DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center
Providing patients with the best care today, while fostering a brighter tomorrow through research and innovation in cardiovascular disease
Houston Methodist has been a world leader in caring for the human heart since legendary surgeon Dr. Michael E. DeBakey (1908-2008) pioneered groundbreaking treatments for cardiovascular diseases in the 1940s. Dr. DeBakey’s legacy lives on in the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, where cardiac patients from around the world come for treatment.
The uniqueness of the DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center comes from an integrated approach to treating cardiovascular disease and all its complexities. It blends the expertise of cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, imaging specialists, anesthesiologists and critical care experts, resulting in multidisciplinary teams that tailor treatment to each patient. Ranked as one of the top centers in the country for cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report, the DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center has more than 100 clinical trials currently underway; and our heart experts treat more than 20,000 patients a year from across Houston, the United States and up to 20 foreign countries.
Houston Methodist is well-positioned to lead the nation and the world in advanced treatment for heart disease. Our goal is to expand Houston Methodist’s capacity for research and innovation in four key areas: interventional cardiology, valve disease, aortic disease and congenital heart disease.
The Campaign for our Second Century will provide the philanthropic resources needed to power transformational research, outstanding medical education and superior patient care in heart into the next century. With philanthropic resources, we plan to push the boundaries of cardiovascular medicine in the following priority areas:
- Structural Interventional Cardiology
- Heart Valve Disease Research
- Aortic Disease
- Adult Congenital Heart Disease
- Cardiovascular Education & Training (DICET)
- Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
- Molecular/Regenerative Cardiovascular Research
- Translational Cardiovascular Imaging Center
- Endowment for Simulation Robotics Lab (Valve Center)
- Endowment for Cardiovascular Hemodynamics Laboratory (Valve Center)
- Endowed fund for Wellness and Prevention Education and Outreach
Stories
Read more about our friends and benefactors whose leadership and generosity have helped to build our legacy and take this next step forward.
The Arnold Family
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The Arnold Family
For nearly four decades, Dan Arnold and Dr. Bill Winters have shared a keen devotion to the Houston community and to quality health care for its residents. The intersection of their lives and interests came full circle in 2016 with a most extraordinary commitment to establish The Beverly B. and Daniel C. Arnold Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cardiology in honor of William L. Winters Jr., MD. This endowed chair celebrates the enduring impact Dan and his wife Beverly continue to have on Houston and honors the renowned career of Dr. Winters and his contributions to cardiology. It also commemorates the legacy and friendship of two dynamic and generous Houston families.
When Dan Arnold was asked to impart his best life lesson as part of the Houston Oral History Project in 2010, he defined his philosophy in two short sentences: "You've got to put more back into your community than you take from it. You can't be a taker, you've got to be a giver.”
The native Houstonian has been giving back to his community for more than six decades. A lawyer and banker by trade, he has volunteered much of his time to leadership roles that included the creation of the Harris County Hospital District and the Houston Area Urban League, chairmanship of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the local Red Cross, the Baylor College of Medicine board and a host of other civic causes. Even in his 30s, Dan Arnold was able to get things done with consensus and a spark of humor - he believed in a collaborative approach and solving Houston's problems became his forte.
Along the way, he met an up-and-coming young cardiologist. He and Dr. Bill Winters knew many of the same movers and shakers and shared a common bond – they liked to work behind the scenes and avoid the limelight. Over the years, their children played sports together and the families became friends.
The Arnold's three adult children Alice, Susan and Steven - had long wanted to find a health care cause that would help patients and also honor their parents, but Beverly and Dan Arnold preferred to do things quietly and didn't want their names on anything. However, when their children suggested honoring Dr. Winters - whom they call "Grand Doc" - the Arnolds were on board. They let their friends know about the endowed chair, and their initial generous contribution - complemented with gifts from the Arnold and Winters children, along with 61 friends and community leaders - grew to Houston Methodist's largest endowed chair supported solely through philanthropic funds within just a few weeks.
"To have the Arnold family name on this chair is really very special,” Dr. Winters says.
"I don't know of anybody who's done more for this community than Dan Arnold. I hope the holders of this chair will perpetuate the service, integrity, honesty and sense of excellence that Dan and Beverly have portrayed through the years.”
The presidential distinguished chair provides for the recruitment and retention of cardiology's most gifted physician-scientists and will help sustain and advance Houston Methodist's role as a leader in heart care around the world. As friends and colleagues of Dr. Michael E. DeBakey (1908 – 2008), Dan Arnold and Dr. Winters hope the chair will help preserve Dr. DeBakey's spirit of innovation and pioneering heart research for many more decades.
Dan Arnold and Dr. Winters are men of the same generation, born in 1930 and 1926, respectively. They worked their way to the top of their professions, earning universal respect and long lists of achievements and accolades along the way. They are published authors, mentors and volunteers.
But what remains most important to both is family. They've been married to their wives - Beverly Arnold and Barbara Winters- for more than 60 years and credit them with raising their children to be good, hard-working people. Now, through the Beverly B. and Daniel Arnold Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cardiology in honor of William L. Winters Jr., MD, their families and their friendship are cemented forever in yet another effort to make the world a better place.
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George and Angelina Kostas
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George and Angelina Kostas
The new George and Angelina Kostas Research Center for Cardiovascular Nanomedicine at the Houston Methodist Research Institute began operations recently after receiving a generous gift from George J. and Angelina P. Kostas. The gift is the largest philanthropic gift ever given in support of cardiovascular nanomedicine and could revolutionize the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
The groundbreaking center will foster international collaboration and bring together top laboratory and physician-scientists from the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and the Houston Methodist Research Institute Department of Nanomedicine. The objective is to apply nanotechnology to the cardiovascular system to remove normally occurring stenosis without the need of surgery. This gift will fund an international annual meeting in Houston on cardiovascular nanomedicine that involves scientists worldwide in order to serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas.
The Kostases, American-born children of Greek immigrants, have a long tradition of philanthropic gifts, including establishment of The George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security (2010) and The George J. Kostas Nanoscale Technology and Manufacturing Research Center at Northeastern University (2003) in Boston, George Kostas’ alma mater. The George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security is a secure building at Northeastern University, Burlington Campus. Its mission is to conduct classified research to protect Americans in the face of 21st-century risks. In 2008 Northeastern awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Sciences and the President’s Medallion award.
After his retirement from Conoco in 1972, where he was manager of the Organometallics Division, he founded and has been president of TESCO (Techno Economic Services Inc.) for 30 years. Under his leadership, TESCO developed a revolutionary new process, based on his patents, termed “Xenoclad,” which plates aluminum in an atomic form on metal substrates to render them resistant to corrosion. George Kostas was recruited in 1943, along with seven other engineers, to start and operate the first U.S. synthetic rubber manufacturing plant which was already being built in Baytown, Texas. In 1946, Kostas was appointed a member of the U.S. Research & Development Committee and served in this capacity until 1955 when the government decided to exit the synthetic rubber program.
Angelina, “Lea,” a woman of deep faith, grace and warmth, and devoted lifelong member of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, served as a member of the Philoptochos charitable society for 70 years, and board member for 40 years. During World War II, Lea served as a spotter for enemy aircraft over the Houston area. Married for 62 years, George and Angelina are the parents of four talented daughters. The Kostas family has been generous supporters of the Annunciation and St. Basil’s Greek Orthodox Churches of Houston. They built the St. George Chapel and then donated it to the cathedral. St. Basil’s church honored Mr. Kostas by naming the education center in his honor. In 2008, they honored Lea Kostas by naming the auditorium in her honor.
In the philanthropic spirit that defines their family, Angelina and George Kostas gave a generous gift to Houston Methodist in 2014 to create a center dedicated to advancing nanomedicine and revolutionizing the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
The Kostas Center will be directed by Houston Methodist Research Institute President & CEO Mauro Ferrari, PhD, and Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center Medical Director Alan B. Lumsden, MD, who, along with the executive committee, will guide the center’s development, approve new research initiatives and initiate collaborative ventures that will transform cardiovascular nanomedicine. The center’s program and working group leaders include some of Houston Methodist’s best nanotechnology researchers and cardiovascular physicians and surgeons, such as Guillermo TorreAmione, MD, PhD, Elvin Blanco, PhD, Miguel Valderrábano, MD, John Cooke, MD, PhD, Ennio Tasciotti, PhD, William Zoghbi, MD, and Paolo Decuzzi, PhD. The groups are designed to work in sequence, a bit like runners in a relay race, to translate discoveries quickly into technologies for human clinical trials.
One possible area of investigation is the use of nontoxic, silicon-based nanoparticles to dismantle and disperse the fatty plaques that often form along the inner sides of blood vessels. These plaques contribute to hypertension. When larger plaques are dislodged, they can cause blockages downstream, leading to heart attacks and strokes.
“There is no other nanomedicine center of this magnitude in any academic medical center,” says Research Institute President & CEO Mauro Ferrari, PhD. “Thanks to the Kostas family’s vision and generosity, we now have the potential to improve treatments for patients with cardiovascular disease on a global level.”
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