Our practice donates a portion of every surgical fee to philanthropic activities. Our areas of focus are medical research, education, and the arts.
Medical Research
Joan's Legacy, subsequently renamed Uniting Against Lung Cancer, was created by Dr. Hidalgo's family in 2001. It became the largest private foundation funding lung cancer research in the United States, having funded $11.5 million in research grants, with another $57 million in follow-on funding earned by its grantees. In 2015 it merged with a similar organization to become the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.
Joan's Legacy was created by Dr. Hidalgo's family in 2001 to commemorate the passing of his sister in-law, who succumbed to nonsmoking related lung cancer at the age of 47. It was the largest private foundation funding lung cancer research in the United States prior to merging with the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) in 2015.
Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death, claiming approximately 400 lives every day. Breakthroughs in genome mapping have led to effective new treatments that are converting lung cancer into a chronic but manageable condition for many patients. Permanent cures are within reach.
Dr. Hidalgo received the inaugural Founder’s Award from LCRF at the 2022 annual gala. This award acknowledged his seminal role in making important early grants that have contributed to critical discoveries. Dr. Hidalgo has since stepped down from the LCRF board but Mrs. Hidalgo and their son Aaron still serve.
Education
A major contribution was made to help finance a new state-of-the-art learning center for medical students. This facility allows medical students to learn the correct way to take a history, perform a physical examination, and develop bedside manner. This is done under the watchful eye of instructors and other students who view the process remotely by video camera. Professional actors serve as patients to provide an accurate and reproducible model of various disease entities for the students. This type of learning center is unique in medical education today.
Our practice contributes to funding the complete tuition for three honors students every year at Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx. The practice also supports the Inner City Scholarship Fund, which underwrites tuition for elementary and high school students in the New York Archdiocese parochial schools.
The Arts
Our practice funded both a new drawing classroom and art gallery for the Department of Fine Arts at Georgetown University. Dr. and Mrs. Hidalgo also support St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Tighe-Hidalgo Foundation.
