Crowley Foundation continues support of several research programs

By Erin Prather Stafford

David M. Crowley was a Dallas native and successful investor who learned from his mother at a very young age the importance of giving back. In 1990, he established the David M. Crowley Foundation, knowing his actions would benefit individuals and his community for years to come. For more than a decade, the Crowley Foundation’s impact on research and clinical care at UT Southwestern has been transformative, with gifts totaling almost $6.25 million.

Mr. Crowley, who passed away in 2003, graduated from North Dallas High School and attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. A captain in the U.S. Army during World War II, he was awarded the Bronze Star for action in the Battle of the Bulge and later served in the 49th Armored Division of the Texas National Guard. His late brother was Dallas County Judge Frank Crowley, for whom the Criminal Courts building in Dallas is named. Mr. Crowley loved music and sang in many choir groups, including the Dallas Catholic Choir. He was married to the late Mary Carter Crowley, who founded Home Interiors & Gifts in 1957.

“Our mission is to carry on Mr. Crowley’s legacy and select causes we believe he would have championed,” said Sandra Hallmark, Lifetime President of the David M. Crowley Foundation. “The research and clinical programs we’ve supported at UT Southwestern have produced many positive outcomes and furthered medicine’s efforts to understand and find treatments for difficult diseases. David would have been most pleased with supporting these causes that help so many.”

Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern, said, “We are deeply grateful for our longstanding partnership with the David M. Crowley Foundation. Their support helps make it possible for researchers at UT Southwestern to continue to pursue and achieve breakthrough scientific discoveries across a wide range of unmet medical needs that contribute to the development of innovative, lifesaving patient care worldwide.”

The Foundation’s most recent gift of $600,000 will fund several UT Southwestern projects, including:  

• Creation of the Spine and Clinical Outcomes Registry to help UT Southwestern establish evidence-based best practices in spine care to save patients time, money, discomfort, and mental anguish over treatments; registry is overseen by Dr. Carlos Bagley, Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery and of Orthopaedic Surgery and Director of the Spine Center;
• Continued expansion of the Southwestern Tertiary Aneurysm Registry (STAR) database, as well as the development of a neurocritical care database under the direction of Dr. Hunt Batjer, Chair of Neurological Surgery; this service refinement and research registry is aimed at improving the quality of aneurysm treatments;
• Support of clinical activities and research in the David M. Crowley Research and Rehabilitation Laboratory (a valuable resource for UT Southwestern designed to provide comprehensive analysis and treatment of mobility disorders in adults with neuromuscular injury or disease) to assess rehabilitation techniques for patients recovering from stroke and those suffering from Parkinson’s disease under the direction of Dr. Beth K. Deschenes, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy and of Orthopaedic Surgery;
• Fundamental scientific research to develop new biomarker tests to quickly detect Alzheimer’s disease and to accelerate the discovery of new drugs led by Dr. Marc Diamond, Director of the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases and Professor of Neuroscience and of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics;
• Further development of a method to predict toxic autoimmune side effects and mitigate risks of reaction in patients who are receiving cancer immunotherapy treatments led by Dr. David Gerber, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and of Clinical Sciences, and a leader of the Experimental Therapeutics of Cancer Program;
• Development of additional resources to support training programs that will increase the impact and quality of education of the next generation of gastroenterologists overseen by Dr. Mack Mitchell, Professor and Executive Vice Chair of Internal Medicine who also serves as UT Southwestern’s Vice President for Medical Affairs and as the Chief Medical Officer of the Southwestern Health Resources Physician Network; and
• Clinical activities and research of a groundbreaking Diabetic Neuropathy Nerve Decompression study and UT Southwestern’s program for the treatment of facial paralysis under Dr. Shai Rozen, Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, Director of Microsurgery, and leader of the Facial Reanimation Program.

Dr. Batjer holds the Lois C. A. and Darwin E. Smith Distinguished Chair in Neurological Surgery.

Dr. Diamond holds the Distinguished Chair in Basic Brain Injury and Repair.

Dr. Mitchell holds the Nancy S. and Jeremy L. Halbreich Professorship in Gastroenterology.

Dr. Podolsky holds the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration, and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science.