Cribs For Kids® Day Proclaimed In Pittsburgh Alongside Milestone Partnership Announcement

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cribs for Kids and the Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Guild of Seattle Children's Hospital ("The Guild") officially announced today the launch of The Aaron Matthew Research Foundation of Cribs for Kids. In honor of the announcement, Allegheny County Executive, Rich Fitzgerald has proclaimed Wednesday, December 12, 2018 Cribs for Kids Day in Pittsburgh.

The new Foundation will support research of sudden unexpected or unexplained infant deaths, with contributions to The Guild's current research produced by some of the world's top medical researchers and data scientists.

"We've long admired Cribs for Kids' unique approach to infant sleep safety, and it's a privilege for us to join with them to ensure that no parent should experience the pain of losing a child to SIDS," said John Kahan, President of the Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Guild. The Foundation is named after John and Heather Kahan's son who died of SIDS 15 years ago. 

Kahan works at Microsoft, where he is Chief Data Analytics Officer for Corporate, External and Legal Affairs. His world-class team of data scientists have volunteered thousands of hours to Seattle Children's Integrative Brain Research Institute developing technology tools to aid in SIDS research.

In order to fund the research that is being conducted at Seattle Children's Hospital and throughout the country, Cribs for Kids will give a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their Cribette, a safety-approved play-yard style unit.

"This new foundation expands our mission of eliminating deaths due to SIDS and sleep-related infant deaths," said Judy Bannon, Executive Director and Founder of Cribs for Kids. "As we grow our organization and celebrate our 20 years of providing safe sleep education, safety-approved cribs, and support services to families in need throughout the country, adding a research component is the clear next step."

The Foundation will be overseen by an advisory board consisting of Michael H. Goodstein, M.D., F.A.A.P., who sits on the board of Cribs for Kids and is a member of the SIDS Taskforce of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Nino Ramirez, M.D., who leads the Integrative Brain Research Institute at Seattle Children's Hospital, and John Kahan.

The Foundation's research will help to solve a medical mystery that has vexed researchers for decades: what causes Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and what can be done to prevent it? According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are approximately 3,600 deaths annually attributed to Sudden Unexpected Infant Death, of which SIDS is a subcategory.

"Considering the U.S. has one of the highest infant mortality rates among developed nations, there is an urgent need for funding and dedicated scientific study of SIDS to address this serious health issue among young children," said Kahan.

To support the initiatives of the Aaron Matthew Research Foundation of Cribs for Kids, please purchase a Cribette here or donate at https://cribsforkids.org/donate/.

About Cribs for Kids
Founded in 1998 by Judith A. Bannon, Cribs for Kids is a national infant safe-sleep education program that helps to reduce the risk of injury and death of infants due to accidental suffocation, asphyxia, or undetermined causes in unsafe sleeping environments. Over the past 20 years, Cribs for Kids evolved from a local nonprofit with a few members to a national organization with over 1,100 partners that have provided over 600,000 cribs to families in need. Cribs for Kids has developed multiple educational initiatives that have been implemented in communities across the nation, including the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program, the Managed Care Organization Prenatal Incentive Program, the National Public Safety Initiative, the Safe Sleep Ambassador Program, and the Safe Sleep Academy Website. Cribs for Kids has advocated for state and federal policies that will research infant sleep-related deaths and improve safe sleep prevention efforts. Cribs for Kids helped pass the Pennsylvania Act 73 of 2010 and recently endorsed the Scarlett's Sunshine on Sudden Unexpected Death Act. Visit: https://cribsforkids.org

About Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Guild at Seattle Children's Hospital
The Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Guild was established to fund much-needed research in this field at Seattle Children's Hospital Integrative Brain Research Institute (Seattle Children's). Researchers from Seattle Children's, New York University, Langone Medical Center, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Virginia, University of Auckland and University of Bristol England are working on this terrible mystery. The guild was formed in 2017 and includes leaders from Accenture, Adobe, Marriott Hotels, Tata Consulting, Microsoft and Seattle Children's. Donations to the Guild are matched up to 4 to 1. John and Heather Kahan will match donations up to $100,000. Their pledged gift will be matched with another $100,000 by the Jack R. MacDonald Research Fund at Seattle Children's Hospital. In addition, Microsoft matches up to $15,000, per employee, for each employee who contributes.   
Visit: http://www.givetostopsids.org/

SOURCE Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Guild Of Seattle Children's Hospital

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