Children's Heart Program

Among the nation’s premier pediatric cardiology centers, our Children’s Heart Program continues its philanthropic campaign to expand its pioneering clinical care, research, and training efforts for the benefit of children throughout Maryland and beyond.

Dancing, watching sports, chatting with friends — all of these activities and more are enjoyed by 15-year-old Amari Hall, a larger-than-life teen born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), which severely limited his heart’s ability to pump blood throughout his body. When Amari’s condition recently grew critical, the Children’s Heart Program team at the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital (UMCH) came together to perform a lifesaving heart transplant, allowing him to once again shuffle his dancing feet as he left the hospital.

Amari is just one of countless children whose outcomes have dramatically improved through the efforts of cardiologists, surgeons, caregivers, and researchers at the UMCH Children’s Heart Program. Thanks to the fundraising campaign for the program, this remarkable team will continue to expand its reach to help thousands more children with heart disease in the future.

Combining Clinical and Research Excellence with Community Commitment

Offering every expertise in the diagnosis and management of pediatric heart diseases, the Children’s Heart Program features highly specialized resources designed to meet the unique needs of young patients with cardiovascular conditions. The program provides the very latest treatment strategies, resources, and technologies, including sophisticated imaging technology needed to diagnose babies with congenital heart disease in utero, and to determine prenatal care and birth plans that give infants and mothers the best outcomes.

While the team members bring a wealth of preeminent experience to the care of pediatric heart diseases, the team is also on the leading-edge of scientific investigations into the causes and best possible treatments for children’s heart conditions. This high-level research coincides with the Children’s Heart Program’s patient outcomes.

In addition to routinely measuring outcomes, the team also spends the critical time necessary to deeply understand and analyze them, helping to further hone their skills and advance the overarching quality of care they provide to patients.

Joining in this effort are several prominent pediatric cardiologists, specializing in areas such as non- invasive imaging, electrophysiology, and interventional cardiology. All of these extraordinary clinicians share a dual commitment to outstanding care and community outreach.

An equal amount of dedication exists among program researchers, who constantly seek to make scientific advances that extend to as many children as possible. These investigators study the broad spectrum of factors that contribute to pediatric heart diseases, such as childhood obesity and pediatric hypertension. They also focus their research on ways to reduce and prevent sudden death in infants and children.

The Crucial Need to Grow

In just a decade, the Children’s Heart Program has emerged as a leader in pediatric cardiology and makes groundbreaking discoveries, maintains high-quality patient outcomes, and brings comprehensive and compassionate care to critically ill children.

Philanthropy is essential to continue the expansion of the Children’s Heart Program and the remarkable work of the medical team.

Our ongoing campaign goals include: recruiting expert faculty to focus on prenatal treatment and care; continue advancing our groundbreaking research; and purchasing equipment to meet the evolving needs of the patient population. The opportunity to further develop the efforts of the Children’s Heart Program will undoubtedly benefit countless pediatric heart patients in Maryland and beyond.

Your support is needed to ensure the Children’s Heart Program has the continued funding to advance our innovative research and give every child access to the most advanced cardiovascular care they deserve.