The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation took home top honors in four categories at the Society of Professional Journalists Oklahoma Pro Chapter’s 2026 awards last week in Tulsa.
The competition included more than 550 entries across all categories from organizations and media outlets throughout Oklahoma. Journalists and other media professionals from Pennsylvania served as judges.
OMRF’s magazine, Findings, received first place in the category of outstanding public relations publication. The foundation publishes Findings twice a year for more than 30,000 supporters. The winning issue, which celebrated the 35th anniversary of Findings, marked the fifth time the magazine has received top honors in this category.
Judges called the issue “a creative, moving approach to humanize the work that is done every day. The profiles were skillfully done, well-written, and impactful. Very moving!”
“The Threat to Medical Research,” a Findings story about the impact of grant cancellations, delays and widespread layoffs at the National Institutes of Health, also earned the top prize in feature writing.
The magazine also captured first place in the graphics category for the cover of its 35th anniversary issue.
The foundation’s annual appeal to donors, “Powering Discovery,” won for outstanding public relations campaign. Judges wrote that OMRF’s entry “stood out for its powerful storytelling and exceptional strategic execution.”
The appeal wove together the story of two donors – one with Alzheimer’s – with an OMRF scientist’s research on the disease.
The result, judges said, was “a narrative that was both urgent and profoundly human.”
