The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has chosen scientists Sue Bodine, Ph.D., and Matlock Jeffries, M.D., as this year’s recipients from the Stephen M. Prescott Endowment Fund for the Best and Brightest.
OMRF launched a campaign to create the endowment in 2021 to honor then-President Stephen Prescott, M.D. Donors contributed more than $10 million for the fund, which supports the recruitment and retention of scientists. Prescott’s long journey with cancer came to an end the same year.
“Dr. Prescott had a passion for training and retaining the next generation of biomedical researchers,” said OMRF President Andrew Weyrich, Ph.D. “As someone who trained under him, I benefited immensely from that passion. He would be thrilled to see how we are strengthening OMRF through these funds.”
Bodine joined OMRF from the University of Iowa earlier this year. Her lab studies the mechanisms responsible for the loss of muscle mass and strength, especially loss resulting from aging or an atrophy-inducing event. Bodine’s goal is to develop therapeutics that can prevent or mitigate this loss and enhance muscle recovery.
Jeffries, a native Oklahoman and board-certified rheumatologist, studies and treats osteoarthritis. He first came to OMRF as a research technician in 2005 and returned in 2020 to open his lab and care for patients in the foundation’s Rheumatology Center of Excellence.
“Dr. Prescott was the reason I returned to OMRF,” Jeffries said. “We were good friends, and he was such a wonderful mentor to me, so I’m particularly grateful to be chosen as an endowment recipient.”
Jeffries is a lead researcher on the Systematic Oklahoma Osteoarthritis Epigenetics Research, or SOONER study, which seeks to identify biological signs that could help predict the severity of osteoarthritis. While the SOONER study began with patients showing early signs of the disease, the endowment funds enabled its expansion to end-stage patients preparing for joint replacement.
“Dr. Jeffries is a rising superstar in osteoarthritis research, and Dr. Bodine is a seasoned investigator with a track record of excellence in aging research,” Weyrich said. “They are exactly the type of scientists the Prescott Endowment was intended to support.”
Bodine and Jeffries are the second pair of scientists awarded funds from the Prescott Endowment. Audrey Cleuren, Ph.D., and Jake Kirkland, Ph.D., were honored in 2022.
