CPRIT Foundation Releases List of Donors
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Hoping to increase transparency, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Foundation — a nonprofit that supplements the salaries of the executive director and chief scientist of the state’s beleaguered $3 billion cancer research agency — released a full list of its donors on Thursday.
"In light of recent developments associated with the institute, we believe it is appropriate to make this information publicly available at this time," Marc Palazzo, the foundation's spokesman, said in a statement.
Many donations to the foundation, revealed in the list released Thursday, came from people with close ties to CPRIT. James “Jimmy” Mansour, chairman of the CPRIT oversight board, donated $52,953, and Dr. Joseph Bailes, the vice chairman of the CPRIT oversight board, donated $45,000. Two former CPRIT employees whose salaries were supplemented by the foundation made donations; Bill Gimson, the former executive director of CPRIT, donated $9,000, and Dr. Alfred Gilman, the former chief scientific officer of CPRIT donated $3,000.
Pharmaceutical and drug development companies, meanwhile, donated more than $689,000 to the foundation. Among the other notable donors were Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who gave $1,000, the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure, which gave $7,500, and the Harold Simmons Foundation, which contributed $5,000.
Legislators authorized creation of the CPRIT Foundation in 2009 to supplement the salaries of the institute's executive director and chief scientific officer, an effort to help the state attract top talent. The foundation is not allowed to accept donations from CPRIT grantees.
Lawmakers criticized the lack of transparency at the CPRIT Foundation at a House Appropriations Committee hearing in December in the wake of news that the Texas attorney general, Travis County district attorney and state auditor’s office are all investigating whether CPRIT officials broke the law in their distribution of grant funds.
“What we could use is some help from you, to help us, to help the foundation, do the best job possible to identify whether there could be conflicts,” said Barbara Canales, who is on both the CPRIT oversight board and the CPRIT Foundation board, in response to the lawmakers criticisms. She explained that the foundation could only compare its donor list to the list of grant recipients after the grants were approved by the oversight board.
In 2007, Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment that gave lawmakers the authority to sell bonds worth $3 billion over 10 years to promote cancer research, cancer-fighting commercialization projects and cancer prevention projects in Texas. The future of the institute is uncertain, and Texas’ political leaders called for a moratorium on new CPRIT grants, as the investigations into the agency's alleged conflicts continue.
The investigations began after CPRIT's oversight committee publicly disclosed an internal report that found an $11 million grant to Peloton Therapeutics had been approved without scientific review. After the disclosure, media reports revealed potential conflicts of interest involved with that grant.
Dallas philanthropist Peter O'Donnell, whose initial investment helped create Peloton Therapeutics, is the largest donor to the CPRIT Foundation. Since 2009, the O’Donnell Foundation has donated $1.5 million to the foundation.
Below is a full list of the CPRIT foundation’s donors.
| Name/Organization | Number of Donations | Total Amount of Donations |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Richards | 1 | $225 |
| Alfred G. Gilman | 1 | $3,000 |
| Allen and Elizabeth Wendler | 1 | $1,000 |
| Alzheimer's Association | 1 | $1,000 |
| Amanda M. Beck | 1 | $1,000 |
| American Cancer Society | 1 | $500 |
| Amgen USA | 1 | $35,000 |
| Andro Diagnostics | 1 | $2,000 |
| Anne Brennan | 1 | $1,000 |
| Astellas USA Foundation | 2 | $30,000 |
| Barbara & Berry Lewis Family Fund | 1 | $1,000 |
| Barbara Canales | 1 | $3,750 |
| Barbara R. Hurwitz | 2 | $2,500 |
| Barry G. Andrews | 1 | $35,000 |
| Barry P. Forrest | 2 | $350 |
| Biohouston, Inc | 1 | $2,000 |
| Blackridge | 1 | $7,500 |
| Booth Family Trust | 1 | $500 |
| Brandon & Heidi Hicks | 1 | $250 |
| Brian R. White | 1 | $225 |
| Burson-Marsteller | 1 | $3,750 |
| C.W. Duncan Jr. | 1 | $500 |
| Cammack & Strong, P.C. | 1 | $1,000 |
| Cancer Therapy and Research Center Found. | 1 | $7,500 |
| Carl D Campbell | 1 | $500 |
| Carolyn Frost Keenan | 2 | $7,500 |
| Catherine C. Brock | 1 | $500 |
| CB Richard Ellis | 1 | $7,500 |
| Cephalon, Inc. | 2 | $15,000 |
| Charles E. Geyer Jr. | 1 | $1,000 |
| Charles Tate | 2 | $60,000 |
| Christus Health | 2 | $20,000 |
| Cindy Brinker Simmons | 5 | $30,000 |
| CITI | 3 | $12,500 |
| Citigroup Payment Services | 1 | $500 |
| City of San Antonio TX Educ. Fac. Corp. | 1 | $7,500 |
| Clayton Duncan | 1 | $500 |
| Communities Foundation of Texas | 1 | $5,000 |
| Daiichii Sankyo, Inc. | 4 | $62,500 |
| Danziger & Dellano LLP | 1 | $1,000 |
| David G Miclette | 1 | $500 |
| David H. Dewhurst | 1 | $1,000 |
| David Spaw | 1 | $1,000 |
| DCMS Foundation | 1 | $2,500 |
| Dean M. Kilgore | 1 | $225 |
| Deborah Holland Shelkh | 1 | $500 |
| Dee Kelly | 1 | $25,000 |
| Dee Osborne | 1 | $500 |
| Don Glendenning | 1 | $500 |
| Durwood D. Booher | 1 | $100 |
| E.W. or Margaret M. Barnett | 1 | $500 |
| Edelman | 1 | $7,500 |
| Eisai Inc. | 2 | $200,000 |
| Eli Lilly and Company | 1 | $50,000 |
| Elizabeth Butler Granger | 1 | $1,000 |
| ETMG, LLC | 1 | $70 |
| F. Jackson | 1 | $500 |
| Faith Johnson and Assoc. | 1 | $250 |
| Frederick McCord | 1 | $1,000 |
| Gary or Catherine Brock | 1 | $1,000 |
| Genentech USA | 2 | $135,000 |
| George L Ball | 1 | $2,500 |
| Gjerset & Lorenz | 1 | $2,500 |
| Graves, Daugherty, Hearon & Moody PC | 1 | $250 |
| Greater Houston Community Foundation | 1 | $1,000 |
| Greg Curran | 1 | $1,000 |
| Gregory Marchbanks | 1 | $1,000 |
| Guy Perry | 1 | $125 |
| Harold Simmons Foundation | 1 | $5,000 |
| Heinrich-Josey Heinrich-Josey Orthopaedics, PA | 1 | $1,000 |
| Hewlett Packard Company | 1 | $12,000 |
| Horizon Bank | 1 | $225 |
| Hunt Family Foundation | 1 | $12,000 |
| J. or S.C. Glickman | 1 | $500 |
| James Huffines | 1 | $1,000 |
| James M Mansour Foundation | 4 | $25,631 |
| James Mansour | 2 | $27,323 |
| Jennifer S. Pickering | 1 | $1,000 |
| Jerry & Rebecca Lindauer | 1 | $1,000 |
| Jerry Deutser | 1 | $500 |
| Jerry H. Yellen | 1 | $100 |
| Jewel B Crosswell | 1 | $2,500 |
| Joan S. Bentzin | 1 | $500 |
| Joe & Janis Pinelli | 1 | $500 |
| John A. Dieck Jr. | 1 | $500 |
| John B. Benear, II, MD | 1 | $7,500 |
| John Cullen | 2 | $4,506 |
| John Genung | 1 | $1,000 |
| John H. Young | 1 | $2,500 |
| John Lay | 2 | $2,500 |
| John M. Sjoberg | 1 | $225 |
| Joseph S. Bailes | 4 | $37,500 |
| Julian R. Lowin | 1 | $250 |
| Kam Kronenberg | 1 | $825 |
| Karl Holtzman | 1 | $100 |
| Kay O Miller | 1 | $500 |
| Keith Lauderdale | 1 | $250 |
| Kern Wildenthal, MD | 2 | $5,000 |
| Kristin L. Lonergan | 1 | $2,500 |
| Kurt Wilkin | 1 | $350 |
| Lance Ramsey | 1 | $225 |
| Law Offices of Douglas A. Allison | 3 | $19,750 |
| Lewis Little | 1 | $500 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals | 1 | $1,000 |
| Lilly Grant Office | 1 | $2,500 |
| Linda McReynolds | 1 | $500 |
| Lionel Sosa | 1 | $10,000 |
| Luminant | 1 | $7,500 |
| Mack Lane | 1 | $350 |
| Malcolm Gillis | 1 | $1,000 |
| Mark Hansen | 1 | $225 |
| Mark Johnson | 1 | $225 |
| Mary Crowley Cancer Foundation | 1 | $35,000 |
| Mary Elliot | 2 | $1,000 |
| Medical Metrics, Inc. | 2 | $8,750 |
| Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. | 2 | $15,000 |
| Michael Kasper | 1 | $1,000 |
| Mike A. Myers | 1 | $3,000 |
| Moncrief Cancer Foundation | 1 | $15,000 |
| Morris S. Gottesman | 1 | $2,500 |
| Mrs. Dan L Duncan | 1 | $500 |
| Nicole Kessler | 1 | $250 |
| Northwind Energy Partners, LLC | 1 | $500 |
| Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. | 4 | $235,000 |
| O'Donnell Foundation | 3 | $1,500,000 |
| O'Donnell, Jr. | 1 | $15,000 |
| Patricia & Albert Tate | 1 | $1,000 |
| Patricia Breen | 1 | $500 |
| Patton B. Drewett | 2 | $350 |
| Paul Robshaw | 1 | $1,000 |
| Peter C. Harmonson | 1 | $225 |
| Pfizer, Inc. | 6 | $160,000 |
| Physicians Cancer Research Foundation Inc | 2 | $17,500 |
| Ralph B. Thomas | 1 | $500 |
| Ralph O'Connor | 3 | $18,000 |
| Ralph T. Hull | 2 | $1,250 |
| Ray L. Thompson | 1 | $25 |
| Regina Rogers | 1 | $5,000 |
| Reid Wittliff | 1 | $50 |
| Richard J. Trabulsi Jr. | 1 | $500 |
| Robert A Seale | 1 | $250 |
| Robert Lanier | 1 | $500 |
| Roche Diagnostics Corporation | 1 | $7,500 |
| Rod Edens Jr. | 1 | $250 |
| Roger or Marianne Staubach | 1 | $500 |
| Rosemary Walton | 1 | $250 |
| S Balaguer | 1 | $225 |
| S. Joel Hastings | 1 | $250 |
| S. Mark Powell | 1 | $1,000 |
| Sanford L. Gottesman | 1 | $2,500 |
| Serafy Foundation | 3 | $30,000 |
| Shirley Coskey | 1 | $2,000 |
| SHVMS, LLC | 1 | $1,000 |
| Southwestern Medical Foundation | 2 | $22,500 |
| Stephen J. Schaefer | 1 | $1,000 |
| Stephen King | 1 | $500 |
| Stephen Wyatt | 1 | $1,000 |
| Steven and Sheila Miller | 1 | $500 |
| Stote Ellsworth | 1 | $500 |
| Susan G. Komen for the Cure | 1 | $7,500 |
| T.A. or Anna Reppert | 1 | $500 |
| TEVA Pharmaceuticals | 1 | $35,000 |
| Texas A&M Foundation | 4 | $37,500 |
| Texas Enterprises, Inc. | 1 | $500 |
| Texas Medical Center | 1 | $500 |
| Texas Oncology Foundation, Inc | 1 | $7,500 |
| Texas Tech System Admin. Foundation | 2 | $30,000 |
| Texas Tech University System- Foundation | 2 | $70,000 |
| The Barnabas Fund, Inc. | 1 | $7,500 |
| The Biophysical Corporation | 1 | $7,500 |
| The Dallas Foundation | 2 | $2,000 |
| The Greater S.A. Chamber of Commerce | 2 | $15,000 |
| The Hicks Family Charitable Foundation | 1 | $5,000 |
| The Kayser Foundation | 1 | $1,000 |
| The Methodist Hospital System | 3 | $65,000 |
| The Schweitzer Family Foundation | 1 | $1,000 |
| The Texas A&M University HSC Foundation | 4 | $40,000 |
| The Vermillion Family Foundation | 1 | $500 |
| The Virginia and LE Simmons Foundation | 1 | $1,000 |
| The Weingarten Schnitzer Foundation, Inc | 1 | $500 |
| Thomas Kaplan | 1 | $27,500 |
| Thompson Energy Group LLC | 1 | $3,750 |
| Thompson Energy Group, Inc. | 1 | $5,000 |
| TMH Foundation | 1 | $15,000 |
| Todd Ramberg | 1 | $225 |
| TX Health Presbyterian Foundation | 1 | $7,500 |
| University of Houston Foundation | 4 | $32,500 |
| UNT Health Science Center Foundation | 2 | $15,000 |
| UT Chancellor's Fund | 2 | $18,810 |
| UT Foundation | 2 | $22,500 |
| UT Physicians | 1 | $7,500 |
| Vinson & Elkins LLP | 4 | $23,500 |
| Ward Pennebaker | 1 | $500 |
| William & Evelyn Griffin Fund | 1 | $1,750 |
| William Gimson | 3 | $9,000 |
| William Heyer | 1 | $225 |
| Wm A & Elizabeth B Moncrief Foundation | 1 | $5,000 |
| Yvonne & Joseph Bailes | 1 | $7,500 |
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