DJH Foundation announced the donation of $89,000 to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The donation will fund the second phase of a project to buy a Mobile Metabolic Research Unit which will travel rural Oklahoma to conduct clinical research studies and examine the root causes of obesity and diabetes in children. The program is part of the research with the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center.

Don and Joyce Harvey, founded of the DJH Foundation, three years ago after winning a Powerball Lottery jackpot worth $105 million. Having raised children in a rural Oklahoma community, the Harveys know firsthand the challenges that such a setting can present to the diagnosis and treatment of childhood diseases.

“The Mobile Metabolic Research Unit (MMRU) has been a major focus of the DJH Foundation since its inception. The MMRU will enable researchers to gather crucial medical information from rural children who may be suffering from or at risk for these diseases,” said David Walls, vice president of the DJH Foundation. “As many rural families don’t have the time or resources to travel to a major metropolitan area for research testing, this unit travels to their area, collects the information and gives these children a much-needed role in the development of research-based cures.”

Walls said the $89,000 donation will be held in escrow as the foundation continues raising the remaining funds needed for the MMRU, with the total estimated cost at $279,000.

“We are grateful to the Harveys and the DJH Foundation for their continuing efforts on this project,” said Steve Chernausek, Professor of Pediatrics CMRI Edith Kinney Gaylord Chair andDirector, CMRI Diabetes & Metabolic Research Program at the OU Health Sciences Center.“The clinical and research programs within the section of Pediatric Endocrinology are focused on the special propensity of Native American children to develop diabetes. We know that more than one in three will develop diabetes and that this will have major impact on their health and longevity. We believe that research can lead to better treatments and prevention methods in children."

Dr. Chernausek says for the past 9 years, clinicians have traveled weekly around the state to care for children with diabetes. However, it has been difficult to conduct the complex diabetes and obesity research trials at many remote locations around the state.

The Mobile Metabolic Research Unit will be equipped and staffed to collect samples to expand the population included in their research. Plans are to install the proper research and testing equipment in the shell of a specially-constructed medical van. The large vehicle will give researchers the necessary space to collect samples from children as well as enable easy travel from city-to-city throughout rural Oklahoma.
The equipment will test multiple indices of metabolic health and will include: a dual-emission X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanner, which measures body composition; a metabolic card, which measures energy expenditure; a pulse-wave analysis device, which measures arterial elasticity to determine blood vessel health; and blood sampling and storage supplies. Equipment in the RV will give researchers the necessary space needed to collect samples from children as well as enable easy travel from city-to-city throughout rural Oklahoma.