Children’s Wisconsin receives $10 million gift toward research

Milwaukee-area philanthropists Barri and Dave Drury have made a $10 million gift to Children’s Wisconsin to support pediatric research, one of the largest donations for research the health system has received.

The gift, announced by Children’s Feb. 4, is meant to drive scientific discoveries that will improve pediatric patients’ care and to support Children’s physicians and researchers as they work to further understand patients’ conditions and develop better tests and treatments.

“We’re hoping that this fund will provide the dollars to attract the top-notch people and support their research,” Barri Drury said in an interview. “To provide the best care for kids, we have to have the top-notch researchers and their teams here – and the top-notch doctors.”

The Drury’s have a decades-long history of volunteering and giving to Children’s Wisconsin. The two have served on boards and committees part of Children’s and made significant donations to its research enterprise.

A former nurse, Barri Drury was a longtime board member of the Children’s Wisconsin Foundation, the fundraising arm of the health system. Dave Drury is a partner at Wing Capital Group, a Milwaukee-based investment firm, and former owner of the Poblocki Sign Co. He has served on numerous boards, including the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Northwestern Mutual and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

Until recently, the couple was deeply involved in a years-long Children’s giving campaign.

Children’s officials expect their latest gift will speed discoveries and help bring new insights and treatments from the lab to patients’ bedsides.

“This really is going to be a game-changer,” said Joy Lincoln, chief scientific officer for the Children’s Research Institute, part of Children’s Wisconsin.

The gift, called the Drury Family Discovery Fund, will be used at the the discretion of Children’s officials, with input from the Drury’s, Lincoln said.

As one of the hospitals affiliated with the Medical College of Wisconsin, Children’s Wisconsin conducts research and trains doctors, nurses and other health care providers. Many of Children’s physicians are also faculty with the medical college.

Drurys want to help Children’s attract top talent

Over their years of giving, the Drurys began to realize the importance of philanthropic dollars in promoting recruitment and retention of key players. They hope their gift helps with recruiting high-caliber candidates and with hanging on to physicians and scientists who have distinguished themselves in their fields.

“They want to be comfortable that they’re going to have the resources they need to build what it is that they hope to accomplish,” Dave Drury said. “Without the people, you don’t have much.”

“It really boils down to helping young researchers be able to build their efforts into big successes,” he added.

That can mean providing seed money for early-stage research projects not yet developed enough to win competitive federal funding, he and Lincoln said. That seed funding gives the researcher an opportunity to further their project and, if successful, pursue more significant funding, they said.

Before this gift, the Drurys had established two endowments to fund the pediatrics chair – held by Children’s pediatrician-in-chief – and the chief scientific officer for the Children’s Research Institute – held by Lincoln. The research institute supports more than 1,000 clinical trials.

One area of focus is precision medicine, an approach that considers a patient’s genetic makeup, environment and lifestyle when figuring out the best treatment option for that individual.

“Our goal is to really understand the genetic fingerprinting … of all the kids that walk through the door,” Lincoln said. “Is it their genetics? Is it their environmental exposure? Why was that child diagnosed with this specific disorder, and what is the biology behind the disease?”

One way the Drury’s fund could help, she said, is by providing genetic sequencing to children whose families otherwise could not afford it. Sequencing a patient’s genes can help doctors and researchers find the cause of unexplained disease, develop the best treatment plan for a patient or assess a patient’s risk of developing an inherited condition.

“Barri and Dave are among our most steadfast, passionate and humble supporters,” Children’s Wisconsin President and Chief Executive Gil Peri said in a news release. “They have always led with heart, and we are so grateful for their generosity.”

The Drurys plan to continue volunteering with Children’s.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Children’s Wisconsin receives $10 million gift toward research

Reporting by Sarah Volpenhein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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