ENDOWED CHAIRS

The Red Blood Cell Chair

About Endowed Chairs Endowed chairs provide stable, long-term financial resources for the chairholder and a legacy for the benefactor or someone the benefactor chooses to honor. Those philanthropic investments will be held in perpetuity to fund research, education and patient care. They are powerful recruitment and retention tools that ensure the best and brightest medical minds are engaged in research and care at Houston Methodist. A type of endowed chair, Centennial Chairs were established by a $101 million gift from Paula and Rusty Walter in 2017 that recognized Houston Methodist’s century of service. A portion of this philanthropic commitment created the Walter Centennial Chair Challenge (C³) that helps support, recruit and retain the most brilliant physicians and scientists in the world. These endowed chairs are awarded to Houston Methodist’s most prestigious scientists and clinical faculty.

Herb and Jean Lyman Centennial Chair in Ophthalmology

Supporters: HERB AND JEAN LYMAN

This Centennial Chair was established by Herb and Jean Lyman to support an endowed position in the Houston Methodist Department of Ophthalmology. This is the first chair established by the Lymans and the second chair established in the Department of Ophthalmology. The Lymans are dedicated to supporting eye health, and they both serve on the Houston Methodist Blanton Eye Institute Task Force. They are also Centennial Lifetime Members of The Society for Leading Medicine. The Lyman Chair has been awarded to Dr. Andrew G. Lee, whose research centers around optic nerve disorders with a focus on tumors of the optic nerve. He also has a deep interest in ophthalmic graduate medical education. Dr. Lee is chair of the Blanton Eye Institute, which specializes in the medical and surgical treatment of eye disorders and diseases and provides hospital-based eye care for the most challenging ophthalmic cases and procedures.

Gerald H. Dubin, MD Presidential Distinguished Centennial Chair in the Art of Medicine for the Center for Performing Arts Medicine

Supporter: GERALD H. DUBIN, MD

Established by Dr. Gerald H. Dubin, this Centennial Chair will support a program to demonstrate the role that comedy and humor can play in the healing process. It also may boost the understanding of communication in establishing empathy and enhancing patient-physician alliances and patient outcomes. Dr. Dubin is a member of the Houston Methodist Center for Performing Arts Medicine’s Stasney Chorus and a Legacy Member of The Society for Leading Medicine. The Center for Performing Arts Medicine works toward effective and meaningful integration of the performing and visual arts into the hospital environment.

Lynda K. and David M. Underwood Chair of Surgery in Digestive Disorders

Supporter: LYNDA K. UNDERWOOD

This newly created chair will support research, education, and clinical and scholarly activities required to sustain a world-class surgical gastroenterology program within the Lynda K. and David M. Underwood Center for Digestive Disorders at Houston Methodist. The Underwoods previously established the David M. Underwood Chair of Medicine in Digestive Disorders and the David M. Underwood Chair of Surgery in Digestive Disorders. Under the leadership of Dr. Eamonn Quigley and surgeon Dr. Wade Rosenberg, the Underwood Center develops comprehensive treatment programs for each patient ranging from simple lifestyle changes to advanced surgeries. Houston Methodist lost an honored friend and advocate when David Underwood Sr. passed away in 2015.

M.D. Anderson Foundation Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Imaging

Supporters: ANONYMOUS DONOR AND HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION

A portion of a generous gift from the M.D. Anderson Foundation in 2006, which supported work in molecular imaging, has now been combined with a matching gift from an anonymous donor to create a new endowed chair. Named in honor of the M.D. Anderson Foundation, the chairholder, Dr. Diego R. Martin, is leading a biomedical imaging initiative in the Department of Radiology and the Translational Imaging Center, a part of the Houston Methodist Research Institute. Dr. Martin’s goal at the Translational Imaging Center is to create a hub of research, discovery and innovation, through collaborative partnerships with other departments, institutions and industry, which can drive clinical care excellence using precision diagnostics and imaging-guided therapeutics for major diseases that affect both the society and world, with a focus on cancer early detection and cure.

Selected Additional Chairs Created in 2021 Sherrie and Alan Conover Chair for Excellence in Transplant Research (see page 21) Emily Herrmann Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research (see page 9) Carol and Burt Keenan Chair for Excellence in Liver Transplantation Research (see page 20) Ben and Wendy Moreland Distinguished Chair in Urology (see page 28) The John M. O’Quinn Foundation Presidential Distinguished Chair in Neurology (see page 16)