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$1 million gift from Dr. Howard Jones Jr. will fund reproductive medicine research

Howard Jones Jr., MD, the nation’s father of in vitro fertilization and co-founder of the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine at EVMS, died July 31 at the age of 104. Now, not only will his legacy live on at EVMS because of his groundbreaking research but also because of his generosity.

Last spring, Dr. Jones and his children made a $1 million gift to EVMS to establish an endowment known as The Jones Family Reproductive Research Medicine Fund. The gift was made in honor of Dr. Jones’ late wife and lifetime research partner, Georgeanna Jones, MD.

The endowment will provide perpetual funding for research endeavors specific to reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It will ensure that the Jones Institute will continue to lead research initiatives in reproductive medicine and will play a key role in active clinical trials.

“Dr. Jones was very supportive of our research to identify biomarkers that will help increase the probability that a single embryo transfer can be successful,” says Sergio Oehninger, MD, PhD, the Henry Clay Hofheimer II Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vice Chair of EVMS Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the Jones Institute.

“Dr. Jones was so humble about this gift,” says Richard Homan, MD, President and Provost of EVMS and Dean of the School of Medicine. “He asked us not to make an announcement about it until after he passed away. We lost a truly great man in medicine and science when he left us, and I’m very grateful that his philanthropy will allow EVMS to continue his pioneering work.”

Donor-funded lectures focus on wellness for seniors

The late Virginia Glennan Ferguson continues to support EVMS through the Cooke Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

In September, Thomas Gill, MD, Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Investigative Medicine and the Humana Foundation Professor of Geriatric Medicine at Yale University, spoke on “Our Grandparents, Our Parents, Our Future Selves: Optimizing Function in Old Age” at Westminster-Canterbury in Virginia Beach.

Dr. Gill was able to bring his expertise in geriatrics to the community thanks to the generosity of the Cooke Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, which established the Brock Institute Glennan Lecture Series this fall.

Last year, Rob Goodman, a friend of the late philanthropist Virginia Glennan Ferguson and adviser for Mrs. Ferguson’s Cooke Fund, attended a Brock scholar lecture and thought it was of great value to the community. When he learned that leaders of the M. Foscue Brock Institute for Community and Global Health and the Glennan Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology were considering hosting a Brock scholar focused on the care of elderly patients, Mr. Goodman endorsed the establishment of the Brock Institute Glennan Lecture Series.

This year’s presentation promoted education about senior wellness and fall prevention, which Mr. Goodman says aligns with Mrs. Ferguson’s wishes for her legacy. In 1995, Mrs. Ferguson helped establish the EVMS Glennan Center through a major philanthropic gift and made additional gifts to EVMS during her lifetime.

New Sertoma Club of Norfolk Temporal Bone Lab at EVMS

Temporal bone lab demonstration — A ribbon-cutting was held in October for the new Sertoma Club of Norfolk Temporal Bone Lab at EVMS. Members of the club observed a demonstration of the lab’s equipment, which will allow for enhanced instruction and education in the anatomy of the ear’s temporal bone and related surgical techniques. The club’s $150,000 gift to fund the lab was the largest gift it has ever made to a nonprofit organization.