Leadership Circle, a Phoenix Children’s Foundation giving group that invests in innovative, high-impact projects, has awarded three grants to fund the groundbreaking work of Phoenix Children’s physicians and researchers.

At the group’s annual luncheon, held May 4 and hosted by Robert “Bob” Meyer, president and CEO of Phoenix Children’s, and Rachel McNeill, contributing anchor at 12 News KPNX Phoenix, the 2022 finalists presented their cases for support to Leadership Circle members, who then voted on which projects to fund.

“The presentations gave us a glimpse into the transformative innovation taking place at Phoenix Children’s,” said Dana Jirauch, senior director of philanthropy at Phoenix Children’s Foundation. “The projects proposed by our finalists are proof that Phoenix Children’s truly is shaping the future of pediatric medicine.”

The 2022 grant recipients are:

• Project Title: Be Our Guest: Modernizing the Psychology Waitlist Experience
  Principal investigator: Carla C. Allan, PhD – Division of Psychology
• Project Title: The Role of Detergents n the Pathogenesis of Eosinophilic Esophagitis
  Principal investigator: Benjamin Wright, MD – Division of Pulmonology
• Project Title: Connect: Helping Leukemia Patients Thrive at Home
  Principal investigator: Alexandra Walsh, MD – Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders
• Project Title:  IGNITE: A Home Monitoring Program for Infants with Cleft Palate
  Principal investigator:  Thomas Sitzman, MD

The 2022 Phoenix Children’s Leadership Circle directors include chairs Clarissa and Brian Robinson, as well as Corinne and Darryl Berger, Julia and Taylor Burke, Carol and Dr. Charles P. Dries Jr., Brittany and Matt Messmer, DeeDee and Ken Vecchione, and Paula and Bill Wichterman.

To learn more about Leadership Circle and the 2022 grant recipients, visit pchlc.org.