Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, doing business as O M R F, is a non-profit biomedical research institute based in Oklahoma City that acts as a prime recipient on federal research grants across the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies. The foundation operates more than 50 research laboratories with over 400 staff members and derives approximately 75 percent of its federal funding through research grants rather than federal contracts. OMRF competes in the full-and-open market without set-aside designations and maintains a tax-exempt corporate structure.

The foundation's federal footprint is dominated by NIH research grants spanning basic and translational biomedical science. Recent representative grants include a $468,875 National Institute of General Medical Sciences award for chromatin remodeling in germ line transcription and nuclear organization during meiosis (awarded September 2026, performance through April 2030); a $1,422,958 National Institute on Aging award investigating inflammatory and immune mechanisms driving ovarian tissue aging (March 2026, through February 2031); and a $2.6 million NIA grant on mitochondrial AMPK signaling in neurons related to Alzheimer's disease (September 2025, through August 2029). Substantive grant work also includes $676,865 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute on S1PR1 signaling in lymphatic vasculature and inflammatory bowel disease (July 2026, through March 2030), and $805,745 from NIH's Office of the Director for precision genome editing tools for functional characterization of genetic variants using zebrafish models (July 2026, through March 2030). The foundation also receives smaller federal contract awards primarily from the Department of Veterans Affairs for animal husbandry, histology, and DNA sequencing services supporting VA research at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center.

Federal customer concentration sits heavily with NIH. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences collectively account for a substantial share of the foundation's grant portfolio. The Department of Veterans Affairs, primarily through Veterans Integrated Service Network 19, contributes contract work valued at $1.7 million in combined potential value across 30 awards. The foundation holds a single-award indefinite delivery contract with VISN 19 for animal per diem and husbandry services, with a ceiling of $130,975.20 running through September 30, 2027. Recent activity shows volatility: 68 awards in 2024, declining to 41 in 2025 and 30 in 2026 year-to-date, with 43 awards facing completion in the next 24 months.

OMRF's federal grant work spans aging biology, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular health, genomics, developmental biology, and cancer mechanisms. The foundation maintains robust subcontract relationships as a sub-recipient on grants led by Emory University (multiple lupus and autoimmune disease research efforts), the University of Oklahoma (clinical and translational research cores including the Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center), University of Kentucky, Stanford University, and other academic and research institutions. Sub-award roles typically involve specialized core services such as bioinformatics analysis, quantitative proteomics, genomic sciences support, and clinical trial site management. The foundation also serves as a tissue research core for NIH's Accelerating Medicines Partnership in autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases, managing standardized sample collection, quality control, and storage for multi-site lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's disease, and psoriatic spectrum disease research networks.