Spring 21 Bunsen Burner

As the temperatures dropped,
OMRF staffers rose to the challenge

Pat Marble wasn’t sure what he was in Gebur, Greg Lewis, Luis Aguilera-Silva, Bob
for when he arrived on campus at 9 a.m. Schniederjan, Prentice Walker and Greg
on Valentine’s Day. But with brutally cold Yarbrough darted from crisis to crisis across
temperatures and snow barreling down on the campus. Frozen pipes, broken fire sprinkler
Oklahoma City metro, he knew he had his work lines, failing HVAC systems, and middle-of-the-
cut out for him. night calls and alarms kept them busy around
the clock, all in the name of protecting the
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Pat, foundation’s research.
a senior biomedical specialist, of the mercury
cratering to a more than 100-year low in Many slept onsite. The crew scrounged
Oklahoma City that week. It would be 145 retired MS Clinic infusion chairs from storage,
hours from arriving at OMRF that morning catching shuteye for two and three hours at
before he slept in his own bed. a time. “It’s hard to lose sight of your mission
when you’re sleeping in a chair built for the
Over the next six days, Pat and an OMRF patients benefitting from the research we were
team that included Don Ballew, Bruce Clark, trying to preserve,” says Pat.
Clint Daily, Sam Davis, Richard Fister, Bill

Olivia Reichelt, Luis Aguilara-Silva, Haley Brown, Clint Daily, Adrianna Davison,
Bill Gebur, Bruce Clark, Chase Pierce, Pat Marble, Greg Lewis, Greg Yarborough, Don Ballew

BUNSENburner Spring 2021

Bruce, OMRF’s facility services supervisor, Greg Yarborough repaired HVAC
noted that except for the Research Tower, all units on the rooftops in the frigid
of OMRF’s facilities sustained storm-related temperatures.
damage that required urgent attention. Plumbing
breaks alone had the team bailing up to 500 In all, close to 100% of the Comparative
gallons of water per day — always, Bruce says, Medicine team — Melanee Clark, Stephanie
with a good attitude. Coffey, Steffi Doak, Erika Frasquillo Garcia,
Patrick Higgins, Mike Jones, Reagan Kelley,
“We were dealing with a busted pipe in one Nikki Kong, Thuy Kong, Margie Pachucki,
of the women’s restrooms, and Pat got sprayed Kristy Sauer, Derrick Stiggers, Stuart West and
right in the face,” says Bruce. “I moved the pipe Joe Woodward — made their way to campus
so it would stop, but all that did was pop it in during the storm.
a different spot and spray me in the face. We
couldn’t stop laughing, partly because we were “Thanks to our incredible facilities and biomed
so tired. But it went on like that day and night.” crews and my dedicated staff of animal care
techs, I doubt our animals knew anything
Although Chase Pierce isn’t the one to call in a happened,” says Jennie.
facilities emergency — “I can’t fix an air handler,
or at least you don’t want me to,” says Chase — The extraordinary cross-departmental efforts
the Research Café grillmaster came in to serve ensured that experiments went on uninterrupted,
hot meals and prep food that would sustain the research animals were cared for, and the
sub-zero squad for the duration of the storm. samples that tens of thousands of patients have
entrusted to OMRF were unharmed. “It’s all
“I didn’t want them coming in out of the cold safe,” says Bruce.
to bologna and cheese or driving on ice to get
fast food,” says Chase. “They deserved a warm And for the scientists whose labs and life’s
meal prepared for them.” work was in jeopardy, the devotion to protecting
the work at the core of OMRF’s mission did not
And while they don’t expect a hot dinner, go unnoticed.
the more than 18,000 mice, 100 frogs and
thousands of fish that call OMRF home do “Knowing our amazing facilities and
require precision care. A technician must check maintenance team, I was sure they would be on
each animal at least once per day, 365 days a top of things,” says Susannah Rankin. “They
year. That means snow days are not an option for kept us whole.”
Jennie Criley’s Comparative Medicine team.
For Pat, it’s all part of the job.
Animal technician Olivia Reichelt was onsite “I’d do it again next week,” he says. “That’s the
as early as 6 a.m., and Haley Brown and beauty of OMRF. People appreciate each other,
Adrianna Davison stayed at a nearby hotel to and that fuels you. If they need me, I’ll be there.
ensure they could continue to report to campus. And I know I won’t be the only one.”
When the roads became too perilous for their
vehicles, Pat stepped in to shuttle them back
and forth from OMRF.

3

Venus Dartez Karin Wallace
Kristin Brown Jordan Wiggins

Gift Management has a new name — but the same mission of
ensuring every donor hears those magic words from OMRF

Receive a gift, send a thank-you note. It’s would be a substantial undertaking. Never did
simple. Until it’s multiplied more than 9,000 she expect to do it from home.
times, the number of unique donations made
to OMRF in 2020. “It was the single-most challenging year I’ve
experienced,” says Venus, who joined OMRF
At OMRF, each “thank you” — and in 1980.
accompanying receipt — starts with the
careful record-keeping of the team in Gift Salesforce went live at OMRF last May,
Management. Since last spring, that team has a transition that took five months and the
undergone a pair of changes: It dropped its support of OMRF’s IT, Development and Public
old name (Donor Services) and adopted a new Affairs teams. To ensure OMRF lost no data
software tool (Salesforce) to manage OMRF’s during that time, the crew in Gift Management
relationships with current and potential donors (which changed from its former name as
and sponsors. Donor Services in January) recorded every
donation OMRF received twice: once into
In ordinary times, says Director of Gift Salesforce and once into the previous donor
Management Venus Dartez, moving 213,000 management system.
donor records to new software, learning that
system, and onboarding a new team member For Jordan Wiggins, who, along with Karin
Wallace, enters gifts and updates donor

BUNSENburner Spring 2021

records, the double duty required him to Kristin Brown is responsible for data

learn two systems in tandem. He became integrity, reviewing existing records to ensure

an OMRFer less than a month before the accuracy and reconciling online gift data with

transition to work from home. existing donor profiles. She says she takes

“It was worth the struggle because we’re such care in her work in part because of why

really thriving now,” says Jordan, who also people give to OMRF.

reconciles each gift with accounting and “When people donate to medical research,

triggers the process of a personal thank you to it’s often for a highly personal reason,” says

the donor from the Development team. Kristin. “They’ve lost someone to a disease

Senior Director of Development Sonny we study or that they suffer from themselves.”

Wilkinson, who now oversees Gift Having spent more than four decades

Management, says the group is key to his tracking and recording gifts at OMRF, Venus

department’s ability to continue to meet understands the information she and her team

fundraising goals. process represents much more than dozens

“Each year, I can write hundreds of thank of fields in a database.

you cards, call people who’ve made gifts, “You see a death notice or a tribute gift

and crisscross the state to meet with donors for a name you recognize and realize it was

because of Gift Management,” says Sonny. a longtime donor, and it’s sad,” says Venus.

“Recording and reconciling thousands of gifts, “I may not know them personally, but I’ve

printing receipts and tax letters — it’s a lot followed them through their life and know the

of work. Their team frees us up to focus on research they care about most.”

raising money.” Because it’s not just 9,000 gifts. It’s 9,000

Salesforce now holds decades of OMRF’s reasons for giving.

gift and communication history. But for the H25i0n,4362d4s05i44gG1:h::i:tvionngDhSooDVWtnneaIeanToltdryattethrMmhooiewoseoemnroonfangalnOtisoarainhttfenik,ntmtgeois,lgWooarnamSe’tcnshdheossaiaosCeesttumlrmstrlctegiuehneVaopaibdfineDkmftrsAr,gsroaoisesfeniukrnmsomcotoyoin)aumote(catoraaii,yaSvnrnetlscodyi,oorfntrloaomnfd
first time, the donor records system is also
integrated into the foundation’s online gift
processing system and marketing tools,
allowing the Development team a real-
time look at donor activity and the ability to
precisely target messages based on each
donor’s history.

That integration provides for better donor
relations by getting the right messages to
the right people. If a donor makes a gift
to the year-end appeal, for example, they
won’t receive additional emails asking for
contributions to that campaign. Venus can
segment mailing lists based on the date of
a donor’s last gift, research areas a donor is
interested in, even geography.

“It takes a dedicated team to stay on top
of the data,” says Venus. “But the analytics

are leaps and bounds improved from anything

we’ve ever had.”

5

What’s it like to start a
new job during a pandemic?

We asked some of the newest OMRFers about the
challenges Covid-19 added to changing jobs.

“It was comforting
to start a job with an
organization like OMRF
that ensures there are
measures in place to keep
their employees safe.”

“I’ve been mostly Jessica Lumry,
working from home since I Aging & Metabolism
was brought on, so I feel sort
of sad that I haven’t gotten “Training virtually
is harder than one
to know many of my would think. Now I
colleagues yet.” understand why children
need to be in school for
Wei Jing questions, support and

Cardiovascular Biology acknowledgment.”

Leslie Masse

Genes & Human Disease

“Nothing prepared me for “The weekly Covid-19
having to wear a mask on testing has been really
great for keeping us safe. I
a daily basis!” think when we take off the
masks, it will be like a first
Len Henry day on the job for me.”

Security Services Sanique South

Aging & Metabolism

BUNSENburner Spring 2021

“It’s been challenging and
unpredictable, but also working

from home for the first two
months gave me the opportunity
to go through all the literature of
the lab, which was quite nice. I felt
completely ready once I got onsite.”

Eva Troyano Rodriguez

Aging & Metabolism

“For me, starting a “I am trying to get used
new job during the pandemic to the heavy dependence
on technology for work,
was such a blessing and a
reminder that even though our communication,
reality is stressful and uncertain, all and learning!”

we can do is strive to reach Hemangi Shah
our goals and never rest until
Technology Ventures
we reach them.”

Josué Joel Solís

Human Resources “After beginning
as a Fleming Scholar, my
“Working remotely, experience in rejoining OMRF
you miss out on has proven less interactive yet still
the spontaneous collaborative. Our lab has done a great
job at maintaining strong communication
conversations and and teamwork in spite of
trust-building that
happens as you pass in the pandemic.”
the hallways, at lunch,
or on your way in from Claire Abbott
the parking garage — Aging & Metabolism
things that lead to great
stories. Also, where’s “I only know what the top
the parking garage?” half of everybody’s face

Lindsay Thomas looks like.”
Public Affairs

Terry Berent

Purchasing

7

Photo Finish Life at OMRF + Cardiac Climb

CARDIAC CLIMBERS

Miles Smith Bobbette Miller, Tracey Nail, Amanda Valdez and
Jennifer Smith Kameron Bell

Agnieszka Borowik and
Ana Luiza Bock

Brad Pazoureck Louretta Parker CARDIAC CLIMBERS
Kelie Watson
Len Henry Kylie Handa and Tamar Cohen-Davidyan

CARDIAC CLIMBERS

Linda Thompson Jody and Tim Gross

Make it a date!

March 22 Outdoor fitness classes
resume
May 6-12 Nurses Appreciation Week
May 31 OMRF designated holiday