$1.25 million gift creates neuroscience fellowships at KU Medical Center

She died in 2008 from progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative disorder that results in movement deficits similar to Parkinson’s disease. Woodyard’s association with KU arose through her brother, George Woodyard, who died in 2010. George was a KU professor of Spanish from 1966 to 2005 and held a variety of administrative positions at the university, including serving as KU’s first dean of international studies.

George Woodyard’s wife, Eleanor, said the neurosciences fellowship fund and the university were important to her husband. “And, knowing what Mabel went through with a progressive neurological disease, he hoped that her estate would help researchers find a cure so others wouldn’t have to suffer as she did,” she said.

Peter Smith, Ph.D., directs KU’s Institute for Neurological Discoveries, which administers the Woodyard awards. “These awards were created to fulfill Dr. George Woodyard’s desire to mold the next generation of neuroscientists,” said Smith. “By encouraging trainees to engage in an area of neuroscience discovery early in their careers, we advance the field for generations to come.”

The inaugural recipients are Lezi E, a doctoral student in the departments of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences and Neurology; and Michelle Healy Stoffel, a medical and doctoral student in the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics.

Lezi E was born in China and raised in Japan. Lezi graduated from Peking University in China with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Wanting to do more to help people in need, she came to the United States to study rehabilitation science at KU Medical Center.

“I am very honored to receive the Mabel A. Woodyard fellowship,” she said. “This honor inspires me to work even harder toward finding ways to prevent and treat neurodegenerative diseases. I have had a long-standing interest in neurodegeneration, but this award is certain to strengthen my commitment to a research career in this very important area.”

Michelle Healy Stoffel’s interest in geriatric neurology was sparked while working at a family-owned pharmacy in her hometown of Muscatine, Iowa.

“The Mabel A. Woodyard Fellowship will help me gain the experience and knowledge necessary to reach my full potential as a clinician scientist specializing in movement disorders in the elderly,” Stoffel said. “I am honored and privileged to be selected as a recipient of this prestigious award.”