Butkus Foundation Partnership
A PARTNERSHIP TO
Save Lives
Advancing life-saving cardiovascular screening with Carle Illinois College of Medicine and The Butkus Foundation
Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Butkus Foundation have launched a new partnership to advance life-saving cardiovascular screenings. The partnership unites the Butkus Foundation’s national reach and advocacy with Carle Illinois’ expertise at the intersection of engineering and medicine.
The Story
The collaboration builds on the Takes Heart™ initiative — a national effort inspired by Hall of Fame NFL linebacker Dick Butkus after a 2001 heart scan revealed three 100% blocked arteries and two 95% blocked arteries, despite having no symptoms. The life-saving quintuple bypass that immediately followed extended his life by 23 years and inspired his decades-long advocacy for early detection and prevention.
Carle Illinois and the Butkus Foundation aim to continue and increase public awareness about the importance of heart health screenings, even for those without symptoms.
The Inspiration
The partnership will initially focus on CT Calcium Score screenings for University of Illinois and Big Ten football coaches during the 2025 season, but aims to expand offerings, including the creation of a center that will leverage Carle Illinois’ cutting-edge AI and advanced imaging to predict and prevent sudden cardiac death. The center will be led by Carle Illinois College of Medicine and honor Butkus.
“This partnership reflects my father’s belief that preventive screenings save lives. We chose Carle Illinois College of Medicine because it’s the world’s first engineering-based college of medicine, uniquely positioned to harness pioneering AI technologies to advance health care, research heart health, and save lives. Together, we can make a next-level impact.”
Matt Butkus, son of Dick Butkus
President of the Butkus Foundation
Groundbreaking Advancement
As part of the collaboration, the partners will lead the development of a groundbreaking, HIPAA-compliant cardiovascular health database powered by AI. This database will collect and analyze screening results to identify patterns, inform new prevention measures, advance heart health knowledge, and develop innovative treatments.
Exploring
Boundaries
Carle Illinois College of Medicine will continue to push the boundaries of AI in cardiovascular care, exploring how advanced data analytics, pattern recognition, and predictive modeling can improve heart health outcomes on a broad scale.
Nationally-Driven
Advocacy
The Dick Butkus Center for Cardiac Testing at Orange Heart Institute in Orange, CA has screened more than 50,000 at-risk individuals, with thousands more screened through advocacy driven by the nationally broadcast Butkus Awards® on the Big Ten Network.
B1G Today
New initiative by CI MED and the Butkus Foundation featured on B1G Today broadcast, showcasing joint leadership from both organizations.