34. Meg Salyer
Meg Salyer has served as a community representative on OMRF’s conflict of interest committee for more than a decade, and she recently joined the foundation’s board of directors. When a family member began experiencing autoimmune disease symptoms, she knew exactly where to turn. “It’s incredible to have a resource in our state with world-class researchers and doctors. They provide the kind of care Oklahomans often think they need to travel out of state to get.”
35. Dr. Greg Watkins
Dr. Greg Watkins calls April 20, 2007, his “new birthday.” That was the day Greg, a dentist, received his first dose of Soliris, a drug for a rare blood disorder he’d lived with for more than a decade. Based on work done at OMRF, the drug virtually eliminated his symptoms, which had included debilitating fatigue and flu-like illness that led to frequent hospitalizations. Now 74 and retired, Greg continues to receive regular treatment with Soliris. “The research at OMRF means everything to me,” he says. “It gave me my life back.”
36-38. Rebecca, Melinda & Stuart West
After 35 years as a laboratory technician, Melinda West retired from OMRF in 2019. Sort of. Foundation researchers were eager to tap the experimental skills she’d honed in her long career, and Melinda liked coming back to connect with the science and people who’d played such an important role in her life. So, for the past five years, she’s enjoyed doing occasional contract work in the lab. And when she does, she can visit her children. Stuart serves as operations coordinator for OMRF’s comparative medicine department, while Rebecca recently moved from a position in gift management to a new role as compliance coordinator for the institutional animal care and use committee. For Melinda, “it’s validating” to have apples that fall so close to the family tree. “Stuart and Rebecca have known since they were kids that I love this place. It’s one of the best places you could work.”
39. Dr. Courtney Montgomery
A self-described “adrenaline junkie” whose non-OMRF pursuits have included bungee jumping and obstacle course racing, Dr. Courtney Montgomery loves a good challenge. So, it came as no surprise to those who knew her that the biostatistician and Duncan native signed on to become the first director of OMRF’s Center for Biomedical Data Sciences. OMRF began construction in 2023 of the new center, which aims to help all foundation scientists manage and process an ever-growing mountain of biological information. But Courtney isn’t waiting on the bricks and mortar to get going. Her team has already begun to work with numerous OMRF scientists on a wide array of projects. “This is going to fast-track scientific discovery,” she says.
40. Roberta Roush
Roberta Roush runs an average of 20 miles a week. But after watching her father undergo two arthritis-related knee replacements, she wanted to do her part to help others avoid his fate. When she saw an ad for a research study on arthritis at OMRF, she called right away to see if she qualified. She did, and she now visits OMRF every six months to give blood and other biological samples and to undergo an X-ray. Even though OMRF compensates her for her time and effort, she prefers to donate the money back to the foundation. “It’s an honor to participate. I’m just happy to help.”
41 & 42. Michael & Sharon Carolina
“The reality is that we are born, and we die,” says Michael Carolina. “The objective is to make the experience in the middle better.” An OMRF board member and retired executive director of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, he and his wife, Sharon, have been supporting OMRF for a quarter century. They see their donations to OMRF as a way to improve the “middle” that’s so important to all of us – and to enrich the state in the process. “Oklahoma has everything we need to elevate in the national rankings, and OMRF is right at the center of that,” says Michael. “We get to see progress from every donation.”
