Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume accepted a $2.2 million gift from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation on behalf of the Association of Black Cardiologists to help fight cardiovascular diseases and their impact on African Americans.

Guillaume -- the association's honorary capital campaign chairman and co-star of the ABC network series "Sports Night"-- is the survivor of a recent stroke.

The gift will allow the association to add a new international library and a research and education center to its facility, to study cardiovascular diseases and their effect on African Americans.

Those facilities will include centers for epidemiology, clinical trials, research, physician training activities and a Hall of Fame to honor African American pioneers in cardiovascular research and treatment.

The Atlanta, Ga.-based Association of Black Cardiologists is a 700-member nonprofit that promotes advocacy and diversity. Its mission is to make "exemplary health care" accessible and affordable to all in need, while lowering the rate of cardiovascular disease in minority populations.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a research-based health and personal care company whose businesses include pharmaceuticals, consumer products, nutritionals and medical devices.

Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://www.abcardio.org/News/news.html