Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, doing business as O M R F, is a non-profit biomedical research institute providing investigator-initiated research services to federal agencies as a prime recipient of federal grants and as a prime contractor for specialized laboratory services, with 75% of its recent federal footprint in grants (328 of 439 awards). The foundation operates from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and competes in full-and-open federal research funding without set-aside designations. Across more than 50 research laboratories and over 400 staff members, OMRF conducts federally funded biomedical research spanning aging biology, autoimmune disease, genomics, cardiovascular health, cancer mechanisms, and developmental biology, with a recent award portfolio concentrated in NIH Project Grants and NSF research funding.

OMRF's customer concentration reflects a research-focused mission rooted in federal health and basic science funding. The top five funding agencies by award count account for 59% of awards, led by the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health (79 awards), with substantial sub-agency clustering in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (51 awards), National Institute on Aging (49 awards), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (42 awards), and National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (38 awards). By combined potential value, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute leads with 27 awards worth $15 million, followed by the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 19 (30 awards, $1.7 million potential value). OMRF holds a single-award indefinite delivery contract with VISN 19 for animal per diem and husbandry services, ceiling $130,975.20 through September 2027, from which delivery orders for animal care, histology services, and DNA sequencing support research at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center.

Recent capability work exemplifies OMRF's research breadth. Representative grants include a $805,745 NIH Project Grant (CFDA 93.351) to develop precision genome editing tools for functional characterization of genetic variants using CRISPR base editors and zebrafish models (July 2026 – March 2030); a $2.6 million National Institute on Aging grant investigating mitochondrial AMPK signaling in neuronal maintenance and dendritic spine density in Alzheimer's disease (September 2025 – August 2029); a $3.36 million National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases award on dysfunctional autophagy as a driver of systemic lupus erythematosus pathogenesis in monocytes and podocytes (September 2025 – August 2029); and a $1.42 million NIA grant examining inflammatory and immune mechanisms driving ovarian tissue aging through NF-kB signaling in granulosa cells and tissue-resident macrophages (March 2026 – February 2031). Contract work centers on specialized research support: a $155,490 Department of Veterans Affairs purchase order for animal per diem services (September 2025 – September 2030, sole source under FAR 6.103-1, OMRF designated as the only known local accredited academic animal core facility capable of maintaining bacteria-free conditions); a $41,250 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences purchase order for MSA and myositis assay testing (September 2024 – August 2029); and a $93,749.50 VISN 19 order for DNA sequencing services using NovaSeq platforms supporting VA research on knee osteoarthritis pathogenesis (September 2023 – September 2025).

Activity has accelerated substantially, growing from 21 awards in 2022 to 68 in 2024 before moderating to 42 awards in 2025 and 20 in the first half of 2026. Forty-five awards (combined potential value $45 thousand) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting a recompete cliff of modest scale relative to the overall portfolio. OMRF acts as a sub-recipient on federal grants in collaborative research arrangements, including a sub-award role with Emory University on multiple investigations of B cell regulation in systemic lupus erythematosus (recurring subawards in 2024–2026), participation as a data analytics and bioinformatics site in University of Oklahoma-led COBRE (Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence) programs, and engagement as a sub-site in multi-institutional clinical trials, such as the Columbia University-led SLE telemedicine assessment trial and the Pennsylvania State University–led Study of Anti-Malarials in Incomplete Lupus Erythematosus (SMILE) project. The foundation's consolidated obligated dollars ($921.3 million across the award portfolio) far exceed combined potential value, indicating mature, multi-year grant execution with substantial expenditure velocity, particularly in NIH-supported long-term research projects spanning five to nine years.