Prologue

The Beginning

Impact Begins

Awareness

Community

Discovery

Leadership

The Future

Closing

30 Years of The Heart Foundation

30 years of heart, hope, and impact

What began as a community united in grief became a mission that has touched countless lives. For 30 years, The Heart Foundation has turned grief into action, awareness into community, and generosity into real progress in the fight against heart disease.

Out of loss grew a lasting legacy that has changed lives for generations.

It Started With One Life

One life. One loss. One question that changed everything.

The Heart Foundation began not as an institution, but as a deeply personal response to an unimaginable loss.

When Steve Cohen died suddenly at just 35 years old, the shock was profound — not only because of who he was to the people who loved him, but because his death shattered the assumption that heart disease only strikes later in life or from a distance. In that moment, grief became a question, and that question became a mission: how do we prevent this from happening to someone else?

Out of heartbreak came resolve. Out of resolve came action.

Turning Intention Into Impact

This is where purpose met expertise.

A mission rooted in love found its direction through a pivotal relationship with Cedars-Sinai and the research leadership of Dr. P.K. Shah. What began as a desire to honor Steve’s memory grew into something far more powerful: a long-term commitment to supporting world-class cardiovascular research, advancing new ideas, and helping turn personal loss into measurable progress.

The Heart Foundation became more than a cause. It became a catalyst.

With the right collaboration in place, the mission expanded beyond a single story.

From a Message to a Movement

Awareness was no longer in the background. It became part of the public conversation.

As The Heart Foundation grew, its impact expanded beyond a single experience into public education, community programming, awareness events, and broader conversations focused on prevention, early detection, and heart health. Through wellness initiatives, public outreach, event programming, and digital engagement, the mission extended outward, reaching more people and helping shift how heart disease is understood and discussed.

As the message spread, it began forming something larger: a community.

Where a Mission Became a Community

Not just a cause to support, but a community to belong to.

The Heart Foundation did more than raise awareness — it created connection. Over time, events, interviews, fundraisers, educational programs, and recurring gatherings gave people a place to learn, remember, participate, and feel part of something larger than themselves.

What emerged was not just an audience, but a community: people united by loss, hope, generosity, and the shared belief that heart disease can be confronted with both compassion and action.

Belonging gave way to momentum, and momentum led to progress.

Fueling Discovery

Generosity supported discovery, and discovery led to meaningful advancement.

Behind every breakthrough is sustained belief in better answers and the power of research to change the future. Over the years, support from The Heart Foundation and its donors has helped fund cardiovascular research at Cedars-Sinai, contributed to the development of new therapies, helped provide the early support needed to secure highly competitive NIH grants, and backed work that has informed major advances in treatment. Together, these efforts have built not only hope, but scientific progress.

And as the work grew, so did the stature of the mission itself.

A Legacy of Leadership

The strength of the mission is reflected in the people it inspires to act.

The Steven S. Cohen Humanitarian Award reflects a defining principle of The Heart Foundation. This mission inspires people of substance to step forward. Established to honor individuals who create meaningful change in their communities and demonstrate a commitment to the betterment of humankind, the award serves as both a tribute and a signal. It shows that THF’s work resonates far beyond one family, one event, or one field, drawing leaders from entertainment, business, philanthropy, and medicine into a shared legacy of compassion, visibility, and action.

Legacy is not solely about who has stood with the mission, but is also about where it goes next.

Steven S. Cohen Humanitarian Award recipients including Norman Brokaw.

The heart-shaped Steven S. Cohen Humanitarian Award.

Changing the Future of Heart Disease

The story did not end with remembrance. It continues through discovery.

What began with one loss has grown into work that continues to shape the future. Today, The Heart Foundation supports research aimed not only at treating heart disease more effectively, but at changing what may one day be possible in prevention itself. That includes work on vaccine-based approaches to atherosclerosis, including orticumab, as well as broader efforts focused on inflammation, metabolic risk, and next-generation therapies.
The science is still evolving, but the direction is clear: this mission is not standing still. It is helping move the future forward.

Researchers at work in the P.K. Shah Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai.

Diagram showing orticumab binding oxidized LDL and reducing plaque inflammation, vulnerability, and size.

Chart showing lower FAI scores with orticumab versus placebo in coronary arteries among a high-inflammation subgroup.

What if the next chapter saves lives we have not yet met?

30 Years Behind Us

A Lifetime of Impact Ahead

The Heart Foundation was built from love, strengthened by partnership, carried by community, and proven through action. Its story is not only about where it began, but about what it continues to make possible.

The next chapter is still being written.

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