Oklahoma City-based Presbyterian Health Foundation Announces $5.5 Million Awarded in OUHSC and OMRF

OKLAHOMA CITY, July 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/

— Presbyterian Health Foundation (PHF) announced today they have awarded more than $5.5 million in grant funding to Oklahoma City-based biomedical research institutions and public health innovators OU Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) and Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) for 81 research projects in its summer grant cycle. PHF will award a total of $8.8 million before its fiscal year ends.

These latest grants bring the total amount PHF has donated since its inception to over $205 million, primarily to biotechnology and medical research and education organizations in Oklahoma with an emphasis on research and innovation taking place within the Oklahoma Health Center campus.

“Our medical research grants offer opportunities for healthcare discoveries through all stages of the medical research pipeline. We fund early investigation through our seed grants, keep laboratories operational so investigators can continue their work through our bridge grants, and fund collaborative discovery through our team science awards, encouraging researchers to work together across disciplines to advance and strengthen their work,” said PHF President Rick McCune. “OK-1, a promising new cancer drug developed by PHF-funded OU College of Medicine investigator Dr. Doris Benbrook, is an excellent example of a discovery propelled from the lab to clinical trials here on the Oklahoma Health Center campus.”

“We are grateful to Presbyterian Health Foundation for their long-standing support of important research through the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center,” said OUHSC Interim Vice President for Research Mary Beth Humphrey, MD, PhD. “This additional funding will allow our scientists to focus their efforts on the next medical breakthroughs that will ultimately improve the lives of Oklahomans and beyond.”

“Presbyterian Health Foundation’s funding provides a major boost to biomedical research in Oklahoma City,” said OMRF President Andrew S. Weyrich, PhD. “PHF continues to open doors for OMRF scientists in the search for new and better ways to treat disease. Their investments in our labs change the lives of Oklahomans and people everywhere.”

Funded projects will further research discovery in the areas of cancer, diabetes, neuroscience, cardiovascular, autoimmune diseases and COVID-19.

“Our grants help Oklahoma research scientists secure additional funding from national institutions such as National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association,” said PHF Chairman Tom R. Gray, III. “We’re thrilled to see such productive research collaborations happening across the medical campus.”