A gift of $500,000 has been donated to the Department of Family Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University at Buffalo from the parents of Kim Griswold, a professor of the department.
"The Griswold gift is entirely a result of their own generosity. It is their idea based on what they came to understand the departmental goals were," said Dr. Thomas Rosenthal, chair of the Department of Family Medicine.
The donation will serve the University in many ways, according to Rosenthal. UB medical students will benefit from the funding by conducting research on health disparities. The funding will also be used to recruit more graduates to serve the underprivileged, Rosenthal said.
"The interest generated by this endowment will support a faculty physician who will dedicate their efforts to eliminating health disparities in Western New York through improved delivery opportunities in family medicine and through research into effective methods for providing health care to populations who have historically not been able to access care," Rosenthal said.
Adelaide and Rev. Brendan Griswold created the endowment fund within the University at Buffalo Foundation, Inc. to support primary care outreach and scholarly activities.
"[It will occur] through the support of faculty and students with talent and interest in assuring equitable care for all citizens," Kim Griswold said.
The fund, known as the Adelaide and Brendan Griswold Professorship in Health Disparities, will in part support a faculty member who has an expressed interest in and has experience with vulnerable populations, according to Griswold.
Griswold believes that her parents issued the grant in response to learning about the University's shortage of physicians.
The UB Medical School is the umbrella department over the program of Family Medicine. Training and on-the-job practice takes place at other areas in the Buffalo community such as Erie County Medical Center and Olean General Hospitals.
"These hospitals are community-based in that they are not owned or operated by the medical school," Griswold said.
Presently, the Department of Family Medicine at UB has over $6 million in external grants and contract funding, which provides for community-based training in health care professions and research that focuses on issues that directly matter to patients.
Griswold has been involved with the University at Buffalo since 1994. She graduated from the Medical School in 1997 and then was hired as a faculty member in the Department of Family Medicine.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
