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HONOR THE BOOKOUT GOTTO PROGRAM IN TRANSLATIONAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH When John F. Bookout and Antonio Gotto, MD, DPhil, chatted over breakfast every other Saturday for two years, their focus wasn’t on sports or the weather. Instead, the good friends and colleagues planned a program to train the next generation of scientists who will help redefine medicine. They are now turning those conversations into action. In late 2020, the Bookout Foundation Endowment Fund created The Bookout Gotto Program in Translational Biomedical Research. Mr. Bookout was president and CEO of Shell Oil Co. from 1976-1988 and is chairman emeritus of the Houston Methodist Board of Directors, on which he has served for more than four decades, including 16 years as chair. “We talked about this idea for a long time. One Saturday, John said, ‘It’s time to move on with this.’ I agreed, and things moved fast after that,” says Dr. Gotto, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean Emeritus of Weill Cornell Medical College and a member of the Houston Methodist Academic Institute. Methodist Hospital Foundation 52 52Houston Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation
Dr. Gotto also lends his name to the Sanford I. Weill and Antonio M. Gotto Jr., MD Centennial Chair in Translational Biomedical Sciences Education. Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation made a generous gift to establish this endowed chair that supports The Bookout Gotto Program in Translational Biomedical Research. Translational research — the emphasis on the translation of novel medical discoveries from the lab into patient care — is a significant focus for the Houston Methodist Academic Institute, and it requires well-prepared scientists to meet the demand. Accordingly, the Bookout Gotto Program’s leaders aim to train scientists who can generate fundamental insights into disease mechanisms and who can develop these insights toward transformational therapies. This program will generate a scientific workforce composed of individuals who apply cutting-edge technology to unsolved problems in medicine and who have the desire to see their science translated into useful therapies, devices and diagnostics. The program unites Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences (WCGS) faculty and initiatives in New York with faculty and programs in Houston. Specifically, the
