Tulsa’s Hardesty Family Foundation has made a $1 million gift to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
The grant will fund the expansion of OMRF’s Aging and Metabolism Research Program, which focuses on ways to prevent, treat and even reverse conditions that impact older adults.
“The Hardesty family set out to make a difference in the lives of all Oklahomans and give back to the state they call home. With this extraordinary gift to medical research, they’ve done it yet again,” said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “Thanks to their generosity, our scientists will be able to continue the innovative work that leads to life-changing — and life-saving — discoveries.”
The $5.2 million expansion of the Aging and Metabolism Program includes the renovation of new a laboratory suite, state-of-the-art equipment and start-up funds for three new scientists and their teams.
The program is led by Holly Van Remmen, Ph.D., who guides a team of researchers looking into age-related conditions like heart failure, diabetes, muscle and vision loss, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and dementia. U.S. rates of these diseases and the healthcare costs associated with them have soared in recent years as American lifespans have increased.
“Scientists at OMRF are doing work that will make a profound difference in the lives of all Oklahomans, extending not just the years in a life, but the life in those years,” said Hardesty Family Foundation Trustee Michelle Hardesty. “Our family is pleased to again support OMRF’s critical, cutting-edge medical research, the dividends of which will be felt across generations and around the world.”
Founded in 2005 by F. Roger and Donna J. Hardesty, the Hardesty Family Foundation has given more than $2 million to support medical research at OMRF over the last decade. An OMRF lab will be named in the family’s honor to memorialize their generous contributions that will allow more to live longer, healthier lives.