Ehlers Estate Winery

A thread running from Napa Valley to Paris to San Francisco ties together a common
effort – combating cardiovascular disease.

The Ehlers Estate has been part of Napa Valley's rich history since Bernard Ehlers first planted his vineyards and constructed his stone winery building in 1886. Purchased more than a century later by the Leducq family of Paris, the winery continues to produce exceptional estate-grown wine on this historic property.

But beyond producing wine that rivals that of their native France, the Leducq family has another goal. The Paris-based Leducq Foundation is charged with the mission of improving human health through international efforts to combat cardiovascular disease. The Foundation currently awards $24 million in grants annually under a program called the Transatlantic Networks of Excellence in Cardiovascular Research. Grants are awarded to international research teams composed of scientists from Europe and North America who join forces to push the frontiers of cardiovascular research.

Foundation-funded teams are presently working on a wide range of cardiovascular disease issues, including heart failure, coronary artery disease, congenital heart defects, cardiac arrhythmia and others.

At UCSF, a $100,000 gift from the Ehlers Estate has recently been awarded to Louis Reichardt, PhD, and his colleagues, part of a 5-year grant that will eventually bring more than $900,000 to UCSF. Reichardt and his team are studying intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), a particularly severe form of stroke which often leads to disability and death. With other investigators, they have been able to identify at the molecular level some of the factors that may be involved in ICH, and show that genetic susceptibility plays a role in at least some forms of ICH.

Now, working together with Leducq Foundation Transatlantic Network members, they will investigate genes that control the regulators of blood vessel function and maintenance in the brain. The ultimate objective of network researchers is to develop a treatment based on their findings, and a diagnostic test for a predisposition to ICH, which might allow for preventive measures.

UCSF already benefits from two other Transatlantic Network grants from the Leducq Foundation awarded in 2004 and 2005, for a total of more than $2 million.

Back in Napa Valley, 100 percent of the profits from the Ehlers Estate will go directly to the Leducq Foundation to support the work of researchers like Louis Reichardt. "This collaborative effort with leaders in the field will no doubt speed progress toward finding the answers," he says. "The support from the Leducq Foundation will make a difference in the lives of those who suffer from cardiovascular disease."

For information on supporting cardiovascular research at UCSF, contact Gayle Hagen at 415/514-2610 or GHagen@support.ucsf.edu. For information on the Ehlers Estate winery, call 707/963-5972 or go to www.ehlersestate.com.