Breakthroughs in Care

The Jerold B. Katz Foundation Helps Keep Medicine in Motion

Science is full of vexing unknowns. Remarkable advances in medical imaging allow neurologists to diagnose dementia earlier than ever, but there is still no cure for neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The root cause of artery-clogging plaque may affect how a doctor decides to clear it, but best practice in the case of patients with diabetes remains a mystery. And why do people living in certain parts of Texas get cancer at higher rates than others? A tangle of contributing factors is difficult to unravel and even harder to address. Houston Methodist physicians and scientists appointed to the Jerold B. Katz Academy of Translational Research search for answers to these and other medical mysteries to make life longer — and healthier — for us all.

Translational Research on the Rise

The Katz Academy was established in 2016 with a significant gift from the Jerold B. Katz Foundation to recruit and retain the world’s most promising scientists in health care. Although such philanthropic support often is directed toward research in a specific field, funding from the Katz Academy strategically empowers eligible researchers from any medical specialty to be nominated for consideration. The group of multidisciplinary physician-researchers selected to serve as Katz Investigators receives five years of support to develop groundbreaking studies and trials for a wide variety of biomedical challenges. Each researcher retains the Investigator title throughout his or her career. 

Fundamental to translational research is delivering important discoveries to patients as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible — a major goal for all Katz Investigators. In 2023, the Jerold B. Katz Foundation recommitted to this aim and expanded the Katz Academy from eight to a total of 12 awardees. The Foundation’s generous contribution to this endowment not only ensures the Katz Academy’s longevity but also increases the steady and flexible funding provided to current awardees.

When asked about the inspiration for their generosity, Evan H. Katz, president of the Jerold B. Katz Foundation and an officer of the Houston Methodist Academic Institute Board, explains, “Research is a journey of discovery, an uncertain voyage of successes and failures — Katz Investigators are our modern-day explorers, fueled by a passion to find clues hidden, complex and unique.” 

Katz adds, “Medical breakthroughs are a part of the heritage at Houston Methodist.” The kind of targeted investment made by the Jerold B. Katz Foundation is what fuels those breakthroughs.

“The Katz family has been the largest benefactor to the Houston Methodist Academic Institute in its history,” says Dr. H. Dirk Sostman, former president and CEO of the Academic Institute. “They have helped Houston Methodist bring innovative treatments and pathbreaking medical devices to patients as quickly as possible. This is the very essence of what translational medicine means.”

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