ONEOK, Inc., has awarded $50,000 grant to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, the two organizations announced today. The gift from the Tulsa-based energy company will be used to fund research on Alzheimer’s disease.
“We are very pleased to partner with ONEOK in the battle against a terrible disease that affects more than 4 million older Americans,” said J. Donald Capra, M.D., president of OMRF. “As one of Oklahoma’s leading corporate citizens, ONEOK has stepped forward to confront perhaps the foremost health threat to Oklahoma’s aging population.”
According to David Kyle, ONEOK chairman, president and chief executive officer, the gift fits with the company’s mission and vision. “By helping scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation break new ground in understanding and treating Alzheimer’s, we hope to make a contribution to the health and well-being of Oklahomans and people everywhere.
ONEOK is a diversified energy company involved in oil and gas production, natural gas processing, gathering, storage and transmission in the mid-continent areas of the United States. Last year, the company made grants to nonprofits totaling more than $3 million. ONEOK focuses its philanthropic efforts in the areas of health and human services, education, community improvement and art.
“Each year, many organizations compete for ONEOK’s support,” said OMRF’s Capra. “Receiving a grant from ONEOK is a real honor for us, and those funds will provide much-needed support for our Alzheimer’s research efforts.”
OMRF will use the funds to support research into the deadly neurodegenerative disease, which currently affects an estimated 1 in 2 Americans over the age of 85. Led by Jordan Tang, Ph.D., OMRF researchers have identified the enzyme believed to cause the disease and have created a chemical inhibitor that stops the enzyme. Tang’s team hopes to begin testing an experimental Alzheimer’s drug in humans in the near future.
About ONEOK
ONEOK (www.oneok.com) is a diversified energy company involved in oil and gas production, natural gas processing, gathering, storage and transmission in the mid-continent areas of the United States. The company’s energy services operations focus primarily on natural gas and provide service to customers in most states. ONEOK is the largest natural gas distributor in Kansas and Oklahoma and the third largest in Texas. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OKE.
About OMRF:
Chartered in 1946, OMRF (www.omrf.org) is a nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and curing human disease. Its scientists 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.
