Education and Professional Development OPPORTUNITY
The Bell-Latham Memorial Fund
The Bell-Latham Memorial Fund honors the legacy of Gail Bell and Dorothy Latham, both dedicated advocates for data managers and quality improvement in cardiothoracic surgery.
The Gail Bell Memorial Fund was created to honor and remember Gail’s encouragement and support of data managers pursuing cardiac and thoracic surgery quality improvement. Gail Bell, who passed away in 2017, was one of the two original coordinating center staff members of the MSTCVS Quality Collaborative.
It was renamed The Bell-Latham Memorial Fund to include Dorothy Latham who passed away on April 12, 2019. Dorothy was also an integral member of the MSTCVS Quality Collaborative community, and a strong advocate for on-going Data Manager training and education.
The fund will recognize and partially sponsor one MSTCVS-QC Data Manager per year wishing to attend the STS Advances in Quality & Outcomes (AQO) Meeting and submits an abstract for a potential poster presentation that is selected by the STS. The winner will be selected at the MSTCVS Annual Summer Meeting.
To donate by check, please mail to:
Office of University Development
3003 S. State St., Suite 8000
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Make check out to the Regents of the University of Michigan
Please put Fund #330073 in the memo.
Fund Help Line: 888.518.7888
Donations are tax deductible.
Important Information
Submission Deadline
July 2026
Contact information
bbenedet@med.umich.edu
Applying for the Memorial Fund
Submit an Application to the MSTCVS QC Coordinating Center
Your accepted AQO abstract must be submitted to Barb Benedetti at the MSTCVS QC Coordinating Center by July 20, 2026.
The winner will be announced at the MSTCVS Summer Meeting. The fund is open to all MSTCVS Quality Collaborative data managers. Please contact the coordinating center if you need help with an abstract idea or submitting to the STS/AQO.
Advances in Quality & Outcomes (AQO) Meeting
Discussions on valuable research and important clinical findings with the goal of improving data collection and patient outcomes.
Abstract submissions are now being accepted. Submitted abstracts must use STS National Database Core Fields and Participating Sites Custom Fields to produce results. Accepted submissions will be presented as posters at the meeting, and some selected abstracts may also be presented orally at the conference. Review the guidelines below. Deadline: June 12, 2026
Past Recipients
2019
Early Extubation after Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery: Keep your Eyes on the Prize
Mary Elise Hollenbeck, BSN, RN, Munson Medical Center
2018
Reducing Incidences of CABG 30-Day Readmissions
Margaret Santoro-Jacobs, MBA RHIA CCS
2017
Assessing the Impact of Centralizing Data Abstraction at a Large Tertiary Care Center
Amy Geltz, MSN, RN, University of Michigan