This holiday season, more than one woman treated by the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Heart Center is celebrating with her family because our gender-specific heart care saves lives.

Without the generous support of Barbra Streisand and other forward-thinking donors, we would not be privileged to make this statement. Because Barbra and many others believe in our work, we have made great progress in understanding how women’s hearts are different from men’s and treating women accordingly. But we have more knowledge to gain and more hearts to heal.

As 2010 draws to a close, I am once again asking for your support of Barbra’s most recent initiative on our behalf: her partnership with Crowdrise, an online fundraising community that unites people to raise money for causes they believe in. Over $100,000 has been raised for the Women’s Heart Center through Crowdrise, but more support is needed to meet Barbra’s goal of $250,000.

To those of you who have already given, thank you. If you have not yet had a chance to learn about Barbra’s Crowdrise project, please take a moment to visit www.crowdrise.com/barbrastreisand and consider joining her to defeat women’s heart disease. While you are there, look for the instructions for downloading a new mobile application that provides valuable information on heart disease in women and on ways to stay heart healthy.

Barbra says, “It gives me hope to know that the Women’s Heart Center is here for women.” We are here, and we want to continue to do the research and provide the education and treatment that will help women everywhere win against heart disease.

Again, my sincerest thanks to all of you, and I wish you and your family and friends a healthy and prosperous 2011.

Warm regards,

C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, FACC, FAHA
Medical Director, Women’s Heart Center
Women’s Guild Endowed Chair in Women’s Health
Director, Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center
Professor of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute