Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientists honored

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), May 17, 2006 by Journal Record Staff

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation awarded the Edward L. and Thelma Gaylord Prize for Scientific Achievement to Gary Gorbsky.

The award was presented at OMRF's annual honors and awards banquet.

Robert J. Barstead was installed as the G.T. Blankenship Chair in Alzheimer's and Aging Research.

Gorbsky is the 12th scientist in OMRF history to receive the Gaylord Prize, OMRF's highest scientific honor. Established in 1991, the award is named for the late Edward L. Gaylord, who served on OMRF's board for more than 40 years, and his late wife, Thelma.

Gorbsky was honored for his research on mitosis, the process of how cells divide. He recently became the first scientist anywhere to reverse the process of cell division.

Dr. Gorbsky's results provide elegant proof that the cell cycle must be precisely controlled, said Rodger McEver, OMRF's vice president of research. Now he and his lab can work toward developing innovative methods to probe and better understand the complex process of cell division.

The discovery may prove important to controlling the development and metastasis of certain cancers. It also holds promise for the prevention and treatment of birth defects and a wide variety of other conditions.

Gorbsky holds the W.H. and Betty Phelps Chair in Developmental Biology and heads the Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology Research Program at OMRF.

Barstead, the new Blankenship Chair, earned his doctorate from Northwestern University and joined OMRF in 1993.

R. Deane Wymer, a certified public accountant from Fairview, joined OMRF's board of directors. Wymer is a partner in the tax, accounting and investment firm of Wymer Brownlee and Associates. He has served as Fairview's mayor and president of the Oklahoma Society of Public Accountants.

Kenneth Hensley was presented OMRF's inaugural Institutional Advancement award at the dinner. The award was presented to Hensley, an OMRF researcher who specializes in degenerative brain disease, for his service in promoting OMRF and assisting in philanthropic and community outreach.

OMRF director Galen Robbins was presented the Board of Directors Distinguished Service Award. A retired Oklahoma City cardiovascular surgeon, Robbins has served on OMRF's board since 1982. He currently chairs the board's technology transfer committee.