Making A Difference

Why is philanthropic support important to Yale’s Department of Surgery? Because, at no point in history has medical research made advances at the current breathtaking pace. We seek donors who wish to participate in pushing the boundaries of medical and surgical knowledge in ways that will benefit all of our patients. Gifts from individuals, grateful patients and families, corporations and foundations allow our physician scientists to apply their energy and expertise to the pursuit of new and novel innovations in a wide range of surgeries and trauma management. By supporting Yale Surgery, you invest in our tripartite mission to provide world-class patient care, train the best and brightest surgeons of the future, and conduct cutting-edge research that translates to better health care for all.

Endowed Professorships

Endowed professorships are the highest honor the Yale School of Medicine can bestow upon a faculty member who is distinguished as a leader in medicine. These endowed professorships form the core of our school’s tradition of academic distinction; promoting innovative and significant work in medicine. Funding from endowed professorships provide secure, flexible support for a distinguished faculty member’s research and scholarly activities. A professorship can be named for the donor or a loved one creating an enduring tribute to individual generosity. A gift from the late Maurice and Adele Polayes created the Irving and Silik Polayes Professorship in Plastic Surgery, in recognition of Mr. Polayes brother Irving and his uncle Silik and their devotion to patient care, education and teaching.

Yale Surgical Scholar Endowment

The University and the School of Medicine have joined forces to establish a new initiative known as the Yale Surgical Scholars Program. Designed to attract the finest and most promising young scientists and surgeons to Yale’s faculty, the program will provide support to cover the start-up-costs of a new faculty member’s research.

Endowed Research Fund

Solving the most vexing problems in medicine and surgery requires creative, innovative ideas from the best minds in medical research. But creativity can’t be programmed to occur on a tight schedule or within a specific budget, yet that is precisely how many research grants are administered. Today’s tight budget and risk-averse grant committees favor research awards that provide funds to build on what is already known- not what is novel or unexpected. Private donors recognize the need to nurture investigators who have “high risk-high reward” ideas. The secure funding from endowed research funds can support single researchers or teams of investigators who pursue new insights and improved outcomes in patients. Created in 2003, the Jo and Gus Berkes Fund in Surgery Endowment supports the research of Dr. Clarence Sasaki in the area of head and neck cancer at the Yale School of Medicine and the Research Fellows in Cardiovascular Surgery under the direction of Dr. John Elefteriades.

Create a Technology Support Fund

The importance of advances in technology in surgery cannot be overstated. New procedures require the development of new and improved tools which create training opportunities and stimulate the development of additional surgical improvements; this cycle of continuous innovation and improvement is good for patients and expensive for medical schools and hospitals. External funding for the development of innovative technology enables our surgeons to perform increasingly complex minimally-invasive surgeries. The Karl Storz Endoscopy of America, manufacturers of fine surgical instrumentation and regular supporter of Yale Department of Surgery, recently funded a state-of-the-art training center for minimally-invasive surgery at Yale School of Medicine. The Tissue Engineering Program, an important part of Yale Pediatric Surgery Research received ongoing support from Cytograft and has an unrestricted grant from the Pall Corporation.

Endowed Scholarships and Fellowships

Yale School of Medicine is committed to educating the next generation of surgeons: members of the surgical faculty spend many hours teaching and mentoring the best and brightest students who choose Yale for their advanced training. Most students complete their medical degree with significant debt- many surpassing $100,000 in loans. Endowed scholarships and fellowships help to ensure that the best minds will never be deterred from a career in surgery because of financial constraints. The George G. Posener Endowed Fellowship for Education, Training and Stem Cell Research was established with a gift from Mr. Posener. This fellowship supports advanced training for fellows in the Yale Department of Surgery.

Make a Gift of Any Size

Gifts of every size are meaningful and important to our ability to provide the best care for all of our patients. Checks Checks should be made payable to “Department of Surgery at Yale” and mailed to: Office of Development Yale University School of Medicine Box 7611 New Haven, CT 06519-0611

Click Here to Make an Online Donation to the Department of Surgery

Gifts of Marketable Securities

A gift of appreciated securities that you have held for more than one year is frequently the most economic way to give. You will be eligible to take a federal income tax deduction equal to the fair market value of the stock on the date of the gift for up to 30% of your adjusted gross income and will not have to recognize the appreciation as capital gain. For more information about supporting the efforts of Yale Surgery, please contact Donna Beebe at donna.beebe@yale.edu or telephone (203) 436-8534.

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