Oklahoma City is getting a new high-tech weapon in the fight against chronic disease. The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has broken ground on a three-story research and clinical building, the newly named David R. Brown Center for Advanced Human Imaging, designed to tackle conditions such as multiple sclerosis and lupus. Powered by nearly $10 million in state funding plus philanthropic gifts, the Brown Center is being pitched as a flagship home for advanced imaging, telehealth and expanded clinical trials for patients across the state.
According to OMRF, a $9.9 million Legacy Grant from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust will help fund the project and establish the TSET Institute for a Healthier Oklahoma at the foundation. Plans for the institute include a Center for Healthy Aging, a 4,500-square-foot telehealth hub, a 33% expansion of the biorepository and an enlarged imaging wing focused on rheumatology and multiple sclerosis patients. "On average, Oklahomans die nearly seven years before people in healthier states," Dr. Judith James, who will lead the effort, said in OMRF's announcement, explaining the institute's emphasis on inflammation, impaired immunity and accelerated aging.
The Brown Center's name and a key private gift surfaced in public grant records. The Noble Research Institute's 2023 granting report lists a $3.5 million award marked for the "David R. Brown Center for Advanced Human Imaging." According to KOCO, OMRF leaders said the three-story facility will house a state-of-the-art MRI and serve patients living with chronic autoimmune conditions such as MS and lupus. KOCO's coverage also cites support from other philanthropies, including the Hearst Foundation.
"We will be able to do cutting-edge clinical care imaging coupled with research that will advance discoveries and, more importantly, advance health for all Oklahomans," OMRF president Dr. Andrew Weyrich said at the groundbreaking, as reported by KOCO. Thomas Larson, public information director for the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, told KOCO that the effort will study "some of the root causes of chronic diseases like inflammation, premature aging, and compromised immune systems."
What It Means For Patients
Officials say the new telehealth hub and expanded biorepository are meant to bring specialty care and clinical trials closer to rural Oklahomans who currently travel long distances for advanced imaging and subspecialty visits, according to OMRF. The MRI suite is designed so clinicians can link detailed patient imaging with laboratory research on inflammation and immune function, a combination that leaders say should help shorten the timeline from discovery to treatment. A public completion date for construction was not provided at the groundbreaking, KOCO reported.
The award to OMRF is part of a larger TSET push that steered roughly $150 million in Legacy Grants to health projects across Oklahoma, and the Journal Record documented OMRF among the recipients. Foundation leaders and OMRF officials say the Brown Center, paired with the TSET Institute for a Healthier Oklahoma, is intended as a long-term bet on reversing the state's chronic disease trends by tying bench science directly to expanded patient services.
