Peter Kwiterovich Endowment

Peter Kwiterovich

Since 1972, the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center has treated both adult and pediatric patients with lipid disorders in our Lipid Clinic. The clinic was founded and directed by Dr. Peter Kwiterovich Jr., an internationally known expert on lipid disorders. It was the first in the country to focus on the whole family. Dr. Kwiterovich’s research led to a new understanding of early-onset heart disease and new therapies to slow or halt the progression of heart disease and avert premature death for thousands of individuals.

Lipid disorders are often the underlying cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death and disability in the USA. In fact, about one in four children have abnormal lipid levels. Lipid disorders, particularly those that run in families, frequently present in childhood and adolescence, leading to the development of CVD later in life. Unlike most other pediatric diseases, lipid disorders often require medical care that spans a lifetime. Our clinic is designed to care for children and adults alike.

Dr. Kwiterovich established the Lipid Clinic not only to provide first-class care to generations of patients but to research lipid disorders: to understand the evolution of atherosclerotic vascular disease from adolescence onward. It is imperative that we continue the research that Dr. Kwiterovich pioneered along with his strong commitment to patients and families. His commitment was so great that he worked tirelessly even during his own illness. He died on August 15, 2014, after a long battle with prostate cancer.

To ensure that his vibrant research and clinic can continue to bring about ever improving care for families, we are creating an endowment to name the Dr. Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr. Lipid Clinic. The endowment funding will allow us to continue to maintain excellence in management of patients with complex lipid disorders and stay at the forefront of new investigation to lead to improved treatments. Endowed funds also help to ensure both the availability of immediate support as well as long-term financial security for the Lipid Clinic.

Given Dr. Kwiterovich’s love and long tenure of teaching several generations of students, house staff, fellows, patients and their families, it seems fitting to have a lecture, too, in his name. The lecture will help ensure that the lipid clinic’s research (to advance the field) and comprehensive, compassionate approach to medical care can be extended to clinics and hospitals beyond Johns Hopkins, as well to our own clinicians in multiple disciplines. The Dr. Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr. Lecture in Lipid Disorders will take place during Grand Rounds and the speaker will spend time with faculty and residents. This would be a valuable educational component for the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

The minimum funding required for the clinic and lectureship endowments is $650,000.

Philanthropy sparks innovation and is our hope for the future. With your support, we will continue to advance the science of lipid disorders and management, develop new treatments, and save more lives. Your generosity will directly impact patients and families, and the medical community that seeks to help them.

The story of Johns Hopkins is — at its heart — a story of philanthropy. Both the Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System owe their existence, and their continuing excellence, to the generosity of private individuals. In the philanthropic tradition of Baltimore merchant Johns Hopkins, Henry Johnston and his wife Harriet Lane Johnston bequeathed funds for the creation of a children’s hospital. The Johnstons were grieving parents who lost their own children to rheumatic fever at the turn of the 20th century. To this day, philanthropy continues to fuel our research endeavors and brings lab-based discoveries and new-found hope right to the bedside, the operating room and the clinics.

Hopkins Children’s has ensured healthier futures for generations of children around the world for more than 100 years. The Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children — our predecessor — was the first pediatric hospital in the country to be affiliated with an academic research institution, Johns Hopkins University. Today, Johns Hopkins pediatric medicine continues to innovate and apply its discoveries to help return children’s futures, and preserve them, by preventing adult onset diseases in childhood.

Since 1912, the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center has been revolutionizing pediatric medicine and saving lives. Please join us in our mission to create an endowment to perpetuate the legacy of a tremendous clinician, the promise of his discovery and the futures of generations to come.  For questions or more information, please contact the Office of Development, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center at 410-361-6493.

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Dr. Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr. Memorial Service

Watch the Dr. Kwiterovich entire memorial service on YouTube.