NEIGHBORLY TIES UNLOCK MILLIONS IN RESEARCH FUNDING

AS NEIGHBORS, CHARLES AND CAROLYN

KELLOGG have known Holly Hull and her family for at least 12 years. They’ve watched Hull’s daughter grow up healthy and strong, becoming, among many things, a softball pitcher. And, they’ve naturally learned about Hull’s research as an associate professor of dietetics and nutrition at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Hull and her team study how a mother’s environment and diet can affect her and her baby’s long-term health.

In their lives beyond the neighborhood, the Kelloggs are directors with the Goppert Foundation (Charles is also an officer), an organization that funds capacity building at medical facilities, civic organizations, educational institutions and elsewhere.

It just so happens that Hull’s work hinges on machinery that can scan a person’s body to report on its composition — the percentage that is bone, muscle, fat, etc. But, her two legacy machines were only so useful. One could only scan a study participant from birth to five months, and the other only from age five onward.

Hull had come to the conclusion that a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry — or DXA (pronounced dex-ah) — machine could give her uninterrupted access to cohorts of pregnant mothers and their babies from the prenatal stage well into life. “The DXA is critical to all the work I do,” she said. “It really can replace my other machines and provides so much more information.”

In 2017, the Kelloggs encouraged Hull to apply for a $55,000 Goppert Foundation grant to cover the purchase of a machine. She was approved, and, to some extent, the floodgates opened.

“The machine has done very well for her and KU,” Charles Kellogg said.

Indeed. The grant and machine helped Hull secure roughly $2.5 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, and additional grants are in the works. In the world of research, this is top-shelf grant money. Now, Hull and her team of doctoral candidates and staff can study candidates from conception through several years of life. The goal? Understanding how nutrition affects both mother and child.

“My purpose through my research?” Hull asks, rhetorically. “To better peoples’ lives.”

She’s humble in her straightforwardness. In essence, Hull and team scrutinize dietary adjustments that might unlock optimal cognition and body health for mother and child.

“Holly is a top-level thinker,” Carolyn Kellogg said. “Very caring, too. With her goals, her work, everything is well thought out.”

From $55,000 to millions, all to better generations yet to be born. And, it all happened thanks to a little old-fashioned neighborliness.

REWARDING DEVICE: The addition of the DXA machine to the lab of KU Medical Center associate professor Holly Hull, Ph.D., allows the research team to do body composition scans throughout a person’s life and has resulted in external grant funding.

Why I Give

“The Victor E. and Caroline E. Schutte Foundation supports efforts to improve the health of Kansas City area residents and invests in activities that facilitate the development of the life science industry in our region. The opportunity to fund a new professorship in cellular therapeutics meets both of those objectives. The Foundation is confident that its gift will significantly enhance the quality of life in our community.”

David Frantze, Trustee, Victor E. and Caroline E. Schutte Foundation, Kansas City, Mo. Gift to establish a Professorship in Cellular Therapeutics at KU Cancer Center

“I began my time at KU as a junior in a summer National Science Foundation Undergraduate Research project under Dr. Don Green. The Petroleum Engineering program gave me the fundamentals to succeed as a reservoir engineer. As petroleum engineering evolves, research will be an important part of this process, and we wanted to ‘Gift Forward’ to help in the evolution of future KU Petroleum Engineers.”

Roger Heckman, bachelor’s in petroleum engineering 1971, and Brenda Heckman, Breckenridge, Colo.

Gift to the Roger and Brenda Heckman Endowment for Engineering Research

“Both my wife, Sarah, and I are proud graduates of KU. When I was taking an advertising course taught by Professor James Dykes, we were to design a fundraising brochure for KU Endowment’s Greater KU Fund. That made an impression on me. During my 40-plus-year career in not-for-profit organizations, I was either actively raising money or teaching other people how to raise money. I soon learned the value of undesignated contributions. If you are giving to an organization that you believe in, let them determine how and where to use the money. We are fortunate in our retirement to be able to support organizations and institutions that have been important in our lives.”

John Erickson, bachelor’s in journalism 1965, MBA 1967, and Sarah Erickson, bachelor’s in education & human sciences 1967, Keller, Texas Gift to the Greater KU Fund

“Our support of multiple sclerosis research is integral to our mission to help those living with MS right now. Through Dr. Sosnoff’s work, we’re able to help move the needle on key lifestyle adjustments that are proving to make a significant impact on the quality of life for those affected by MS.”

Ashley (Kumlien) Schneider, Milwaukee, Wis., President of MS Run the US Gift to the MS Run the US Research Fund –Sosnoff

“Catherine and I give, not only because her parents were long-time faculty members in English and continuing professional studies, but because the KU Law School has given me the chance to share my career-long experience in health law with dozens of bright, engaged 2L and 3L law students. It has been one of the true joys of my career.”

Guy Collier, KU Law School Professor of Practice, and Catherine Colyer, Kansas City, Mo. Gift to the KU Law School

“We’re honored to be able to set up this scholarship to help students who are the first generation in their family to attend college as tribute to our parents’ spirit of volunteerism and generosity.”

Patrick Malone, bachelor’s in American studies 1972, and Vicki Neighbors Malone, bachelor’s in commercial art 1970, Chevy Chase, Md. Gift to establish the Clifford and Eleanor Malone Scholarship

“The first time I walked on campus, I could immediately tell I had found my new home. I still think the best years of my life have been at KU. I met my wife, we were married in Danforth Chapel and I learned skills and lessons that transferred over into a career that has afforded me a great life. We have a son who graduated from KU Engineering School, one who is currently enrolled in the Business School and one defector in Ames, but we love him anyway. Our Jayhawk pride runs deep. We give back to different schools to allow the next generation to experience not only a great education but the lifelong love that comes with being a Jayhawk.” Jim Goodmiller, bachelor’s in journalism 1991, and Kristin Goodmiller, bachelor’s in social welfare 1992, Saint Charles, Ill. Gifts to student opportunity funds