Jacqueline's Gift

The Center for Women's Health Research is privileged to be the recipient of Jacqueline's Gift of $300,000, made by her parents, Karen and Steven Leaffer, of Denver. This is why the Leaffer family decided to honor the life of their infant daughter, Jacqueline Marie Leaffer, with a gift to the Center.

The Leaffers joyously were anticipating the birth of twins-a girl and a boy, when late in her pregnancy Karen developed a rare condition called peripartum cardiomyopathy. Little is known about this type of cardiomyopathy, a disease that cannot be predicted or prevented and whose symptoms

Karen and Steve Leaffer

can be mistaken for typical symptoms of pregnancy. Untreated it can lead to congestive heart failure and death. Thirty-one weeks into her pregnancy Karen was admitted to the hospital in the final stages of congestive heart failure. She underwent an emergency Caesarean section. Karen and their infant son, Jacob, survived, but 11 days later Jacqueline died. In the Leaffers' commitment to ensure Jacqueline's life "was not a life unrealized" they decided systemic change was needed in women's health research and the most lasting way to honor Jacqueline was to address that need.

As Karen has explained, "We found a partner in the Center for Women's Health Research. We decided to give ALL of the resources we had set aside to build Jacqueline's life to the Center-her college fund, her wedding fund, her safety net-because we believe the work of this Center can help shape the future of women's health care. Jacqueline's Gift is the gift of our daughter to future generations of women."

JoAnn Lindenfeld, MD Associate Director of the Center

The Leaffers' story was so profound that the Center's Steering Committee matched Jacqueline's Gift dollar-for-dollar with 100% participation by its members.

Fundraising is under way to create a $10 million endowment for the Center and to build the Center a "home of its own" - a premier, $8 million, state-of-the-art research facility at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus.

Together We Will Change Women's Health by Catherine Worster, Director of Communications, CU School of Medicine