The importance of making a gift to the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute cannot be overemphasized. Reimbursement for patient services from various government and private insurers cover only a portion of the cost of patient care. By supporting our efforts, you will allow us to carry on our tradition of excellence in patient care and research. Your generosity is the key to our success and represents an opportunity for all of us to make a difference.
Your contribution can be designated for a specific program at the Starzl Institute or in support of the Institute’s area of greatest need.
To make an unrestricted immediate contribution to the department with an outright gift of cash.
Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute Development Department
Forbes Tower, Suite 8084
3600 Forbes Avenue at Meyran Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
For more information about making a gift to STI, please contact the Starzl Institute development director at 412-647-8463 or scsandee@pmhsf.org.
Frank Sarris knows quality. He grew his business, Sarris Candies, based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, from the basement of his home to two locations and a 120,000- square-foot production facility. His success, he will tell you, comes from never compromising on quality.
Quality also shaped Frank’s positive experience as a kidney transplant recipient at the Starzl Institute. His transplant was from a living, non-related donor, at a time when most living kidney donors were related to the recipient. Frank was also one of the first patients to benefit from a protocol pioneered at the Starzl Institute that greatly reduces the amount of immunosuppressive (anti-rejection) medication that patients need after receiving a donor organ.
After his transplant, with his quality of life restored, Frank is back at his candy store, making life a little sweeter for others. He and his wife, Athena, decided to support the ongoing clinical research that made his experience possible. They created the Sarris Clinical Endowment — the first of its kind at the Starzl Institute — to support these clinical advances. This new fund will ensure that more improvements in care will bring better outcomes to future generations of patients. And that truly is a very sweet gift.