This project is just the beginning. The Dunlevies’ gift kick-starts an ambitious renewal throughout the West Building. The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health is seeking additional philanthropic support to expand and enhance the neonatal intensive care units and postpartum maternity rooms in the coming years.
“Through Elizabeth and Bruce’s profound commitment, we will be able to learn more, move faster and make a bigger difference for the sickest mothers and babies,” said Cynthia Brandt, PhD, president and CEO of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. “They are setting an example of true philanthropy, of love and concern for others. As we launch a fundraising campaign for mothers and babies, we hope that many more community members will join us in this important mission.”
Advancing the science of maternal-fetal medicine
The Dunlevies’ gift also provides $30 million to further develop a world-class maternal-fetal medicine program at the School of Medicine. The hospital already treats complex fetal disorders. Yet with nearly two-thirds of the expectant mothers at Packard Children’s Hospital being high-risk, there is potential to do more for mothers with underlying conditions such as heart disease, cancer, epilepsy and diabetes, and for pressing obstetrical issues, including preterm labor, placenta accreta, hemorrhage and cesarean-delivery prevention.
The program will recruit additional faculty to accelerate discovery — starting from basic science to understand the earliest part of human development, translating findings from the lab into clinical care and disseminating strategies to improve maternal outcomes across California, the nation and the globe.
“In our mission to advance precision health, there is no better place to start than at the beginning,” said Lloyd Minor, MD, the dean of the School of Medicine. “During the crucial period from pre-conception through pregnancy and a baby’s first days, we have the opportunity to improve the trajectory of entire lives. So many families will benefit from the people, programs and facilities that will receive support from the Dunlevies’ visionary gift.”
“We are so fortunate to have Elizabeth and Bruce as long-standing champions of Stanford University, Stanford Medicine and Packard Children’s Hospital,” said Marc Tessier-Lavigne, president of Stanford University. “Their wisdom and hard work are invaluable to advancing our shared missions to improve human health. In these deeply challenging times, the Dunlevies’ philanthropy provides welcome hope for the well-being of current and future generations. We are immensely grateful.”
Bruce has served on the board of trustees of Stanford University and as chairman of the board of the Stanford Management Company. As chair of the public spaces task force at Packard Children’s Hospital, Elizabeth shaped the family-friendly artwork, gardens and experiential details of the Main Building as well as recent updates in the West Building.
The Dunlevies’ prior gifts to Packard Children’s Hospital and Stanford Medicine have included generous investments for the Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, the Dunlevie Family Professorship in Pediatrics, the Dwight and Vera Dunlevie Professorship in Pediatric Cardiology, the Elizabeth Wood Dunlevie Professorship and the Dunlevie Garden.