A $9.9 million grant from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust will help fund a new center at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation focused on laboratory and clinical studies of chronic health conditions.
The grant, coupled with philanthropic gifts, will create the TSET Institute for a Healthier Oklahoma at OMRF.
TSET announced Nov. 20 that OMRF was among 13 recipients of Legacy Grants totaling $150 million. TSET is a state agency created by Oklahoma voters in 2000 following the settlement of a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma and 45 other states against the tobacco industry.
The new TSET institute at OMRF will support clinical and “bench-to-bedside” research exploring the three root causes of chronic disease: inflammation, impaired immunity and accelerated aging, said OMRF’s executive vice president and chief medical officer, Judith James, M.D., Ph.D.
“On average, Oklahomans die nearly seven years before people in healthier states,” said James, who will lead the new institute. “It’s not coincidental that we also have one of the nation’s highest rates in diabetes, heart disease, tobacco and substance abuse, autoimmunity and cancer. Through this new focused endeavor, we hope to improve the health of all Oklahomans.”
The new TSET institute will include:
• A Center for Healthy Aging, where Oklahomans will receive interventions that have proven through clinical studies to reduce physical and biological signs of aging.
• A 4,500-square-foot telehealth facility to provide subspecialty care to patients in practices throughout the state and to administer clinical trials to rural participants.
• A 33% capacity increase to OMRF’s biorepository, which currently stores and processes samples from 71,000 participants in human clinical studies.
Expansion of a new building that will house a state-of-the-art imaging center for OMRF’s rheumatology and multiple sclerosis patients.
“We view these Legacy Grants as an opportunity to make an unprecedented investment in the health of current and future Oklahomans,” said Julie Bisbee, TSET’s executive director. “OMRF’s proposal met our criteria for projects with the potential to truly tackle the underlying causes of chronic disease and premature death that affect people throughout the state. TSET is proud to build on OMRF’s impressive track record for transformational lab research and clinical studies.”
The Legacy Grants commemorate TSET’s 25th anniversary. As part of a lawsuit settlement, tobacco companies make annual payments to TSET, resulting in an endowment currently valued at $2 billion. The Legacy Grants were funded by investment revenue from that endowment.
OMRF scientists also receive smaller grants each year from another TSET program, the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research, or OCASCR. Those awards typically fund preliminary research or purchases of scientific equipment that enable scientists to apply for larger federal grants.
“We are deeply appreciative of TSET’s continued support for our efforts to advance health for all Oklahomans,” said OMRF President Andrew Weyrich, Ph.D. “The new TSET Institute for a Healthier Oklahoma at OMRF provides an avenue to tackle chronic disease research cohesively and collaboratively while involving study participants from communities throughout Oklahoma.”
