Fund in Memory of Cynthia Dailard

Cynthia Dailard, a beloved wife and mother of 2 daughters, and a senior public policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute passed away on Dec. 24, 2006 after suffering cardiac arrest as a result of previously undetected Long QT Syndrome. She was 38 years old.

Cynthia collapsed at work during an emotional moment in a meeting and never regained consciousness. A co-worker administered CPR at the scene, but sadly, she suffered an irreversible ischemic brain injury before paramedics arrived with an AED. She had experienced no symptoms of Long QT syndrome prior to the catastrophic cardiac event that tragically claimed her life.

Since 1998, Cynthia worked at the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research and advocacy group devoted to women's sexual and reproductive health issues, in the Washington office where she wrote articles and spoke out on matters of family planning, adolescent sexual behavior and favoring insurance coverage for contraception. Before joining Guttmacher, Mrs. Dailard was associate director for domestic policy for President Bill Clinton, legislative assistant and counsel for Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), and a fellow at the National Women's Law Center.

Cynthia was a native of Syosset, N.Y., and a graduate of Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. She lived in Washington, DC and is survived by her husband of 14 years, Scott Dailard, and their two daughters, Miranda Dailard (age 5) and Julia Dailard (age 3); her mother, Ellen Boles; her sister, Sandra Boles; and a grandmother. Mrs. Dailard’s daughters and her sister Sandra are currently undergoing genetic testing to screen for the presence of Long QT Syndrome. Her husband Scott has been working with SADS to secure federal funding for a research program designed to develop reliable and cost-effective protocols for diagnosing Long QT and other congenital arrhythmia disorders in young people.