Preston Hollow Residents Donate $5 Million to Fund Heart Health Research
On a mission to improve lives all over the world, the Gupta Agarwal Foundation has made a $5 million gift that will help to fund research and education related to cardiac conditions.
Satish and Yasmin Gupta, founders of the Gupta Agarwal Foundation and Preston Hollow residents, have a deep commitment to improving access to knowledge and education that will help change lives. The gift was made to fund research and education at Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano, a North Texas facility recognized around the world for excellent cardiac care, where the Satish & Yasmin Gupta Heart Center was recently unveiled.
“We are honored and humbled to be able to change lives through this gift,” Satish Gupta said. “It is important to us that our friends here and around the world have access to the best medical care, and that we all understand the importance of leading lives filled with balance. It is our pleasure and our purpose to be involved with our community in this way.”
Rowland K. Robinson, president of Baylor Scott & White Dallas Foundation said the generous gift from the Guptas will support the hospital’s efforts to continue improving the lives of patients and the health of communities-both near and far.
“We are profoundly grateful,” Robinson said.
The Gupta family says they see this gift as an opportunity for a partnership with a leading healthcare institution, Baylor Scott & White Health, to positively impact lives around the world. In addition to research and education that will benefit patients, the funds will also allow physicians from other countries to observe the top-level care provided at Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano, get trained in the latest advances and then take that knowledge home to help those in need in their own countries.
“Anything you give should snowball to something bigger – and this is a global initiative,” Yasmin Gupta stressed. “You address your immediate community and, from there, you take it to the next level. Global initiatives are executed on a local level.”
As founders and owners of SB International Inc., manufacturers and traders of specialized steel products, Satish and Yasmin Gupta are first-generation immigrants who moved to the U.S. for education and stayed because they felt that they had found the community where they could raise both their family and grow their business. Through this initiative, these Dallas residents see an opportunity to thank the North Texas community they call home now, their native country of India, and the communities around the world with which they do business.
Their commitment is a very personal one: Satish’s and Yasmin’s fathers both needed life-saving heart bypass procedures in the 1980s. The young couple worked hard for the resources needed to bring their fathers from India to Texas for treatments that ultimately extended their lives. In 2003, Satish became aware of his own cardiac symptoms and, working with physicians at Baylor Scott & White Health, began to take a proactive approach to his own health that he continues diligently to this day.
In addition to a focus on preventative care, the donation will be used to fund research into new techniques and therapies. At Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano, physicians have been among the first to advance life-saving procedures, such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a minimally invasive procedure to replace a narrowed aortic valve that people including rock musician Mick Jagger are undergoing to repair heart valves without open heart surgery.
The Gupta family will be directly involved in this initiative. Daughter Samantha Gupta Parmar, a healthcare professional, will serve on a newly created committee to help direct the gift. Chat Ganesh, director of the board for the Gupta Agarwal Charitable Foundation, will also serve on the committee for the gift’s direction. Satish and Yasmin will also lend their business acumen and personal commitment to this mission to improve lives.
“We consider it a partnership with sustainability,” Satish Gupta explained. “The knowledge gained and shared through research and education will live well beyond all of us.”
The Guptas also hope that their gift inspires others who want to make a positive change anywhere in the world.
“We hope that others see what we are doing and give in their own way. You just have to have a heart for giving,” Yasmin Gupta said.
