Lois Pope's Schools

• Chesnut Hill College

• Rabbinical College of America Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters

Lois Pope's Publications

• Lois Pope Discusses Veterans’ Mental Health Struggles, Lois Pope August, 2011 Pursuing various charitable endeavors, Lois Pope devotes her time to a number of different causes, ranging from neurological research to clean water for developing countries. In order to recognize veterans with disabilities, she instituted the Unsung Hero Award, which first honored a Marine who lost his legs in Vietnam. In addition, Lois Pope fought for the passage of a congressional bill that called for the erection of an American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial. The memorial will be completed in 2012. In the following, she discusses the mental health struggles faced by veterans. Many veterans struggle with various disabilities, both physical and mental, especially those who spent time in combat situations. In 2005, a CBS News investigation revealed some shocking figures about mental health among American veterans. The report claimed that the veterans’ community experienced an average of 120 suicides each week, a rate nearly double that of non-veterans. The investigation has spurred a number of new programs and a call for governmental intervention. Traditionally, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would handle such phenomena and create support networks for those in need. The fact that the VA failed to recognize the rising rates of suicide alarmed many government officials. In fact, the investigation found that the VA does not collect much data about the people that it serves and has thus proved largely insufficient for the changing needs of veterans. Today, more than 100,000 veterans turn to the VA for assistance with their mental health concerns. More than half of these individuals possess post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a debilitating disease that often causes stress as a result of exposure to psychological shock. Individuals with PTSD experience trouble sleeping and often vividly relive the terrifying moments that spurred the onset of the disorder. Often, they experience depression and a general feeling of disconnect from the outside world. Other studies have recently found even more alarming statistics. More than a quarter of those who served in Iraq have sought help with mental health problems. Also, veterans comprise 11 percent of the general population, but up to 25 percent of the United States’ population in need. Veterans expect that the VA will meet their future and present needs, as the department was intended. However, according to the investigation, the VA system has not expanded its resources adequately to deal with the increasing number of veterans in need of assistance. In response to the recent suicide investigation, the VA hired new staff members and instituted a prevention hotline.

• Speech by Lois Pope Given in Washington D.C. on Nov 10, 2010, Lois Pope November, 2010 Lois PopeGroundBreakingSpeech2010.doc

• An Overview of the Lois Pope LIFE Center, by Lois Pope, Lois Pope October, 2011 One of the nation’s leading philanthropists, Lois Pope has made a career out of donating to causes such as international aid, medical research, humanitarian efforts, and the needs of veterans with disabilities and disadvantaged youth. In 1996, Pope selflessly gave a $10 million gift through her charity, the Lois Pope Life Foundation, to the University of Miami in order to create a center of neurological research and establish a fellowship fund for the same cause. Through her financial contributions, Pope was inspired by the courage that actor Christopher Reeve demonstrated following his paralysis. She sought to further research that might help him to walk again one day. At the time, the donation was the largest private gift of its kind toward spinal cord research. In 2000, the contributions of Lois Pope and other benefactors were revealed with the opening of the $28 million Lois Pope LIFE Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine. With 180,000 square feet of space and six floors, the LIFE Center serves as the headquarters of the university’s internationally acclaimed neuroscience research program, offering state-of-the-art technology used in the study of paralysis and neurological diseases, such as brain trauma, stroke, and neurodegenerative conditions. The LIFE Center also serves as home of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a spinal cord injury research initiative comprised of more than 200 scientists and clinicians worldwide who work in stem cell transplantation and similar areas. Over the course of the last 11 years, the Lois Pope LIFE Center has focused on making life-changing breakthroughs for millions of Americans living with neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the hundreds of thousands with spinal cord injuries. After Buffalo Bills player Kevin Everett sustained a life-threatening injury to his spinal cord in 2007, he was assisted in his recovery by groundbreaking research produced by the LIFE Center. The research, which requires that the patient be placed into a hypothermic state in order to reduce swelling and secondary spinal cord damage, has since been adapted by the United States military.

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