David Caliguiri stands in the plaza of the City County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh. Behind him is a statue honoring his father, Richard S. Caliguiri, which overlooks Grant Street. 50 RichardS.CaliguiriEndowedChair attheUniversityofPittsburgh FINDINGASECONDWIND P I T T S B U R G H M AY O R R I C H A R D C A L I G U I R I , oneofthe city’smostbelovedelectedofficials,diedonMay6,1988, while in office.The disease that led to his death at age 56 isamyloidosis,aconditionthatcausesabuildupofamyloid proteinonorganssuchastheheart,liverandkidneys.Belying itsrarity,thediseasewouldlaterclaimthelivesofformer PennsylvaniaGov.BobCaseyandErieMayorLouisTullio. It remainsalife-threateningdiseasewithoutacure. Shortlyafterthemayor’sdeath,theRichardS.Caliguiri Fund was established atThe Pittsburgh Foundation in his honor as a funding pathway that would lead to a cure for amyloidosis.In1992,arenamedRichardS.CaliguiriGreatRace wouldprovideonedollarfromeachrunner’sentryfeeforthe fund,aswell.Thisyear,thefundraisingmissiontookagiant leapwiththeannouncementofanendowedchairunderthe mayor’snameattheUniversityofPittsburgh,apositioncreated toattractaleadingresearchertooverseeoneofthemost intensiveinvestigationsofamyloidosisandotherdiseases thatleadtoheartfailure.Theideaforthisco-creationproject originated in the Foundation’s Center for Philanthropy, whichpairsdonorswithcommunityleadersandFoundation subject matterexpertstodevelopgroundbreakinginitiatives. TheresearchprogramconceivedbyDr.MarkGladwin, chairofPitt’sDepartmentofMedicine,willbebuiltfrom contributionseventuallyreaching$2millionfromtheCaliguiri Fund,theSimeonM.andKatherineReedJonesFundatthe Foundationand theUniversityofPittsburghMedicalCenter. DavidCaliguiriwas15yearsoldwhenhisfatherdied. Heis45today,married,thefatherofthreeandfounderof TheCaliguiriGroup,apublicaffairsandcommunicationsfirm. Daviddescribeshisfatherandtheirfamily’seffortstofund amyloidosisresearch.