The law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton has made a $100,000 contribution to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), the organizations announced today.
Kilpatrick Stockton’s substantial gift will help OMRF establish a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility for mice, the first of its kind in Oklahoma. The new facility, which will be completed in 2004, will allow researchers to view the internal organs of experimental animals at virtually a microscopic level without dye injection, biopsies or surgery.
“Kilpatrick Stockton has been privileged to serve OMRF for almost 15 years relative to technology transfer matters, including work on patents, licenses, and significant patent infringement and licensing dispute litigation,” according to John Pratt, chair of the law firm’s intellectual property practice. “We deeply appreciate what our relationship with OMRF has meant economically, the opportunity to meet and work with many of OMRF’s world class scientists and to see first hand their remarkable progress in pursuing OMRF’s goal – ‘that more can live longer, healthier lives.'”
“We are delighted to have this chance to give something back, and it is particularly meaningful for us to support OMRF’s research involving Dr. Fletcher Taylor and Dr. Charles Esmon, with whom we have worked extensively in recent years,” said Susan Cahoon, a senior litigation partner with the law firm. “We want this gift to be a catalyst for making a real impact in helping save lives, and we are confident that this new MRI facility will make a difference.”
Although the MRI is commonplace in human medicine, according to OMRF President J. Donald Capra, M.D., there are currently no more than a dozen small animal MRIs in the country. “Thanks to the generosity of Kilpatrick Stockton and other far-sighted donors, our scientists will now have a powerful, research-grade MRI to study the cells and organs of living mice, just as doctors are able to use conventional MRIs to study human patients in hospitals,” said Capra.
Capra foresees numerous applications for the instrument, from helping OMRF researchers who are trying to develop an inhibitor that blocks the progression of Alzheimer’s disease to facilitating the study of such diseases as breast cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease. “This new MRI will be a tremendous asset in helping our researchers transform scientific insight into treatments and cures for human disease,” he said.
