research and technology as it seeks to save lives by defeating sudden cardiac death, particularly in the era of COVID-19.
“Everyone thinks that COVID is respiratory, but we are learning that it affects lots of different organs in the body, including the heart. Recent studies show that myocarditis, or scarring of the heart tissue, affects 60% of COVID-19 survivors, and for some people that can lead to sudden cardia death. The awareness we have created about sudden cardiac death has helped build a large donor and support base that has allowed us to provide life-saving automated external defibrillators and state-of-the-art research to the community,” said Andrew Messing, president of the foundation.
Messing said foundation-supported technology is revolutionary. He cited one example as the Mentice G7+ Simulator, a device used in the training of physicians for procedures utilized to treat survivors of cardiac arrest.
The foundation recently provided the lead gift for the simulator, founding the Steven M. Gootter Foundation Cardiovascular Simulation Center at the Sarver Heart Center at the University of Arizona. Steven Gootter died from sudden cardiac death in 2005.
“Heart surgeries are becoming more and more complex and a simulator provides a way for skilled physicians to learn new procedures and to train medical students, nurses and others who work in the cath lab. There are people who have been saved from sudden cardiac death, but these people often have serious cardiac disease and we think the more time health-care professionals get on the simulator, the better results they will have with these complex procedures,” said Messing.
Since its inception 16 years ago, the foundation has supported more than $5 million in innovative research, including the Steven M. Gootter Endowed Chair for the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Disease at the UA as well as numerous investigator awards at Sarver Heart Center and Stanford University.
Messing is particularly excited about a recent investigator award to Zachary Frankman, a UA graduate student in biomedical engineering who is developing heart models on which to test medications in lieu of widely used animal models. The models are created of tissue-engineered, 3-D heart chambers constructed around electro-pneumatic transducers; the project is a collaborative effort with Jared Churko, assistant professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the UA.
“This is an example of the type of research collaboration we like to support. A biomedical engineer is teaming up with a scientist who is an expert in induced pluripotent stem cells. Zachary is basically taking human heart stem cells and creating tissue that will go around an artificial heart created in a 3-D printer to allow for sure measurements of physiological function. They can analyze the contractions the artificial heart makes once the drugs are applied to the stem cells. This is cutting-edge, fascinating stuff,” said Messing.
The 3-D model hearts are relatively inexpensive to produce and offer a potentially new and more accurate system for testing the impact of drugs used in treatment of sudden cardiac disease, heart disease and illnesses such as COVID-19, according to Messing.
“One of the reasons it takes so long to get drugs approved by the FDA is the need to go through all sorts of testing to find the ultimate impact on the heart. This is an inexpensive and fast way to see if there is an impact,” Messing said.
Along those lines, the foundation also provided a seed grant to the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute to test drugs commonly used to treat COVID-19 on the stem cells of patients with heart diseases such as cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Long QT Syndrome.
“Definitely they have seen a rise in SCD during COVID. Part of that is many people who might have certain symptoms would go straight to the hospital prior to COVID and now everyone is trying to avoid hospitals. At Stanford, they were concerned that four common drugs used to treat COVID — including Remdesivir and Azithromycin — could potentially have adverse effects on people with genetic heart diseases, so they are testing their stem cells to see if they have a negative impact. The last thing they want to do is give COVID patients a drug that would make things worse or cause potential fatality,” Messing said.
COVID-19 has also reinforced the need for the foundation’s donation of defibrillators in Southern Arizona locations where people work, play and worship as well as in vehicles of first responders, who Messing said have been on the “front line in saving lives during the pandemic.”
To date, the Gootter Foundation has placed more than 350 defibrillators throughout the community, including 160 in patrol cars throughout Tucson, Marana, Oro Valley and Sahuarita. Recent grants from supporters such as the Million Dollar Round Table, the Sundt Foundation and Fiesta Bowl Charities will support distribution of defibrillators to additional shelters, nonprofit organizations and organized youth sports teams in Southern Arizona.
“Athletes may be unaware that they have had COVID and that it may have affected their hearts, so placement of AEDs at all athletic competition venues is more critically needed than ever, for athletes as well as the spectators,” said Messing.
Moving forward, Messing said they are hopeful that supporters will gather in-person for the gala next year. In the meantime, the virtual event will provide a chance to broadcast awareness that sudden cardiac death takes more than 335,000 lives each year as the leading cause of natural death nationwide.
“We view this as a great opportunity to reach a lot of people around the country, including friends and family who may not have been able to participate before. We are hoping they will be moved by the video and perhaps participate in the auction,” Messing said.
Although the format has changed, the event’s iconic auction remains known for its distinctive offerings such as a vintage convertible Mercedes and a vacation package to San Carlos complete with transportation by private jet. Other packages include vacations in Hawaii and Taos and getaways to Miraval, several Ritz-Carlton properties and much more.
