Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

OKLAHOMA MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION (OMRF) IS DEDICATED TO DEVELOPING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF AND MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS FOR HUMAN DISEASE.

ARTHRITIS & CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY/CLINICAL OPERATIONS - THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH SELECTED OMRF TO LEAD A NEWLY FUNDED ACCELERATING MEDICINES PARTNERSHIP IN AUTOIMMUNE AND IMMUNE-MEDIATED DISEASES INITIATIVE. THIS NATIONWIDE CONSORTIUM IS FOCUSED ON UNDERSTANDING AND DEVELOPING NEW TREATMENTS FOR LUPUS, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND OTHER DISEASES OF AUTOIMMUNITY. DR. JUDITH JAMES SERVES AS THE NATIONAL PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FOR THIS NETWORK, WHICH INCLUDES MORE THAN 40 RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, FIVE NIH INSTITUTES AND CENTERS, AND PARTNERS FROM INDUSTRY AND PATIENT ORGANIZATIONS. IN OCTOBER, DR. JAMES WAS ELECTED TO THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, ONE OF THE FIELD'S HIGHEST HONORS.

OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES INCLUDE DEPARTMENTS SUCH AS CELL CYCLE AND CANCER BIOLOGY, GENES AND HUMAN DISEASE, GENETIC MODELS OF DISEASE AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC AND RESEARCH SUPPORT SERVICES.

CARDIOVASCULAR BIOLOGY RESEARCH PROGRAM - WORK IN THIS PROGRAM CAST NEW LIGHT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POORLY UNDERSTOOD ORGAN CALLED THE OMENTUM. SCIENTISTS ALSO MADE NEW INSIGHTS THAT COULD LEAD TO ADVANCES IN WOUND HEALING AND MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIABETES AND SEPSIS, WHICH IS THE LEADING KILLER IN U.S. INTENSIVE CARE UNITS. FINALLY, DR. LIJUN XIA FOUND THAT AN EXPERIMENTAL DRUG BEING TESTED TO TREAT A RARE BLOOD DISORDER MAY ALSO BENEFIT PEOPLE WHO HAVE SICKLE CELL DISEASE. "IN OUR PREVIOUS WORK, WE LOOKED AT ONE THERAPEUTIC WORK FOR VASO-OCCLUSIVE CRISES," SAYS OMRF'S DR. ROD MCEVER, WHOSE DISCOVERIES LED TO THE FIRST TREATMENT FOR THE PAIN CRISES THAT ACCOMPANY THE CONDITION. "DR. XIA IS LOOKING AT ANOTHER, AND THIS PROVIDES A STRONG BASIS FOR A CLINICAL TRIAL."

AGING AND METABOLISM RESEARCH PROGRAM - SCIENTISTS IN THIS PROGRAM MADE A RANGE OF DISCOVERIES IN 2022, FROM IDENTIFYING TRAITS IN OVARIAN CANCER CELLS THAT COULD IMPROVE CHEMOTHERAPY TREATMENTS TO INSIGHTS THAT MAY SLOW THE AGING IN THE HEART. ON THE TECHNOLOGY FRONT, THEY INVENTED A NEW METHOD TO MANIPULATE GENETIC CODING AND MADE KEY CONTRIBUTIONS TO A PATENT APPLICATION FOR A DRUG THAT COULD TREAT POST-INJURY OSTEOARTHRITIS PAIN. IN ADDITION, DR. BENJAMIN MILLER DISCOVERED THAT CELLS IN MUSCLE CAN REPLICATE DNA. THIS COUNTERS 40 YEARS OF TEXTBOOK KNOWLEDGE AND OPENS UP AN ALTERNATIVE TO STEM CELL THERAPY, WHICH HAS LARGELY PROVEN UNSUCCESSFUL AS A TREATMENT FOR DAMAGED MUSCLES.