Maren Foundation endows faculty, research at UF College of Medicine

November 29, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A gift from the Thomas H. Maren Foundation to the University of Florida’s College of Medicine will enable emerging scientists to conduct world-class research and provide the college with another means to develop cancer treatments.

The gift, which is eligible to be matched dollar-for-dollar by the state of Florida, is for two major endowments: the Thomas H. Maren, M.D., Junior Investigators Research Fund and the Thomas H. Maren, M.D., Eminent Scholar Chair in Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

The eminent scholar chair will provide financial support for a faculty member to facilitate research and development of new treatments in cancer. The new gift will be added to an existing endowment and will be eligible for state matching funds.

The second part of the gift is designated for a research fund that supports junior investigators with the talents and inclinations to pursue careers of scientific discovery. The fund will provide medical students with research support and junior faculty with laboratory start-up funds, and partially support promising post-doctoral and clinical research fellows during their early years of advanced research training. This portion of the Maren Foundation gift will also be eligible for state matching funds.

“The University of Florida afforded the environment in which my husband and his work were able to thrive,” said Emily Sabah-Maren, Thomas Maren’s widow. “The Maren Foundation strongly feels that these endowments shall strengthen that type of environment for scientists and students of all ages and in all stages of their careers.”

Thomas Maren spent most of his career, much of it in basic scientific research, at UF’s College of Medicine. He was a founding faculty member of the College of Medicine, chairman of UF’s Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics for 22 years, and a graduate research professor. He gained international recognition for his pioneering investigation of an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase and its role in fluid production and flow in the eyes, brain, spinal cord and lymph system. His research led to the development of Trusopt, an important drug for the treatment of glaucoma.

“As a friend and professional colleague of Dr. Maren for many years, I feel certain he would have enthusiastically supported the intended purpose of these two gifts,” said Craig Tisher, dean of UF’s College of Medicine. “It is now incumbent upon us to assure that the enormous impact these gifts can have on our institution is fully realized.”

The gift from the Maren Foundation is the second major gift to UF in 2006. Last spring the foundation contributed funds to endow the Thomas H. Maren Medical Student Reading Room, the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities as well as the Marvelous Explorations Through Science and Stories (MESS) project at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

The Thomas H. Maren Foundation also recently contributed to the newly created Florida Opportunity Scholarships program, which provides scholarships for “first generation” college students with family income under $40,000 a year. That gift also will receive a 100 percent match through the new First Generation Scholarships matching program established during the spring 2006 Florida legislative session.