NORMAN — Harold Hamm, a Lexington native and CEO of Continental Resources Inc., shares a bond with OU President David L. Boren. Both struggle with Type 2 Diabetes, developed later in life.
They’re counting on research to bring about medical breakthroughs in treatment and prevention. To that end Mr. Hamm and President Boren announced a $250,000 annual prize for biomedical research in the field of diabetes.
The announcement was made at the opening of the American Diabetes Association’s scientific session in Philadelphia. Mr. Hamm, a generous OU donor, has a diabetes center named for him on the OU Health Sciences Center campus.
“Our goal is to find a cure,” Mr. Hamm told Transcript writer Caitlin Schuldalla.
He said diabetes is often overlooked since “it’s not a fast killer. Instead, it shows up slowly and causes many bad side effects.”
In Oklahoma, more than 300,000 residents have diagnosed diabetes. It is estimated that more than 124,000 others have undiagnosed diabetes. At age 50, diabetes cuts life expectancy by an average of eight years. Complications from diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in Oklahoma.



