The Duncan-based McCasland Foundation recently made a $425,000 gift to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, which will support expansion of OMRF’s Aging and Metabolism Research Program and complete its $5.2 million fundraising campaign.
“The McCasland Foundation has shown an extraordinary commitment to medical research at OMRF for more than 25 years,” OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D., said in a news release. “This gift funds critical work in a field that will add life to the years of Oklahomans and people everywhere.”
OMRF’s Aging and Metabolism Research Program is home to more than 75 scientific staffers who study diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, arthritis and age-related loss of muscle and vision. The expansion of the program included creating a new laboratory suite, purchasing state-of-the-art research equipment and providing start-up funding for the labs of three new principal scientists at OMRF.
“Diseases of aging impact all of us, whether in our own health or that of someone we love,” said Barbara Braught, executive director of the McCasland Foundation and OMRF board member for more than 20 years. “OMRF is recognized as a national leader in the field, and we are thrilled to continue our support of their life-changing research.”
Established in 1950 by Mack Energy Co. founder T.H. McCasland, the foundation has given more than $2 million to support medical research at OMRF.
Additional support for the expansion of the Aging and Metabolism Research Program was provided by Elizabeth and Greg Allen, The H.A. and Mary K. Chapman Trust, The Gaylord Family Foundation, Virginia and John Groendyke, The Hardesty Family Foundation, The Masonic Charity Foundation and The Presbyterian Health Foundation.