Paula and Rusty Walter Neurological Restoration Initiative

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Paula and Rusty Walter Neurological Restoration Initiative

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Translational Luminaries

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Fondren Inflammation Collaborative

The Ann Kimbell and John W. Johnson Center for Cellular Therapeutics

Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics

Paula and Rusty Walter Neurological Restoration Initiative

Jerold B. Katz Academy of Translational Research

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Outcomes Research

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Building Blocks for Bone Regenration

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Tracing Tau to Tackle Alzheimer's Disease

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Introduction

Houston Methodist Medical Education

EnMed's First Class

Weill Cornell Medicine: Mentored Clinical Research Training Program

Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program

MITIE

result

Visionary Gifts

Paula and Rusty Walter Neurological Restoration Initiative

Marc L. Boom, MD, president and CEO, Julie A. Boom, MD, Paula Walter and Rusty Walter

To date, more than $17 million has been raised toward these initiatives, and one TRI project, the device to restore motor function in stroke patients, known as the Qualiahat, has been licensed, while another, the anatomic aligner system for surgical planning for craniomaxillofacial surgeries, has received FDA clearance to market. Ten additional TRI projects are in various stages of the translational pipeline, all made possible by the dedicated TRI funding.

In 2017, Houston Methodist received a $101 million philanthropic gift from Paula and Rusty Walter, the largest in the institution’s history. Houston Methodist has been raising an additional $56 million in matching funds, to bring the total philanthropic impact of this gift to $157 million.

The gift supports the expansion of endowed chairs and dedicated faculty in research and teaching positions. It also has grown the Houston Methodist neuroscience research program through the Walter Neurological Restoration Initiative, an ambitious 10-year push to discover innovative ways to enable recovery from brain disease and injury.

A portion of this donation expanded funding for the Translational Research Initiative (TRI), originally conceived by the Walter family. As founders of the original and highly successful $10 million TRI in 2013, the Walters issued another matching challenge to establish an additional $10 million TRI for brain recovery and restoration projects. In addition, this gift established an innovation fund for creating an entrepreneurial platform for physicians and researchers.

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