Dr. Robert C. Bourge, M.D.

Robert C. Bourge, M.D., the E. A. and Abbie Drummond Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine in the UAB Division of Cardiovascular Disease and vice-chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Medicine, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the contemporary history of the department and division. Having experienced UAB as an internal medicine resident (’82) and fellow (’86), a physician, a clinical and translational researcher, and an educator, he has the ability to evaluate the School of Medicine’s mission from every angle. And he has capitalized on his broad perspective by committing a number of strategic gifts to the Campaign for UAB, adding to a giving history that dates back to 1985.

His most recent gifts support research projects that touch Dr. Bourge’s professional and personal lives. They include two efforts in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease: an endowed research fund in heart transplantation, created in partnership with David C. McGiffin, M.D., former deputy director of the UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery; and an endowed research fund in mechanical circulatory support—a life-saving treatment option for critically ill patients with advanced heart failure—established in concert with James K. Kirklin, M.D., director of the UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Jose A. Tallaj, M.D., has been named the inaugural Bourge-McGiffin Endowed Scholar in Heart Transplantation, and Salpy Pamboukian, M.D., M.S.P.H., has been named the inaugural Bourge-Kirklin Endowed Scholar in Mechanical Circulatory Support.

Dr. Bourge has also given to create the Detraz Family Endowed Research Fund in Polycystic Kidney Disease in the Division of Nephrology, an effort that hits close to home. Polycystic kidney disease is a hereditary disease with complications ranging from hypertension to renal failure, and it often leads to the need for a kidney transplant. The family of Dr. Bourge’s wife, Cutessa Detraz Bourge, suffers from the disease, so he insisted that the fund bear her family’s name. “Polycystic kidney disease is autosomal dominant, which means if you get the gene, you get the disease,” Dr. Bourge says. “Michael Mrug, M.D., is a rising star in that area. I asked Dr. Anupam Agarwal, M.D., director of the Division of Nephrology and he suggested Mrug for the fund, and offered some matching funds as well.”

Dr. Bourge believes that philanthropy is vital to advancing the Department of Medicine’s mission of promoting excellence in patient care, research, and medical education, and he has earmarked gifts both to support immediate needs and to lay a foundation for future success in all three of these vital areas. “I hope these funds will provide continuity of resources in clinical care, research, and teaching,” he says. “With all three areas, funding can wax and wane; I believe these endowments can provide stability. UAB has been blessed by the generosity of many of my patients; indeed, I hold an endowed chair given to UAB by friends and patients of mine. I have previously and will continue to make gifts that can be used immediately in addition to gifts toward endowments, as some things need immediate attention.”