This year’s MS Advocate Award Dinner raised $660,000 to fund patient care and research for multiple sclerosis at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
OMRF’s vice president of philanthropy, Penny Voss, announced the total to conclude the annual event, which was held Thursday evening at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club.
The event honored the late Lori Dillingham of Enid, a longtime patient of OMRF physician-scientist Gabriel Pardo, M.D., at the foundation’s Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence. She died at age 56 in 2023.
“Lori was an advocate simply by the way she lived with MS – graciously,” said Pardo, a neurologist who treated Dillingham for more than two decades. “She remained resilient throughout her journey, and it was admirable to witness.”
In OMRF’s MS Center, Pardo and his colleagues care for more than 3,000 patients each year from across Oklahoma and the region. All live with MS, a progressive disease of the central nervous system.
At OMRF, patients receive comprehensive, team-based care that includes neurological consultation and disease management, neuro-ophthalmology, infusion services, clinical trials, physical therapy, spasticity and mobility evaluation, and wellness education, regardless of their ability to pay.
Members of Dillingham’s family accepted this year’s MS Advocate Award on her behalf.
“OMRF and Dr. Pardo were an incredible part of Lori’s journey,” said her brother Chad Dillingham. “He was not just a doctor to her. He was a friend and a spiritual leader for the entire family.”
Jed Dillingham said his sister understood that she wouldn’t live to benefit from improved treatment options resulting from MS research conducted at OMRF. “But she knew that her journey would improve the lives of others.”
Serving as presenting sponsors for the dinner were the Chickasaw Nation, the Clyde R. Evans Charitable Trust, the Dillingham Family and the Hume Family Foundation. Jim and Lou Morris served as event co-chairs.
Providing entertainment were The Evasons, a husband-and-wife team who combine telepathy and magic.
“This dinner has become a highlight for so many people,” said OMRF President Andrew Weyrich, Ph.D. “It reminds us of how far we’ve come in helping improve the lives of those with MS – and how much more remains to be done.”
