To the editor:

Hoosiers are known for their humility, but it’s time to stand up proudly and celebrate an extraordinary but little-known achievement: Your generosity has put Riley Hospital for Children within the top tier of the nation’s pediatric research hospitals.

Thanks to donors who support our fundraising arm, Riley Children’s Foundation, we are aggressively accelerating growth at the Herman B. Wells Center for Pediatric Research, which is connected by skybridge to Riley Hospital. We have 200-plus scientific investigators focusing on novel approaches to childhood medical problems, including congenital heart defects, pulmonary disorders, cancers such as leukemia, diabetes and infectious diseases.

We hear a lot of talk today in the business community about “return on investment.” It is true that when you give to Riley research, each dollar donated helps our investigators bring in $12 in federal funding from the National Institutes of Health.

The Gift of Hope Happens Here holiday season giving campaign offers our community a chance to come together to help these children.

Please make a gift at RileyKids.org. We need you to join our fight to give kids hope.

Wade Clapp, M.D., chairman of pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, and Raghu Mirmira, M.D., Ph.D., director of Wells Center for Pediatric Research (submitted by Laura Buckner, senior communications officer)

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