With a pair of events on Sunday and Monday, OMRF raised $675,500 to fund clinical trials of an investigational drug to treat a deadly brain cancer.
OMRF’s “241” events—two events for one great cause—consisted of a wine festival and concert at OMRF on Sunday followed by a golf tournament Monday at Edmond’s Oak Tree Country Club. The proceeds from the events, which drew donors from across the state, will go to test a new treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
OMRF scientists Rheal Towner, Ph.D., and Robert Floyd, Ph.D., discovered a compound that, in laboratory animals, has been effective at shrinking these tumors. OMRF has filed for approval from the Food and Drug Administration to begin administering the investigational drug to patients in Oklahoma and Utah suffering from glioblastoma.
Those trials, which have yet to commence, will take place at the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center in Oklahoma City and the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. The first round alone of those trials will cost in excess of $1 million.
Sunday and Monday’s events raised a significant portion of this figure.
On Sunday, the foundation hosted a wine-tasting event featuring eight vineyards from California and Oregon and cuisine from 9 local restaurants. While attendees ate and drank, they enjoyed musical performances by the Red Dirt Rangers, the Okie Stompers and singer-songwriter Jessi Colter. Wrapping up the event was a concert by Shooter Jennings, with a surprise appearance by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Alice Cooper, whose set included his classic song “School’s Out.”
Cooper also played a part in Sunday’s other main draw: an auction that included a chance to appear on stage with the legendary rocker on his Madhouse Rock 2012 tour. Other packages included a trip to London for a VIP theater tour, a Las Vegas vacation with tickets and backstage passes to a Toby Keith concert, and a deep-sea fishing excursion in Cabo San Lucas.
On Monday, OMRF held a charity golf tournament at Oak Tree Country Club. The golf scramble event drew 144 participants, including golf enthusiast Cooper.
Lead sponsors for the events were G.T. and Elizabeth Blankenship, New Dominion LLC and New Source Energy Corp. Other major sponsors included Chesapeake Energy, the Chickasaw Nation, Devon Energy, Jim and Christy Everest, John and Virginia Groendyke, OPUBCO, Carl E. Gungoll Exploration, LLC, Ward Petroleum, the Allen Family Charitable Foundation and the Simmons Charitable Foundation.
