Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation

Will Rogers Institute Research & Fellowships The Will Rogers Institute (WRI) is a program that has roots dating back to when the charity operated the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. A primary objective of the hospital was to conduct research for patient care and train pulmonary doctors on how to provide the best care for their patients. While the significance of pulmonary health and rehabilitation is not new to the Will Rogers Institute, the global health pandemic has solidified its importance in the minds of people across the world. To date, the Will Rogers Institute has funded $49,985,177 in research grants, training fellowships, and special projects in the pulmonary sector. What began as a training program for medical research during the 1950s and 60s at the Will Rogers Hospital in upstate New York, lives on in present day through the work of the Will Rogers Institute. Today, the Will Rogers Institute funds the Will Rogers Institute Pulmonary Research Center at Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, and six fellowships across the United States. Directed by Dr. Edward Crandall, Hastings Professor of Medicine, the Will Rogers Institute Pulmonary Research Center at USC and its laboratory group have achieved major advances in research related to lung injury, pulmonary edema the abnormal buildup of fluid in the air spaces of the lungs and pulmonary fibrosis. In 2023-2024, the Will Rogers Institute Pulmonary Research Center produced two peer-reviewed research articles and five scientific abstracts. Overall, Dr. Crandall has published 172 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 372 research abstracts and 27 book chapters. Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation funding has been instrumental in helping Dr. Crandall advance pulmonary research and train numerous fellows in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. Training fellowships for pulmonary medicine continue at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital (White Plains, NY), New York University, University of Texas Medical School (Dallas, TX), Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Hospital (Knoxville, TN), and Cedars-Sinai Hospital and Research Center (Los Angeles, CA). The objective for funding research fellowships in lung diseases at major universities throughout the United States is to help train future leaders of lung research and thoracic specialists.

Brave Beginnings an initiative of the Will Rogers Institute In 2015, the Will Rogers Institute Neonatal Ventilator Equipment Program was officially renamed, Brave Beginnings (BB). Due to the large premature birth problem in the United States (the US has the sixth highest rate of premature births in the world, 10% of all births), hospitals have a tremendous need for additional equipment and modern equipment that will give a premature infant a fighting chance at a life without disease or a permanent disorder. Due to the evolving landscape of the movie theater industry, funding sources for the Brave Beginnings program (traditionally, the majority of fundraising for the Brave Beginnings program comes from in-theater campaigns including concession programs and donation canisters) have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. That said, the program was in a position to fund a grant cycle of $245,447 to seven deserving hospitals. Since the ventilator grant program was established in 2006, more than 200 hospitals have received grants, totaling nearly $10 million dollars, and an estimated 275,000 infants have benefitted. The overall objectives of the Brave Beginnings program to educate the public about the need and long-term benefits to helping premature infants develop without lifelong ailments, as well as provide hospital NICUs with vital equipment. Along with other individuals and organizations dedicated to fighting the preemie epidemic, the Brave Beginnings program will try to help eliminate a generation of children growing up with ailments and disorders, due to a premature birth.