George Naim Khattar Foundation Celebrates Life and Gives Hope with Love to Australians and the World Joe Khattar: "Imagine the “Power of 1000” GNK supporters at Le Montage ... we can change the world for the better" 25/9/2014 (Translation of this article appears in Arabic section) George Naim Khattar Foundation “GNK” held its 4th annual Gala under the title (LOVE) at Le Montage, Lilyfield, Iron Cove Bay, in the presence of a large crowd of supporters, companies and institutions, including The Arab Bank Australia, Brickworks and many other sponsors and supporters The ceremony was attended by Bishop Dr. Anthony Tarabay; Archbishop Malatius Malki Malki, C.G of Lebanon George Bitar Ghanem; Monsignor Shora Maree, Brother Patrick Howlett, Father Antoine Tohme; Father Claude Rizk; Hon. Philip Ruddock MP, Mrs. Heather Ruddock; Hon. Julie Owens MP; Hon. Barbara Perry MP; Mayor John Chedid Reverend Fathers; councillors; most respected Middle Eastern and local media. Joe Khattar Joe Khattar, the president of the George Naim Khattar Foundation, delivers a speech in which he said: Welcome to the fourth annual George Naim Khattar Foundation Gala Ball. The gala ball is a highlight of the GNK calendar, and we thank each and every one of you for sharing this moment with us. Over the past four years the GNK Foundation has given hope to those in need – to youth in local communities, to the poor, to young children facing brain surgery, and families suffering the trials of autism. Tonight, we embark upon our most ambitious project yet ... Tonight, we give the gifts of hope and love by supporting two important Australian heart research projects that could, with our help, save lives within 10-15 years. At this time, one Australian is lost to heart disease every 12 minutes. Having endured the grief of losing my brother George to heart disease, I know first-hand the tragedy of this cruel condition. I would like to take this moment to remember those who we have lost. I wish to honour George, my beloved father Naim, and your loved ones who have passed. Tonight we celebrate a brighter future lead by Australians ... we are blessed to have two of medicine and science’s brightest minds working right here in Westmead. Dr Eddy Kizana and Dr James Chong are working tirelessly with their research teams to “repair a broken heart”. Their research could touch someone close to you. Your generosity could help save your parents, your children’s and even your grandchildren’s lives. Families around the globe, whose names we will never know, will feel our gift of love. While our cause is serious, our gala tonight is a celebration of life: for friends, old and new ... The Foundation is honoured to welcome HAFELE as event sponsors for the Gala. Thank you Peter Farrugia and your wonderful team for your support ... We also would like to thank our annual partner, Arab Bank; the Westmead Medical Research Foundation, the Denton family, and our many supporters ... 2GB, Nader Jewellers, the people who donated via the silent auction items, the Navarra Group, Pain Away, Trivett Classic, Gregory Jewellers, SMEG, Tradelink, Body Space ... and every one of you who bought a table tonight, or bought a seat, or everyone who wanted to come tonight but could not make it here .... We could not forget to thank the people who have worked tirelessly for the last 2 weeks organising the sale of the tickets. They are Linda Mourad, Hope Hedi, Maria Fayad, Ying Bian, Lynette Olney, Carol Khattar, Kristen Elias and Anny Elias. I see George’s humanitarian spirit glowing inside every person before me tonight. Many years ago, the esteemed Australian author Bryce Courtney wrote a bestseller about “the Power of One”. Imagine the “Power of 1000” GNK supporters at Le Montage ... we can change the world for the better. Dr Eddy Kizana Dr. Eddy KIzana of Westmead Millennium Institute for research, delivers a speech in which he said: I stand here tonight I am overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouring of support not only tonight but also in the lead up to this event. I would like to thank the GNK Foundation and the Westmead Medical Research Foundation for their tireless efforts over the last several weeks to make the tonight a magical event. What is the impact of heart disease on Australians? Heart disease is by far and away the biggest killer of Australians. It is way ahead of diseases like breast cancer, skin cancer and diabetes. This fact is widely underappreciated. I’d like to look at these statistics in a different way now: Heart disease is the top killer of men and women. Every day 29 women die from heart disease. These include someone’s mother, daughter, sister, grandmother etc. Looked at another way, 1600 families will lose a loved one to heart disease this month alone. This is a huge tragedy for those left behind. I started researching cures for heart disease 10 years ago when my daughter pictured here was only 4. She’s 14 today and less enthusiastic about father daughter pictures like this one but my enthusiasm for her and cardiac research hasn’t waned over this time period. How will my research at Westmead Hospital reduce the burden of heart disease? To do this, we are using an exciting new technology called gene therapy. Gene therapy targets the underlying molecular cause of sudden cardiac death and therefore has the best chance of cure. In our experiments using gene therapy we have achieved cure rates of greater than 60%. We are very excited about these results. We are keen to transition this technology to the care of patients. The type of patients we treat on a daily basis at Westmead Hospital. To make this a reality we need your help to fund further work. I would like to finish by saying that the type of research that James and I doing at Westmead Hospital, using genes and stem cells to treat heart disease is unique in Australia and at the frontier at international of research for cures for heart disease. Thank you for your attention. Dr James Chong Dr James Chong of Westmead Millennium Institute for research, delivers a speech in which he said: "For the first time they were able to grow stem cell-derived heart muscle at a sufficiently large scale to treat large animals. Injecting the cells into the animals' infarcted hearts resulted in large-scale re-muscularisation and regeneration of the failing organ. Dr Chong said the research is a significant breakthrough in using the new technology of regenerative medicine for human patients with heart disease, at a time when the problem is growing. "Chronic heart disease rates in Australia and worldwide are reaching epidemic proportions and one in two people with advanced-stage heart failure will die within one year of diagnosis," Dr Chong said." A video was played during the function, which shows the latest progress in the context of the heart muscle treatment . 
Bishop Tarabay, Bishop Melki, Dr. Kizana and Dr. Chong 
LtoR: Joe Khattar, Dr James Chong, Dr Eddy Kizana, Joe Rizk 
Hon. Philip Ruddock MP, his wife Heather and other guests 
Julie Owens MP with Dr. Eric d'lndy and other guest 
David Fitzharris, his wife, Lindsay Patridge and Sam Fayad 
Dr Eddy Kizana, his wife, Miss Lebanese communities Cecil Farah and other guests 
Brickworks Table 
Joe Khattar, Pierre Esber, Barbara Perry MP, Cr. Julie Finn and Cr. Jean Abood 
Natalie Barr, Jesinta Campbell with Dr. Kizana and Dr. Chong 
LtoR: Joe Rizk, Joe KhattarAM 
Miss Lebanese communities Cecil Farah, Mrs Bell Shalala, Mrs Patridge Monie Gabriel, Mrs Farah and Mrs Taouk
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