The Rogers Foundation has announced a C$90 million ($66.4 million) commitment to the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research (TRCHR) in Toronto. 

Part of a collaborative effort that includes the Hospital for Sick Children, University Health Network (UHN), and the University of Toronto, TRCHR was established in 2014 with a C$130 million ($90 million) commitment from the foundation, and the latest gift will expand the center’s reach. The foundation’s commitment, which will be matched with C$94.2 million ($69.1 million) in institutional support and additional fundraising, will be used to enhance the digital health platform with cutting-edge wearables, novel sensor-based technologies, and AI-enabled algorithms, creating new systems of care. Moreover, the investment will help researchers predict and prevent heart failure by applying artificial intelligence and machine learning analyses to complex patient data and building on early genetic and biomarker research to reveal the underlying mechanisms of heart failure and identify new therapeutic targets for treatment. 

A longtime supporter of TRCHR, Loretta Rogers, who led Rogers Communications after her husband died in 2008 and was a leader of the Rogers Foundation, died in June after battling cancer. According to TRCHR, the center has reduced re-hospitalizations for heart failure at UHN hospitals by 50 percent with its at-home patient management technology and reduced admissions to hospital from the emergency room by 25 percent with a heart failure risk-score algorithm developed by TRCHR. Investigators also have been able to identify children at risk for sudden death by discovering a critical biomarker related to heart failure risk.

“We’re proud to support the work of the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, which was passionately championed by our late mother Loretta from its infancy and reflects her and Ted Rogers’ spirit of innovation, ideals, and vision of cutting-edge care for all,” said Rogers Foundation chair Martha Rogers. “Today marks the start of an exciting new era in heart health, not just for Canadians, but for patients around the globe. Loretta championed this gift at our foundation board table when we finalized our new commitment last November. She was proud of and passionate about the accomplishments of the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research and the promise it held going forward to counter the ravages of heart failure and secure better heart health for everyone.” 

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