Mountain View, CA, March 22, 2017 — On Saturday, March 18, 2017, about 300 philanthropists, physicians, business and community leaders came together at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, for the Scarlet Masquerade - an affair of the heart, the annual gala to benefit the South Asian Heart Center at El Camino Hospital. The black-tie masquerade raised more than $304,000 to support the Center's programs to prevent diabetes and heart attacks in South Asians, and research to improve risk prediction and reduction in this vulnerable population.
Launched in 2006, the South Asian Heart Center revolutionized the assessment, intervention, and management of diabetes and heart attacks in South Asians. The Center has helped more than 7,200 participants reduce risk, educated more than 2,500 physicians, and published its findings in peer-reviewed journals. The Center partners with physicians and helps fulfill their lifestyle prescriptions to patients.
At the gala, Ashish Mathur, executive director of the South Asian Heart Center, announced the opening of the Center's third location in Fremont and the launch of STOP-D: stop diabetes before it starts. The STOP-D program has been proven to reduce the incidence of diabetes by 58% and is aimed at helping South Asians who are pre-diabetic and at imminent risk of developing the disease. One in four diabetics in the United States is of Indian descent.
Mathur also spoke about the Center's focus on research and plans to recruit participants to help build upon the existing repository of data on young and healthy participants. He added, “This large dataset will enable us to partner with preeminent academic and research organizations and answer burning questions like - Why young Indians? How can we improve early detection? What technologies will help reduce risk?”
Scarlet Masquerade - an affair of the heart, featured ‘Posture Guru of Silicon Valley’ Esther Gokhale as keynote speaker. The author of the award-winning book ‘8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back’ commended the South Asian Heart Center for passing on to future generations and the community, the best and most relevant wisdom, advice and legacy – the gift of good health. The event also featured an auction, heart-healthy banquet, entertainment by Violinder and dancing to the music of DJ Salim. Donna and John Shoemaker were the lead platinum sponsors of the event and diamond sponsors included EdCast, Farmers Insurance-Rita Sharma Agency, Holbrook Global Strategies, HyTrust, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Rambus, Reveti, Shastha Foods, and Upaya. Priyanka Rana and Simran Thadani served as gala co-chairs.