Foundations
Here's a look at documents from U.S. foundations
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Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Why Socialism Fails
DETROIT, Michigan, May 5 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary on May 4, 2026, by Deborah Palma, Brazilian writer who holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from UNINASSAU:
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Why Socialism Fails
The consequences of ignoring market signals.
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Economics is not a zero-sum game in which one person's gain comes at another's expense; nor is it just about numbers or purposeless statistical aggregates, but conscious human action.
Ludwig von Mises, in his work Human Action, explains that individuals act to replace a less satisfactory state of affairs
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DETROIT, Michigan, May 5 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary on May 4, 2026, by Deborah Palma, Brazilian writer who holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from UNINASSAU:
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Why Socialism Fails
The consequences of ignoring market signals.
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Economics is not a zero-sum game in which one person's gain comes at another's expense; nor is it just about numbers or purposeless statistical aggregates, but conscious human action.
Ludwig von Mises, in his work Human Action, explains that individuals act to replace a less satisfactory state of affairswith a more satisfactory one. This process is inherently subjective and teleological, meaning that the values guiding economic activity are rooted in individual choices, and not in physical objects themselves.
Economic calculation serves as the bridge between the subjectivity of human desires and the objective reality of scarce resources. Consider a quantity of steel that could be used to build either a hospital or a factory. Without a system of prices reflecting society's preferences and the relative scarcity of resources, there would be no way to determine which of these projects creates greater value. Economic calculation, expressed through prices, allows for the comparison of alternatives, whilst directing resources toward their most-valued uses.
Similarly, consider an entrepreneur evaluating whether they should open a bakery. They must decide how much to invest in equipment, rent, labor, and so on. By comparing the costs of these factors with the expected revenue from sales, our entrepreneur can estimate whether the business will create value. If revenues are expected to exceed total costs and taxes, there will be profit.
Profit, therefore, is not merely a financial gain, but evidence that scarce resources have been allocated in ways that better satisfy societal needs, because society has, in an undirected way, decided its needs are satisfied this way. Conversely, losses would indicate that those resources should have been allocated to more valuable uses. Without prices, profits, and losses, the entrepreneur would have no way of knowing whether resources are being used efficiently.
In a complex economy with an advanced division of labor, individuals cannot rely solely on their own direct knowledge to decide how to allocate resources among many possible combinations. They require a common denominator that allows for the comparison of costs and benefits. This denominator is the price, which emerges from voluntary exchanges in the market.
Prices are not arbitrary numbers; they are determined by exchange values arising from the competitive interaction between consumers and producers. Price reflects the relative scarcity of a good in relation to all other possible uses of the same factors of production.
When an entrepreneur invests in new technology or capital infrastructure, they rely on monetary calculation to assess whether the value of the final product will exceed the total value of the inputs consumed. This "surplus" is profit, an unmistakable signal that value has been created by, and for, society. The opposite - loss - signals the waste of scarce resources.
The importance of prices becomes even more evident when we examine historical attempts to artificially control them. Throughout history, governments have sought to replace the market price system with centrally-directed mechanisms, and the results have been consistently disastrous.
One of the earliest examples dates back to the reign of Diocletian in the Roman Empire. In 301 AD, the emperor issued the Edict on Maximum Prices, imposing price ceilings on thousands of goods and services, including basic items such as wheat, meat, and clothing, as well as wages for various professions such as farmers, bakers, craftsmen, and teachers. By fixing prices below their market-clearing levels, the policy reduced the incentive for producers to supply these goods, since many could no longer cover their costs or earn a profit. At the same time, artificially low prices increased consumer demand. This imbalance between reduced supply and increased demand led to widespread shortages. As a result, many goods disappeared from official markets and were instead traded illegally at higher prices, contributing to the expansion of black markets and the disruption of normal productive activity. The policy ultimately proved unsustainable and was abandoned due to its failure.
More recently, similar policies were implemented in Brazil under the government of Jose Sarney, particularly during the Cruzado Plan of 1986. The freezing of prices, initially celebrated as a solution to inflation, quickly resulted in widespread shortages, empty shelves, and the emergence of parallel markets. Unable to adjust prices, producers reduced supply, exposing the inability of such measures to coordinate a complex economy.
More recent cases reinforce this pattern. In Venezuela, strict price controls implemented over the past decades have contributed to chronic shortages, the collapse of domestic production, and increasing dependence on imports. Basic goods disappeared from store shelves, while informal markets became central to the population's survival.
These episodes produce the same outcome: scarcity. Prices emerge from decentralized interactions between individuals, reflecting their preferences and the relative scarcity of goods. Once formed, however, they also serve to coordinate economic activity by conveying information that guides producers and consumers in their decisions. When prices cease to reflect the relationship between supply and demand, they lose this informational and coordinating function. Instead of promoting order, price controls generate disorganization, shortages, and waste.
Mises's thesis was challenged by economists such as Oskar Lange, who proposed a form of "market socialism." Lange argued that a planning board could simulate the market through a process of trial and error, adjusting prices as surpluses or shortages emerged. However, Mises and his student Friedrich Hayek refuted this view, emphasizing that the problem is not merely one of data processing. The crucial point is that the data required for economic calculation, such as subjective preferences and local knowledge, only come into existence through real market exchanges.
Attempts to treat the economy as a system of simultaneous equations, in which equilibrium can be mathematically determined, ignore the dynamic nature of reality. The market is a continuous process of discovery, not a static state of rest. The economy cannot be managed like a problem of engineering or mechanical physics, because it involves constant change, subjective expectations, and genuine uncertainty, elements that no fixed equation can fully capture.
Under socialism, the abolition of private property in the means of production destroys the very concept of capital as a calculable value. When the state owns all higher-order goods (machines, land, and raw materials), there are no exchanges between private owners for these items. Consequently, there are no market prices for capital goods. Without these prices, the central planner, no matter how well-intentioned, lacks the necessary information to determine whether they are creating wealth or merely consuming the nation's capital.
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Deborah Palma is a Brazilian writer who holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from UNINASSAU. She has published articles with Instituto Millenium, Boletim da Liberdade, and IFL Brazil, and writes for the Damas de Ferro Institute.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/why-socialism-doesnt-work/
Reason Foundation Issues Commentary: Privacy Protections are Key to Establishing Public Trust in Mileage-based User Fees
LOS ANGELES, California, May 5 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary on May 4, 2026, by senior transportation policy analyst Marc Scribner:
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Privacy protections are key to establishing public trust in mileage-based user fees
The architecture of a GPS-enabled mileage-based user fee system can be designed to protect privacy.
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Proposed mileage-based user fees (MBUF) systems would charge roadway users per mile driven. This model offers advantages over traditional fuel excise taxes, in which road users are taxed per gallon of fuel consumed. With rising vehicle fuel economy,
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LOS ANGELES, California, May 5 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary on May 4, 2026, by senior transportation policy analyst Marc Scribner:
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Privacy protections are key to establishing public trust in mileage-based user fees
The architecture of a GPS-enabled mileage-based user fee system can be designed to protect privacy.
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Proposed mileage-based user fees (MBUF) systems would charge roadway users per mile driven. This model offers advantages over traditional fuel excise taxes, in which road users are taxed per gallon of fuel consumed. With rising vehicle fuel economy,as well as hybrid-electric and battery-electric vehicles, MBUFs offer a propulsion-neutral alternative to ensure road users pay their fair share for their road use. User privacy in the collection of MBUFs has emerged as a major public concern. Fortunately, privacy can be protected when MBUF systems are designed properly.
The simplest way to address privacy concerns is to offer MBUF measurement and collection methods that do not rely on location information. This approach has been adopted in Hawaii, which assesses MBUFs through odometer readings as part of the state's existing annual vehicle safety inspection process. Payment for the annual MBUF assessment is then due at the time of vehicle registration renewal. MBUF programs in Oregon and Utah offer customers the option to submit mileage assessments by capturing photos of their odometers.
While odometer readings ensure customer privacy because no location information is involved, there are drawbacks. Reporting requires more effort on the part of customers. In the case of annual or quarterly reporting, billed amounts will be higher and may be burdensome for lower-income customers. Auditing and billing disputes are necessarily more challenging. Miles driven out of state or on private property are also not exempt. Oregon does allow odometer-reading MBUF enrollees the option to submit a form annually requesting reimbursement for these miles driven, but this is hardly a seamless or precise system. And simple odometer readings would preclude more advanced pricing policies in the future that could vary charges by roadway and traffic flow characteristics.
To offer the best customer experience and realize the greatest benefits from MBUFs, location information is necessary. The question then is how to protect customer privacy when these more sophisticated MBUF collection methods are used.
It is important to understand how the location information is generated. These systems rely on the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation of navigation satellites. GPS satellites in orbit around the Earth broadcast radio signals that transmit their locations and the precise time from onboard atomic clocks. A GPS receiver, such as one incorporated into a location-based MBUF device, detects these signals and uses the time of arrival to calculate its distance from a GPS satellite. Using the measurements from at least four of the 31 GPS satellites allows a GPS receiver to determine its three-dimensional position at a given point in time.
The upshot is that because GPS signals are sent one-way from the satellites, and the location of the on-board receiver is calculated by the GPS receiver itself using multiple satellites, GPS receivers by themselves cannot be used as tracking devices. Privacy concerns arise when a GPS receiver is paired with a secondary wired or wireless communications system, such as a cellular network, that can transmit the location information that is computed locally by a GPS receiver. As such, addressing location-based MBUF privacy must focus on how that location information is transmitted, processed, and stored.
The architecture of a GPS-enabled MBUF system can be designed to protect privacy. It is possible to calculate all mileage via an onboard computer so that the location data never leaves the vehicle, such as through in-vehicle telematics or specialized aftermarket devices. However, third-party access to vehicle telematics systems is often restricted by automakers, and the aftermarket devices are expensive and bulky. For these reasons, smaller and more affordable plug-in devices that calculate and transmit location information off the vehicle have been popular in MBUF programs. It is here that combining data custody policies through detailed legal rules with system architecture becomes very important.
MBUF systems that involve location information transmitted off the vehicle should establish clear roles for the public and private players involved. Trusted third-party account managers, rather than government agencies, should be the entities that receive and process location information for billing purposes. Government transportation and revenue agencies should only receive aggregate mileage counts and revenue transfers from those private account managers.
Any location information should be retained for a limited period, after which it is destroyed. The amount of time that location data is stored will depend on how frequently billing is processed. For a billing cycle similar to a water or electric utility, the retention period should be set for one month, except in cases where an MBUF customer or collection agent has initiated a billing dispute or audit. Following the conclusion of any billing disputes or audits, location data should be destroyed.
During the brief period when location data exists to facilitate MBUF transactions, it should be strictly guarded from non-revenue purposes. Third-party account managers should be exempt from public records requests, and law enforcement should only be able to obtain access to location information through a warrant issued by a court pursuant to an authorized criminal investigation. The MBUF privacy legal framework should not allow subpoenas issued to obtain evidence in civil litigation, such as cases involving insurance claims or divorce, to compel disclosure of location information.
Oregon, the first state to create a statewide MBUF program, codified these requirements in statute after consultations with privacy advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon (through ORS 319.915, confidentiality of personally identifiable information used for reporting and collecting road usage charge).
Enacting such privacy protections will help lawmakers establish public trust in MBUF systems, which is a prerequisite to finding a durable road-user revenue replacement for fuel taxes.
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Marc Scribner is a senior transportation policy analyst at Reason Foundation.
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Original text here: https://reason.org/commentary/privacy-protections-are-key-to-establishing-public-trust-in-mileage-based-user-fees/
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation: Tracing a Pediatric Cancer to Its Origins
NEW YORK, May 5 (TNSjou) -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release:
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Tracing a pediatric cancer to its origins
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a cancer of the soft tissue that predominantly affects children. Under the microscope, these tumors resemble developing skeletal muscle, but they appear in parts of the body where skeletal muscle does not exist, such as the bladder and salivary gland. For years, this has raised two fundamental questions: what types of cells give rise to RMS, and why does this cancer mainly occur in children?
New research from former
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NEW YORK, May 5 (TNSjou) -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release:
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Tracing a pediatric cancer to its origins
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a cancer of the soft tissue that predominantly affects children. Under the microscope, these tumors resemble developing skeletal muscle, but they appear in parts of the body where skeletal muscle does not exist, such as the bladder and salivary gland. For years, this has raised two fundamental questions: what types of cells give rise to RMS, and why does this cancer mainly occur in children?
New research from formerDamon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Fellow Katherine E. Gadek, PhD, and her colleagues at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital sheds light on this puzzle. Using advanced genetic "lineage tracing" techniques, the team has traced the origin of RMS to endothelial progenitor cells, the cells that give rise to the lining of blood vessels during early development.
Their results show only a specific subset of endothelial progenitor cells, present during a narrow window of embryonic development, have the ability to develop into RMS. Further, the cells capable of becoming cancerous share two critical features: the presence of cilia--tiny cellular structures that act like antennae--and an active Sonic Hedgehog signaling pathway, a molecular communication system that plays a major role in embryonic development. When these features are present, endothelial progenitor cells are vulnerable to tumorigenesis. Once development moves past this window, that vulnerability disappears.
These findings deepen scientists' understanding of how normal developmental processes can go awry and lead to cancer in children. With a clearer picture of the origins of RMS, they are one step closer to developing better strategies to detect, prevent, and treat this lethal disease.
This research was published in Cell Reports.
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Original text here: https://www.damonrunyon.org/discovery/tracing-pediatric-cancer-its-origins
CNYCF Launching Participatory Budgeting in Madison County for Centennial Celebration
SYRACUSE, New York, May 5 -- The Central New York Community Foundation issued the following news release:
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CNYCF Launching Participatory Budgeting in Madison County for Centennial Celebration
Community members invited to help decide how $75,000 will be invested locally
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The Central New York Community Foundation will launch the second of five participatory budgeting initiatives across its service area this June, inviting Madison County residents to help decide how $75,000 will be invested in their community.
The initiative marks the beginning of the Community Foundation's two-year celebration
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SYRACUSE, New York, May 5 -- The Central New York Community Foundation issued the following news release:
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CNYCF Launching Participatory Budgeting in Madison County for Centennial Celebration
Community members invited to help decide how $75,000 will be invested locally
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The Central New York Community Foundation will launch the second of five participatory budgeting initiatives across its service area this June, inviting Madison County residents to help decide how $75,000 will be invested in their community.
The initiative marks the beginning of the Community Foundation's two-year celebrationof its 100th anniversary in 2027. As part of the centennial effort, the Community Foundation will host participatory budgeting projects in each of the five counties it serves, awarding a total of $500,000 in funding determined directly by residents.
Participatory budgeting is a community engagement process in which residents work together to identify local needs, develop project ideas and vote on how funding should be allocated. Throughout the month of June, Madison County volunteers will meet to brainstorm ideas, hear from county and city officials and collaborate to turn community priorities into feasible project proposals. At the end of the process, residents will vote online for the proposal they believe will best serve their community.
"This initiative reflects our commitment to listening to residents and investing in ideas that come directly from the communities we serve," said Melanie Littlejohn, president & CEO of the Community Foundation. "As we approach our centennial, participatory budgeting is one way we are celebrating our history while empowering residents to help shape the future of Central New York."
The Madison County process will take place over four sessions during June. The first two sessions will be held Wednesday, June 3 and Thursday, June 4, 2026 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Cornell Cooperative Extension, Madison County, located at 100 Eaton Street, Morrisville. During these sessions, residents will learn about the participatory budgeting process, share ideas and begin developing project proposals. Residents can register to attend the sessions at cnycf.org/madisonPB.
A proposal presentation night will be held Wednesday, June 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. Community members are encouraged to attend to learn about the proposals before voting begins.
Voting will take place Thursday, June 26, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents may vote online for the project they believe best serves the community's needs. An in-person gathering will also take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Smithfield Community Center at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Petersboro.
The participatory budgeting initiative is designed to ensure that funding priorities are determined by residents themselves. Participants will work with nonprofit organizations, grassroots groups and local leaders to identify a priority need, co-design potential solutions and develop proposals that address community needs. Residents will ultimately decide which project receives funding.
An Oswego County project is currently under way and after the Madison County project in June, the Community Foundation will host participatory budgeting initiatives in Cortland County in August, Cayuga County in September and Onondaga County in 2027.
Residents who need transportation assistance may reach out to Mobility Management at 315-366-8190 or dymobility@gmail.com.
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Original text here: https://cnycf.org/cnycf-launching-participatory-budgeting-in-madison-county-for-centennial-celebration/
Georgia Republic Services Driver Challenges Federal Labor Board Policy Blocking Vote to Remove Teamsters Union
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, May 4 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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Georgia Republic Services Driver Challenges Federal Labor Board Policy Blocking Vote to Remove Teamsters Union
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Majority of Calhoun-based drivers demanded vote to oust Teamsters union, but federal labor board denied election due to so-called 'contract bar'
Calhoun, GA (May 4, 2026) - Brian Wilson, a truck driver for waste hauling company Republic Services, is asking a federal labor board to overturn a policy that is blocking him and his coworkers from exercising their
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SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, May 4 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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Georgia Republic Services Driver Challenges Federal Labor Board Policy Blocking Vote to Remove Teamsters Union
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Majority of Calhoun-based drivers demanded vote to oust Teamsters union, but federal labor board denied election due to so-called 'contract bar'
Calhoun, GA (May 4, 2026) - Brian Wilson, a truck driver for waste hauling company Republic Services, is asking a federal labor board to overturn a policy that is blocking him and his coworkers from exercising theirright to vote out Teamsters Local 728 union officials they oppose. Wilson is defending a petition that he submitted on behalf of his coworkers last month, which demanded the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administer an election to remove Teamsters union bosses from power at their workplace. Wilson is receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in his legal effort.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering elections to install (or "certify") and remove (or "decertify") unions. Wilson's petition, which he submitted on April 2, showed that the majority of his colleagues wanted to have a vote to remove the Teamsters.
However, Teamsters union officials immediately blocked the vote by arguing that the so-called "contract bar" - an NLRB-invented policy that appears nowhere in the text of federal labor law - prevented Wilson and his colleagues from voting. The contract bar prevents workers from exercising their right to vote out an unwanted union for up to three years after union bosses and management finalize a union contract.
Wilson's Request for Review contends, first, that the contract bar shouldn't even apply in his workplace, as the Teamsters union contract lacks an effective date, which the law requires in order to enforce a contract bar. Wilson's Request for Review also attacks the contract bar head-on, pointing out that it is antithetical to federal labor law's purported goal to give workers free choice in deciding whether they want a union in their workplace or not. If the NLRB allows the contract bar to stand, Wilson and his coworkers' requested vote will be delayed until at least 2028.
'Contract Bar' Curtails Workers' Free Choice Rights, Can Lead to the Destruction of Ballots
"The contract bar...should be dispensed with because it entrenches unions that lack majority employee support, thereby undermining the cornerstone of the [National Labor Relations] Act-employees' Sections 7 and 9 right to choose or reject union representation," the legal filing states.
Georgia is a Right to Work state, meaning state law prohibits union officials from enforcing contracts that require workers to pay money to the union as a condition of employment. In non-Right to Work states, in contrast, union officials can get workers fired for refusal to pay dues or fees to the union hierarchy. However, in both Right to Work and non-Right to Work states, union officials can use their government-granted exclusive "representation" powers to dictate terms of employment for every employee in a workplace, even those who oppose the union.
Foundation staff attorneys have assisted many groups of workers across the country in efforts to overturn the contract bar - including in cases where enforcement of the bar required the destruction of hundreds of worker ballots. In a case similar to Wilson's that began in 2020, Foundation attorneys defended Delaware-based Mountaire Farms poultry workers' right to vote United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union bosses out of their workplace. While the workers - hundreds of whom had requested a union decertification vote - finally voted the union out in 2022, the NLRB invoked the contract bar and greatly delayed that election at UFCW officials' behest. The contract bar was even used to invalidate an earlier election that the Mountaire workers had participated in, effectively destroying hundreds of already-cast ballots.
"As Mr. Wilson's case and the cases of many other workers have shown, the 'contract bar' simply gives union officials an arbitrary way to stay in power over a workplace where they face obvious employee opposition," National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix commented. "Federal labor law is supposed to protect worker free choice over entrenching union boss control, and Mr. Wilson's case exposes the contract bar as nothing but a government-granted privilege for union officials.
"If the Trump NLRB is serious about standing up for workers and putting workers back in control of their own livelihoods, ending the unreasonable restrictions of the contract bar is a great place to start," Mix added.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.
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Original text here: https://www.nrtw.org/news/georgia-republic-services-teamsters-05042026/
Castro Succeeds Atkinson as President of ITIF
WASHINGTON, May 4 [Category: Computer Technology]-- The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation posted the following news release:
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Castro Succeeds Atkinson as President of ITIF
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WASHINGTON- Daniel Castro officially took the helm today as president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), succeeding Robert D. Atkinson, who founded ITIF in 2006 and led it to become the world's top-ranked think tank for science and technology policy. Castro will now build on ITIF's strong foundation by leading its prolific team of policy analysts and fellows as they carry
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WASHINGTON, May 4 [Category: Computer Technology]-- The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation posted the following news release:
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Castro Succeeds Atkinson as President of ITIF
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WASHINGTON- Daniel Castro officially took the helm today as president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), succeeding Robert D. Atkinson, who founded ITIF in 2006 and led it to become the world's top-ranked think tank for science and technology policy. Castro will now build on ITIF's strong foundation by leading its prolific team of policy analysts and fellows as they carryout the organization's mission of formulating, evaluating, and promoting policy solutions that accelerate innovation and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity, and progress.
Since joining in 2007, Castro has played a central role in shaping ITIF's voice on technology and innovation policy. Having previously served as vice president and director of ITIF's Center for Data Innovation, he is a recognized authority on a wide range of issues at the intersection of technology, innovation, regulation, and society, and was recently named by Washingtonian magazine as one of the "500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy."
"It's an honor to take the baton from Rob and continue building on the solid foundation we have established for ITIF over the past two decades," said Castro. "As we look to the future, ITIF's role in championing innovation globally will be more important than ever. The policy decisions being made right now around AI, clean energy, and emerging technologies will shape economies and societies for generations-and ITIF will remain at the center of those debates."
ITIF's board unanimously selected Castro to be the organization's next president after engaging in a thorough, deliberative process. Castro will be supported by the rest of ITIF's seasoned leadership team, including Vice President Stephen Ezell, Chief Communications Officer and Managing Editor Randolph Court, and Chief Development Officer Jackie Whisman, as well as ITIF's established group of policy directors and analysts.
"ITIF is in good hands with Daniel leading it forward as president," said Atkinson. "He has been instrumental in building ITIF into what it is today-not only through his research and thought leadership, but as a driving force behind our strategy, operations, communications, and global reach. There is no one better positioned to lead this organization into its next chapter."
Under Castro's leadership, ITIF will continue to focus on a wide range of issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy, including policy frameworks for artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, digital policy, U.S. competitiveness in advanced industries, antitrust and competition policy, clean energy, broadband and spectrum policy, life sciences, trade, and global innovation policy.
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Original text here: https://itif.org/publications/publications/2026/05/04/castro-succeeds-atkinson-as-president-of-itif/
New ranking highlights real-world impact of OMRF discoveries
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, May 4 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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New ranking highlights real-world impact of OMRF discoveries
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A first-of-its-kind ranking has placed the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation among the nation's top 25 biomedical research institutes and centers for its ability to translate scientific discovery into real-world healthcare impact.
The inaugural Cure Innovation Index, which evaluated 303 universities, hospitals and other research organizations, ranked OMRF 21st among institutes and centers in the United States. The index
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, May 4 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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New ranking highlights real-world impact of OMRF discoveries
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A first-of-its-kind ranking has placed the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation among the nation's top 25 biomedical research institutes and centers for its ability to translate scientific discovery into real-world healthcare impact.
The inaugural Cure Innovation Index, which evaluated 303 universities, hospitals and other research organizations, ranked OMRF 21st among institutes and centers in the United States. The indexassesses how effectively U.S. biomedical research institutions convert their work into therapies, companies and measurable health outcomes.
To arrive at each institution's ranking, the Cure Innovation Index integrated validated data from federal and commercial sources, proprietary inputs from surveys of more than 3,000 researchers and industry leaders, and institutional audits. The index measured biomedical research entities in three core areas: research capability, entrepreneurial readiness and market translation.
"OMRF's ranking reflects our success in converting scientific discovery into clinical application," said OMRF Director of Technology Ventures Hemangi Pakala, Ph.D., who leads the foundation's collaborative efforts with biotechnology and healthcare partners. "Three drugs and two disease management tests born in OMRF's labs are currently in use in hospitals and clinics across the U.S. That's a remarkable track record."
The drugs and tests originating in OMRF's labs are:
* Adakveo, the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat the pain crises in sickle cell disease.
* Soliris, an I.V. therapy for a blood disorder as well as a neurodegenerative disease.
* Ceprotin, a plasma-derived concentrate for patients with severe congenital protein C deficiency.
* Vectra, a test that assesses disease activity and treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis.
* aiSLE DX, which comprises two tests for lupus: one for insight into the risk of a disease flare, and a second for assessing disease activity and treatment options.
"Our recognition of OMRF in the Cure Innovation Index reflects its leadership in translating scientific discovery into real-world impact," said Seema Kumar, CEO of Cure. "While traditional measures emphasize funding, publications or patents, the index evaluates the full set of capabilities required to move innovation from concept to cure."
OMRF President Andrew Weyrich, Ph.D., said the ranking confirms that OMRF remains true to its mission. "We were founded 80 years ago to help people live longer, healthier lives," he said. "By consistently making discoveries that lead to life-changing tests and therapies, our scientists are doing just that."
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Original text here: https://omrf.org/new-ranking-highlights-real-world-impact-of-omrf-discoveries/
