MEN OF 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. 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

Bookout Gotto Program has catalyzed the formation of a WCGS Houston campus. The students at the WCGS Houston campus participate in online lectures from the New York campus and perform their laboratory rotations at the Houston campus. Two retreats in New York will permit the Houston faculty and students to mingle and exchange ideas with the faculty and students on the New York campus. The young scientists on the Houston campus will perform their thesis research in the highly translational milieu of the Houston Methodist Academic Institute, with faculty oriented toward seeking medical solutions for unmet health needs. This new program provides stipends for up to five Houston Methodist Academic Institute doctoral students admitted to and enrolled in the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. The program has high admissions standards, and several exceptional graduate students have already received the first stipends. Spearheading this collaborative, tightly integrated training program is John P. Cooke, MD, PhD, Houston Methodist’s chief translational sciences officer, medical director for the Center for RNA Therapeutics, and the Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter and Carole Walter Looke Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Research. Henry J. Pownall, PhD, professor of Bioenergetics and a full member of the Houston Methodist Research Institute, will serve as program director. “Supporting these promising young scientists with stipends, mentors and distinctive research experience allows us to attract high-quality candidates and give them the tools they need to advance their careers and the field of translational medicine,” Dr. Cooke says. “We are training the next generation of outstanding leaders at Houston Methodist, and I can’t wait to see what they accomplish.” The hope is that many outstanding translational scientists participating in this program will choose to stay with Houston Methodist or in Houston when they complete their studies. “I am so grateful for John Bookout’s vision, generous spirit and persistence,” says Dr. Gotto. “Dr. Cooke and I see the important advances that occur when we rapidly translate biomedical research into medications, cutting-edge treatments and innovative technology. All that work benefits patients. The results will produce lifesaving therapies.”