The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation announced today that it has received a $200,000 grant from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. The funds from the San Francisco-based foundation will fund five core biomedical research facilities at OMRF used to support cancer research.
“This generous gift is very important to OMRF for two reasons,” said OMRF President J. Donald Capra, M.D. “First, it will provide crucial funds in our scientists’ ongoing battle against cancer and other deadly diseases. And it represents yet another important step toward putting Oklahoma on the biomedical research map.”
Thomas Eastham, Vice President of the Hearst Foundation, said “The Hearst Foundation is pleased and proud to support the important priorities of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. We wish OMRF’s distinguished researchers Godspeed in their battle against cancer. The entire world has a stake in their success.”
The Hearst Foundation was created by legendary newspaperman and philanthropist William Randolph Hearst in 1948. Last year, the foundation, along with its sister charity, the Hearst Foundation, Inc., made 325 grants to nonprofits totaling more than $30 million. The foundations’ giving focuses on four areas: health, education, culture and social services.
“Each year, thousands of organizations compete for the Hearst Foundation’s support,” said OMRF’s Capra. “Receiving a Hearst grant represents the ultimate seal of approval. It’s a real honor for us.”
OMRF will use the grant to support five facilities that play a key role in OMRF’s cancer research efforts. These facilities are:
- DNA sequencing; With the only sequencer of its kind in Oklahoma, OMRF scientists can analyze over 180 DNA samples a day.
- Imaging: A high-powered transmission electron microscope and tissue sample processor helps researchers track cellular movement and analyze cells at magnifications of thousands of time.
- Microarray: This technology plays a pivotal part in defining the role of individual genes.
- Transgenics: By creating genetically modified mice, OMRF scientists can study the relationship between certain genes and cancer onset.
- Magnetic resonance imaging: This state-of-the-art facility will be crucial in predicting and understanding tumor development.
Cancer research at OMRF has already led to a promising diagnostic test that may help to predict which women are at risk for breast cancer. The test, known as OncoVue, is expected to reach the market within a year.
About OMRF:
Chartered in 1946, OMRF (www.omrf.org) is a nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and curing human disease. Its scientist focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease. OMRF is home to Oklahoma’s only member of the National Academy of Sciences.
