Healthcare & Medical Research
Piper Trust’s Commitment
Quality, accessible healthcare and disease prevention are essential for all residents
- Quality, accessible care is acutely important for Maricopa County residents at three critical stages–early childhood, adolescence, and later life.
- Limited access to preventive healthcare signals long-term problems with chronic diseases.
Personalized medicine, biosignatures and the promise of cost-effective healthcare
- Arizona has become a center for biomedical research and biomedical enterprises and attracts world-renowned clinical and research experts in biomedicine.
- The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University are at the center of international research focused on personalized medicine.
Our Approach and What We Fund
1. Improve Facilities for Children, Adolescents and Older Adults
Capital investments such as expanded children’s emergency rooms and neonatal intensive care units bring improved healthcare.
Enhancing geriatric facilities directly advances the quality of healthcare for older adults.
2. Better Trained Healthcare Workforce
Integrating child development principles and practices into pediatric medicine magnifies the effectiveness of children’s healthcare. The model Healthy Steps program successfully teaches pediatric residents about childhood development requirements not taught in the typical medical curriculum.
Training in geriatrics and end-of-life care expands perspectives beyond traditional medical models. Hospice of the Valley creates palliative medicine curricula for medical students, residents and the hospital care team. The Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence at ASU College of Nursing and Health Innovations trains a new generation of nurses to serve older adults.
3. Increased Access to Basic Healthcare
Uninsured and underinsured people and families require preventive and acute health services easily accessible to their neighborhoods and communities. Mobile medical vans and free-standing community health clinics serve this need. Mobile units like Mission of Mercy medical vans circulate in Maricopa County, and the Virginia G. Piper Medical and Dental Clinics at St. Vincent de Paul offer free medical services in areas of most need.
4. Centers for Advancement in Personalized Medicine
Special Trust Initiated Investments:
Piper Trust has invested in building regional distinction in biosciences, particularly personalized medicine. The initiative includes support for the Center for Sustainable Health and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Personal Diagnostics (both within the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University). The Centers work to improve health outcomes at lower costs by sustaining health through the prevention and early detection of disease.
Foremost researchers and faculty with the Center for Sustainable Heath, including Nobel laureate Dr. Leland Hartwell, and Director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Personal Diagnostics and Piper Chair in Personalized Medicine Dr. Joshua LaBaer, promote Arizona as a magnet for personalized medicine internationally.
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN) has also been a significant partner in this initiative. Under the leadership of distinguished scientist Dr. Jeffery Trent, TGEN collaborates with the biosciences community worldwide and continues to advance personalized, precision medicine—the right medication, at the right dose, to the right person, at the right time.
Another example of Piper Trust’s support in this focus area is the within the Scottsdale Healthcare Research Institute. Led by world-renowned cancer physician and researcher Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, the Institute is producing significant results and garnering global recognition for its breakthrough clinical trials and innovative therapies.