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John Stokes, MD, Brenda Duello of the UI Foundation, and Bill Loffer of The Fraternal Order of Eagles partnered to secure Eagles' support for diabetes research at the University.
Photo by Susan McClellen
Partners in diabetes care
More than half the patients treated by UI Hospitals and Clinics kidney specialist John Stokes, MD, have diabetes, the leading cause of kidney failure in the U.S.
Stokes, professor of internal medicine and director of nephrology, knows diabetes is the biggest public health crisis of the 21st century—due primarily to an increasing rate of obesity—and nearly 25 million U.S. children and adults live with the disease. He knows the death rate for diabetes has been climbing for more than 20 years. And he knows he is powerless to turn the tide on his own.
Soon after joining the UI Carver College of Medicine in 1978, Stokes launched a personal partnership with The Fraternal Order of Eagles. This international philanthropic organization lives its motto, “people helping people,” by funding research into life-threatening diseases. Stokes successfully applied for annual $5,000 grants from the Eagles, attended state conventions to accept the awards, and joined the Eagles’ Iowa City chapter, or aerie.
“It was common at the state conventions for members to tell me their aerie had an idea for a state project involving the University—for example, they wanted the burn center to be the target, or the children’s hospital, or diabetes. I would help them make the connections to the people at the University. They trusted my advice, and I was very happy to help,” Stokes said.
At the 2006 convention in Grinnell, Grand Worthy President-elect Bill Loffer of Nebraska proclaimed to Stokes that the Eagles should fund a diabetes research center.
“At that point, my brain started going about 10,000 miles an hour. I said, ‘Bill, that’s a great idea and the Eagles should do it,’ ” Stokes said.
The timing couldn’t have been better. The University was planning a new facility, the UI Institute for Biomedical Discovery, for high-quality, high-reward interdisciplinary research leading to treatments and cures for an array of complex illnesses.
As he’d done before, Stokes connected the Eagles and the University. He arranged for Loffer, who was set to embark on the traditional Grand Presidents Tour of aeries and auxiliaries, the women’s equivalent of the men’s aeries, to meet Michael Artman, MD, then executive director of the UI Children’s Hospital; Paul Rothman, MD, then head of internal medicine; and William Sivitz, MD, professor and director of endocrinology and metabolism.
On a summer afternoon in Iowa City, Loffer suggested the Eagles could raise millions of dollars for research leading to a cure for diabetes, which affects a significant percentage of the million-member organization. In turn, Loffer’s hosts suggested that the UI Institute for Biomedical Discovery could serve as a home for the research. Because the institute was to be built with state, federal, University, and other private funds, the Eagles’ contribution could fully support endowed chairs and fellowships for diabetes researchers, grants for innovative research ideas, and money to recruit leading scientists.
The vision was born, but Stokes needed help. The day after Loffer’s visit he turned to Brenda Duello, the UI Foundation’s director of development for the UI Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospitals and Clinics. Over the next 18 months, they teamed up to build momentum within the Eagles organization for a diabetes research center, but The University of Iowa wasn’t a shoo-in to partner on it. The Eagles also were considering other research universities.
In March 2008, about a dozen Eagles returned to Iowa City to meet again with Artman, Rothman, Sivitz, and Stokes, along with Michael Welsh (’71 BS, ’74 MD, ’77 R), who would later be named founding director of the UI Institute for Biomedical Discovery. In addition, President Sally Mason hosted the Eagles representatives for breakfast at the President’s House, and they met two young patients with diabetes and their physician, pediatrician Eva Tsalikian, MD.
“That site visit by quite influential leaders in the Eagles organization was a major turning point,” Stokes said. “They were able to see the faces of our doctors, and see the caring we have for our patients. The Eagles saw the nature of our organization.”
When the Eagles’ Board of Grand Trustees convened two months later, they gave unanimous approval for the membership to vote on partnering with the University. At the 2008 international convention in Louisville, Ky., however, the UI proponents learned this wasn’t a done deal. Many Eagles voiced skepticism about the amount to be raised—$25 million in five years, the largest fundraising effort in the organization’s history—and Iowa as the site for the research center. There would be one final pitch for the membership’s vote, delivered by two of their own: Stokes and Dennis Gilhousen, who chaired the committee that recommended the UI-Eagles partnership to the board.
Gilhousen spoke first, and introduced a short video prepared by the University. Stokes followed; he described the clinical effects of diabetes—blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke—and the impact the Eagles’ support could have on research to prevent these traumatic outcomes. Gilhousen, an ordained minister from Kansas, closed the presentation.
“You could have heard a pin drop,” Stokes recalled. “When we opened it for discussion, the first guy who commented said, ‘I have diabetes, and this is the best thing I’ve heard about. Here’s my check.’ It was an extraordinarily electrifying moment.”
By unanimous vote, more than 700 delegates endorsed the $25 million campaign for The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at The University of Iowa. The partnership was formally announced in Iowa City last September in a celebration at the future site of the UI Institute for Biomedical Discovery.
“In the annals of philanthropy, this is a very unique gift,” Duello said.
When the Eagles’ international convention rolls around in July, Stokes and Duello will attend the event in Reno, Nev., where the Eagles expect to present the first installment, $5 million, to the University.
“We are at a pivotal moment in history when there is great promise for making very real progress in treating and preventing diabetes,” said Jean Robillard, MD (’74 F), UI vice president for medical affairs. “This visionary gift from The Fraternal Order of Eagles has enormous potential for helping us find a cure for this devastating disease.”