Fall 2011

As construction crews put the finishing touches on our new eight-story research tower, many employees are unpacking boxes as they move into brand new labs or office space. With every moving cart that’s unpacked, OMRF takes another step toward the future. The research tower provides us with a 50 percent increase in space, a projected 30 percent increase in the number of employees over the next decade and a correspondingly larger budget—all of which, we believe, will translate into increased productivity and research excellence. To implement change of this scope, it takes careful planning, and plans for this move were laid years ago.

Speaking of transition, I also happen to be a part of the change underway at OMRF. Several months ago, I joined the development staff as senior director of development. But I’m hardly a newcomer

to OMRF, because I had the good fortune to work in the accounting office from 2004 to 2008. While I can assist you with all areas of development, my focus lies in planned giving, and I hope to get to meet many of you as I settle into this new position.

Change is afoot in Washington, too. After a one-year wait, Congress passed a new tax law last December that affects several planned giving vehicles, including the IRA rollover and estate tax rates. Now more than ever, you’ll want to make sure you have good financial and tax-planning advice to assure that you get the positive results you want when it comes to estate planning or planned giving.

Gifts to OMRF still yield tax savings through the charitable deduction and tax credit and, in the case of a charitable gift annuity, can also provide income.

However you choose to go about it, a gift to OMRF is an investment in helping people live longer, healthier lives. And you can’t put a price on that!

Ginny Bass CarlSenior Director of Development

Walk around OMRF these days and you’ll hear them: the sounds of change.

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Danny Stansbury was so tired that he could fall asleep at his desk. His swollen joints, aches, pains and recurrent fevers made him feel even worse. At age 36, he chalked it up to aging. “I’m just getting older—and feeling it,” he told himself.

But when Stansbury began losing large amounts of hair, he decided enough was enough. One year and three doctors later, blood tests confirmed that he suffered from lupus.

Lupus is a disease of the immune system that causes the body to turn its disease-fighting agents on itself. Symptoms can include everything from skin rashes to anemia, headaches and abnormal blood clotting. The disease mimics other conditions, like diabetes, arthritis and heart, lung or kidney disease, and “flares” occur when symptoms of the disease worsen.

When he heard about a clinical trial on lupus in OMRF’s Clinical Pharmacology Research Program in 2003, Stansbury decided to participate. Since then, he’s been a regular visitor, giving blood every three months for OMRF scientists to use in studies. “Giving a little blood is easy,” he says. “Besides, I know OMRF makes good use of it.”

Today, Stansbury takes daily medications to keep his symptoms under control. Spending time in the sun is “flirting with flares,” he says. So he’s replaced his sunny-day activities with indoor and evening ones, like Oklahoma City Thunder basketball games.

Stansbury also gives more than just blood to OMRF. When he heard about OMRF’s biomedical research tax credit, Stansbury and his wife started making donations to OMRF for lupus and Alzheimer’s disease research. His personal experience with OMRF and watching close friends lose a loved one to Alzheimer’s cemented their decision.

“The tax credit is a real plus, but I’ve benefited personally from the research at OMRF,” he says. “I also know that the scientists there are some of the best in the world, so OMRF is a good place for us to put our money.”

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Deadly diseases get the majority of attention for obvious reasons. But millions of Americans suffer from diseases like arthritis that make life harder every day.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 million adults in the U.S. have doctor-diagnosed arthritis. Of those, 21 million report that arthritis limits their ability to perform everyday activities. For many, even tying a shoe or grasping a pencil can bring excruciating pain.

“There are more than 100 different types of arthritis,” says OMRF scientist Dr. Tim Griffin. “Each of them affects patients in different way, but they have one thing in common: they make simple tasks more difficult and painful than they should be.”

Griffin works in OMRF’s Free Radical Biology and Aging Research Program and studies osteoarthritis—the most common type of arthritis—and how obesity affects joints both physically and chemically. Osteoarthritis is a disease caused by the degradation of joints, leading to joint pain, stiffness and locking of varying severity. It is the primary cause of disability in the U.S.

“The two factors seen most often in osteoarthritis are cartilage destruction and abnormal bone growth,” he says. “The upshot of both is that you have bones

working against one another without adequate cushion.”

For years, people have assumed that osteoarthritis is an inevitable part of aging, but Griffin says both genetics and environmental risk factors play a part in if and when the condition will strike.

“In my lab, we’re studying how the body regulates the chemicals that prevent osteoarthritis and how obesity alters those processes,” he says. “We’re also looking at the role of exercise in preserving joints. It seems counterintuitive, but sometimes we can’t keep osteoarthritis from affecting joints unless we’re actively using those joints.”

Much of what we know about osteoarthritis can also be applied to rheumatoid arthritis, says Dr. Eliza Chakravarty. “RA is an autoimmune disease, which means the body’s immune system is mistakenly damaging tissue instead of going after illness,” she says. “In rheumatoid arthritis, those attacks are located in the membrane in joints, causing painful inflammation.”

Chakravarty, an associate member in OMRF’s Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program,

Dr. Eliza ChakravartyDr. Tim Griffin

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By 2030, it is predicted that 25 percent of Americans 18 and older will have osteoarthritis.

Do you have arthritis? We depend on volunteers to help us with clinical trials for new medications. You may qualify for an OMRF clinical trial. Find out more by calling (405) 271-7805 or email us at clinic@omrf.org.

says that while osteoarthritis comes on gradually with age, rheumatoid arthritis can flare up at an earlier age.

“The advances we’ve made in treating rheumatoid arthritis in the last 25 years are amazing,” she says. “But because that initial pain can take so long before treatment begins, patients can develop other problems while their movement is restricted.”

In previous research, Chakravarty says it’s been shown that a lack of exercise leads to a weakening of the muscles and ligaments surrounding crucial joints. Getting patients back to the lives they want to lead is the goal—but it takes work.

“Whether it’s osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, it’s easy to give up or just accept that you’ll always be in pain,” she says. “But that’s where research steps in. We’re learning more about arthritis every day. Not just

the causes, but better ways to slow and sometimes stop the progression of arthritis.”

There is always hope, Griffin says. “It is slow progress, I know, but we’re working to

better understand the mechanisms in the body that lead to arthritis,” he says. “Every discovery gets us a little bit closer to the day when we can live our lives free of pain.”

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Bill and Amy Stittsworth

Enid is a friendly little metropolis in the middle of the windswept plains of north central Oklahoma. Dubbed the “Wheat Capital of Oklahoma,” it boasts the oldest symphony in the state and the third largest grain storage facility in the world. Some of the region’s largest oil companies were born here, and its 49,000 residents know it’s a special place where life is good and hearts are generous.

It’s also a city where OMRF is the first name that comes to mind when the topic turns to giving.

“For years, we’ve been amazed at the number and frequency of gifts that come from Enid,” says OMRF Vice President of Development Penny Voss. “The

people there developed a love for OMRF that has grown through the years. It’s also wonderful to see new generations and businesses stepping in to take their places as OMRF donors, as well.”

This tradition of giving is especially strong when it comes to memorial gifts. Enid’s funeral home owners have a long history of encouraging their clients to designate OMRF to receive donations in lieu of flowers upon the death of a loved one. Over the years, the practice spread to include all funeral homes in Enid, and the resulting gifts and new donors have made the area one of the top giving regions in OMRF history.

These unofficial OMRF “ambassadors” have helped make OMRF a first choice for memorial gifts among their patrons. Records show that more than 5,700 gifts have been made as a direct result of Enid funeral homes’ influence since 2005. Estate gifts from the area total more than $3.8 million over 40 years.

While funeral directors work with people during a difficult and emotional time, they’ve found that most families want to honor their late loved ones and also find a way to make an impact on the lives of others. “You can’t always save someone from dying, but you can do something meaningful in their memory,” says Bill Stittsworth, who, with his wife, owns and operates Amy Stittsworth Funeral Service in Enid.

Stittsworth learned about OMRF from his father, who was also a funeral director. “My dad taught me to support anyone with a great mission. Gifts to OMRF make a difference, and the work it does benefits all humanity. You can’t ask for a better mission than that.”

Do you want to make a difference? Are you passionate about an organization’s mission? Are you looking for ways to minimize income and federal estate taxes and possibly bypass capital gains?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re probably wondering which giving methods will best let you enjoy tax savings and help others at the same time.

A major consideration when making a gift is timing: whether it’s better to give now or give later. If OMRF is your charity of choice, all ways of giving now qualify for the Oklahoma Biomedical Research Tax Credit. In addition, for every $2 you give, you’ll be paid back $1 through the tax credit – for gifts of up to $4,000 each year for married couples filing jointly and $2,000 for individual taxpayers, including businesses. And you’ll also receive the charitable tax deduction.

When it comes to donation vehicles, the simplest is the outright gift. Whether cash, stocks or property, gifts of this type yield tax benefits and deductions up front.

If you’re 70½ or older, an IRA rollover also provides immediate tax benefits and deductions. By creating a will, you can make specific bequests so your beneficiaries, whether family or charity, will receive

money or property upon your death. This classic, straightforward method ensures that your wishes are noted in advance and carried out per your specifications.

If you or a loved one are looking to receive income now, you might consider a charitable remainder trust (CRT) or charitable gift annuity (CGA). These can be tailored to suit your needs, and at the end of the term, your charity of choice receives the remainder of the fund.

We’ll be happy to work with you and your financial advisor to discuss these and other gifting plans that will help you leave your legacy and reduce taxes now and later. Call or email Ginny Bass Carl at 405-271-8137 or ginny-carl@omrf.org for more information.

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Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

That more may live longer, healthier lives…

Join our fight against cancer, lupus, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and multiple sclerosis by honoring friends, family and loved ones with a gift to medical research. If you would like to learn more about OMRF or support our research, please contact us at (405) 271-7400 or visit www.omrf.org.