Media Releases

Centenary receives helping hand from community fundraisers

This past month, Canberra residents Kimberly Curtis, Kristin Auguszczak, Adam Pyne and Chris Connolly, raised over $60,000 in support of Centenary’s scientists and their life-saving research into cardiovascular disease.

The group organised the Ben Curtis Charity Golf Day, a charity event that featured a golf tournament, gala dinner and auction. 

All proceeds from the event were generously donated to the Agnes Ginges Centre for Molecular Cardiology at the Centenary Institute. 

The groups’ motivation was to spread awareness and raise much-needed funds for medical research into Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome (SADS), which tragically took the life of Mrs Curtis’ husband, Ben Curtis, on the 8 August 2009. 

SADS is the term used to describe sudden death due to cardiac arrest brought on by an arrhythmia.  Researchers estimate at least 10 young Australians die from fatal cardiac arrhythmias each week.

Professor Chris Semsarian, Head of the Molecular Cardiology group and his team at the Centenary Institute are conducting vital research into SADS.  The group is trying to better understand how and why these sudden deaths occur, and more importantly how to put an end to this terrible disease.

”The terrible tragedy which has struck the Curtis family is also our inspiration as we strive to unlock the mysteries of SADS. Through medical research, improving the ways we identify those young people at risk of SADS will allow us to initiate appropriate prevention strategies to prevent sudden death in our community.”