OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 5, 2006 – Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation employees ate ice cream sundaes, bought personalized bricks and placed bids in online auctions to help raise money to support medical research. And their efforts paid off—to the tune of $122,000 in donations to support research and education programs at OMRF.

Of OMRF’s 568 employees, 329—58 percent—participated in OMRF’s employee fund-raising campaign, which began in June and ended Sept. 1. Employee giving surpassed the campaign’s original $100,000 goal to recruit new scientists, build educational programs, improve facilities and increase the foundation’s endowment.

“This is a testament to our employees’ belief in OMRF’s mission,” said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “It shows they are willing to make a personal commitment to assure that our foundation continues to flourish.”

The campaign coincides with the foundation’s 60th birthday celebration, which will take place Sept. 15 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum with a party hosted by First Lady Kim Henry.

Denise Brewer, who works in OMRF’s cardiovascular biology program, was among the first to make a pledge toward the campaign. “I love telling others about the world-class research we do here and how it impacts real people,” she said. “It’s clear that other people feel the same way I do, because they’ve given back to OMRF through this campaign.”

Several members of Brewer’s family suffer from ailments now being researched in OMRF labs, including arthritis, deep-vein thrombosis and stroke.

About OMRF:
Celebrating its 60th birthday in 2006, OMRF (www.omrf.org) is a nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and curing human disease. Its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease. It is home to Oklahoma’s only member of the National Academy of Sciences.