OKLAHOMA CITY- (PRNewswire) – Presbyterian Health Foundation (PHF) has awarded more than $5.5 million in grant funding to Oklahoma City-based biomedical research institutions and public health innovators OU Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) and Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) for 81 research projects in its summer grant cycle.
PHF will award a total of $8.8 million before its fiscal year ends.
These latest grants bring the total amount PHF has donated since its inception to over $205 million, primarily to biotechnology and medical research and education organizations in Oklahoma with an emphasis on research and innovation taking place within the Oklahoma Health Center campus.
“Our medical research grants offer opportunities for healthcare discoveries through all stages of the medical research pipeline. We fund early investigation through our seed grants, keep laboratories operational so investigators can continue their work through our bridge grants, and fund collaborative discovery through our team science awards, encouraging researchers to work together across disciplines to advance and strengthen their work,” said PHF President Rick McCune. “OK-1, a promising new cancer drug developed by PHF-funded OU College of Medicine investigator Dr. Doris Benbrook, is an example of a discovery propelled from the lab to clinical trials here on the Oklahoma Health Center campus.”
“We are grateful to Presbyterian Health Foundation for their long-standing support of important research through the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center,” said OUHSC Interim Vice President for Research Mary Beth Humphrey, MD, PhD.
“Presbyterian Health Foundation’s funding provides a major boost to biomedical research in Oklahoma City,” said OMRF President Andrew S. Weyrich, PhD. “PHF continues to open doors for OMRF scientists in the search for new and better ways to treat disease. Their investments in our labs change the lives of Oklahomans and people everywhere.”
Funded projects will further research discovery in the areas of cancer, diabetes, neuroscience, cardiovascular, autoimmune diseases and COVID-19.