Allegheny Health Network has officially established the Roe Green Endowed Chair for Aortic Disease, made possible through a $2.5 million gift from Florida-based arts and theater philanthropist Roe Green.

Candice Lee, a surgeon within AHN’s Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, has been appointed as the inaugural chairwoman.

The Roe Green Endowed Chair for Aortic Disease will support research, education, innovation and physician leadership focused on the diagnosis and treatment of complex aortic conditions.

Green is known for her decades of philanthropy in culture, theater and fine arts, as well as global health and domestic violence prevention, according to AHN.

She has spent the majority of her life transforming communities throughout Ohio, Florida and Colorado. However, her personal experience as a patient at AHN Allegheny General Hospital inspired her commitment to advance lifesaving cardiovascular care in Western Pennsylvania.