Shell Foundation Donates $1 Million to IMM

Shell Foundation, the charitable branch of The Shell Group of Companies, has committed $1 million to the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM). The gift will help fund the IMM Research Center for Metabolic and Inflammatory Diseases.

Hasting Stewart, left, and James T. Willerson, M.D.

Hasting Stewart, vice president of the Shell Foundation and director of social investment at Shell Oil Company, presented a check to James T. Willerson, M.D., president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Stewart said the decision to invest in the UT Health Science Center was borne from a sense of community within the city and an affinity for the work of the health science center.

“We have a number of employees that call Houston their home, and the health science center is a fellow organization in the community. We feel like it’s our responsibility to contribute,” Stewart said. “That’s the largest reason we made the contribution – we’re proud to be a partner.”

The gift, Willerson noted, also will help not only citizens of Houston and researchers at the health science center, but eventually may have a global impact.

“Thanks to generous philanthropic support from Shell and others, our select group of scientists at the IMM and Medical School are ideally positioned to work on cures for metabolic diseases, such as diabetes,” Willerson said. “We appreciate the recognition of our friends in the corporate community who understand the value of investing in scientific research.”

The Research Center for Metabolic and Inflammatory Diseases, still in early development, will be housed in the recently completed Fayez S. Sarofim Research Building, located at 1825 Pressler Street in the Texas Medical Center. Researchers still are organizing lab space and settling into the $120 million IMM building that encompasses more than 229,000 square feet.

Stewart said he understands the ordeal involved in moving to a new place. “I’m in the process of building a new home. We’re about two weeks away from moving in, so I have a greater appreciation for the construction process.”

Investigators at the Research Center for Metabolic and Inflammatory Diseases intend to focus on noninsulin-dependent diabetes, the most common form of the disease, and hope to provide new diagnostic techniques and treatments to address the condition before serious complications arise.

By Wendy K. Mohon, Public Affairs