Donors

Grateful patient furthers heart, kidney research

By Darla Brown

Austin Jones personally understands the value of medical research. While seeking help from Richard Smalling, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cardiology, 16 years ago, for an aneurysm that had developed on the artery to his spleen, it was discovered that he also had hepatitis C from a previous blood transfusion.

"I had it for years and didn't know it. Dr. Smalling told me that he was going to do the surgery right away – if the aneurysm had ruptured, I would die," he recalls, adding that Dr. Smalling's surgical colleague removed his spleen.

Jones then was given an experimental treatment for hepatitis C.

"He did beautifully," recalls Donald Molony, M.D., professor of internal medicine, division of renal disease and hypertension.

"I had a 20 percent chance of being cured, and luckily I fell within that 20 percent," Jones says.

Jones along with Dr. Howard Monsour, then founded the Texas Liver Coalition, which has since merged with St. Luke's liver program, to educate the public about liver disease and solutions.

"Not a lot of people knew about hepatitis C back then," he says.

"Mr. Jones is humble, but he is not unwilling to share what he went through with others if it will help them," Dr. Molony adds.

Since that original surgery, Dr. Smalling and Jones have furthered the doctor-patient relationship

"He's been my cardiologist ever since, and we've become friends – we've even played golf together a few times," Jones says.

Dr. Smalling agrees, "We just hit it off after that initial evaluation. He has a great sense of humor and is a very caring individual. He and his friends have helped raise money for us through the years, and I take care of several of his friends as well. I call them the Lochinvar gang."

He met Dr. Molony much the same way he met Dr. Smalling – "I know these doctors by being sick," he says with his trademark sense of humor.

Antibiotics treating a staph infection wreaked havoc on Jones' kidneys more recently, which had Dr. Smalling suggesting Dr. Molony's expertise for care.

"I'm feeling better, but my kidneys are still on a rollercoaster," he says, adding that he is still healthy enough to golf and fish.

At 74, Jones is retired from two professions – 30 years in the oil service industry and as a co-founder of a synthetic diamond company for industrial diamonds. "We started Diamond Scientific Incorporated in 1987, which created diamond powders in liquids and slurrys for polishing and cutting grooves into computer disks."

His wife, Margaret, died five years ago. He says his two daughters, Cherie Jones, a Methodist minister in Atascadero, Calif., and Jo Zito, a police officer in Anaheim, Calif., keep him in line. "I can't do a damn thing that's fun," he laughs.

A humble and generous man, Jones has since made financial contributions to the research programs of Dr. Smalling and Dr. Molony.

"I've just been appreciative of what the UT Physicians have done for me," he says.

He recently gave $13,000 in stock proceeds to a pilot research study that Dr. Molony is heading up that will look at biomarkers in the urine for acute and chronic kidney failure, specifically seeking environmental toxins.

"This research will be done in parallel with a National Institutes of Health study that we are doing looking at metals related to renal injury in Native Americans," Dr. Molony explains.

Jones recently gave more than $36,000 to Dr. Smalling's Cardiovascular Research Fund and has given previous gifts to this research over the years.

"Much of the equipment in our basic myocardial infarction research laboratory is almost 20 years old and on its last legs," Dr. Smalling says, explaining the need for grateful patients like Jones.

Jones' generous donation helped to purchase a specific important piece of research equipment in Dr. Smalling's lab.

"Our 16-channel digital physiologic recorder was limping along, and we had patched it together many times because parts were no longer available," Dr. Smalling says. "Austin's gift allowed us to replace that with a state-of-theart physiologic recorder, which will last us a very long time and will allow us to continue our research." Gifts from grateful patients are critical to the pursuit of medical research, says Dr. Smalling.

"In this era of declining availability of grant money and poor reimbursement for clinical activity we have limited sources of support for life saving research. Without donations like Austin's generous one, we would literally be out of business," Dr. Smalling says.

Such donations are rare, yet their benefits are great.

"It is uncommon for a patient to recognize that he or she can give a gift to benefit all of our patients through a gift to research," Dr. Molony says. "So we really appreciate patients who have the foresight and generous nature like Mr. Jones."