$600k gift benefits ULM Pharmacy School
Ashley Mott
amott@thenewsstar.com
A $600,000 estate gift to the ULM School of Pharmacy will help keep the school strong as it continues research on cancer treatment.
The funds were provided by the estate of Mark and Mildred Maurer through the ULM Foundation. Maurer was a breast cancer survivor and followed the research work of Dr. Paul Sylvester, ULM Endowed Professor of Pharmacology.
READ MORE: ULM natatorium to get new life
"There was an event here at the College of Pharmacy, and I was here and she (Mildred) was here," Sylvester said. "She was a breast cancer survivor, and she was interested in the cancer research I was doing. ... She wanted to meet me and talk about it. We came up to my lab and just sat around these tables and talked for more than an hour. We kept up and became very good friends. She became part of the family."
The lab Sylvester and Maurer chatted in is now known as the Mark and Mildred Maurer Cancer Research Laboratory. Her gift will help keep the equipment used in the lab in good shape for years to come, Sylvester said.
"We established the Mark and Mildred Maurer Cancer Research Enhancement Fund, which is really important for repair, replacement and maintenance of our research equipment. We have some every expensive equipment, but it is very difficult, once it breaks down, to repair or replace it, and it is lifeblood for us to keep the progress going and keep our work continuing.
Research projects underway at the university involve using rare forms of Vitamin E in the treatment of breast cancer and other epithelial cancers.
Dr. Wilson Campbell said Mildred also donated $200,000 to Shriners and $200,000 to St. Jude's, other causes she considered worthy because of her love of children.
"She wanted to give a gift that would keep on giving long after she was gone," Campbell said, "and I think she has done that so well with her gift here to ULM."
CenturyLink sells data centers to finance Level 3 deal