Prominent Houstonians Take Over a California Celebrity Enclave to Give Science and Texas Children’s Hospital a Boost

What: Texas Children’s Hospital presentation “Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s: From Genes to Therapies”

Where: The Montecito, California home of Ilene Nagel, PhD MLS, president of Education Executives, and Rick Montgomery

PC Moment: It was a celebration of science for patrons of Texas Children’s Hospital and Houstonians seeking respite from the city’s summer heat by retreating to the celebrity enclave of among others Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

A stylish clutch of 100, many jetting in from Houston, gathered for the cocktail reception and program presented by Texas Children’s Duncan Neurological Institute. Leading the discussion on their cutting edge research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases were renowned physicians Dr. Huda Zoghbi, Duncan NRI founding director, and Joshua Shulman, MD, PhD, Duncan NIR co-director.

The duo are working to unravel the underlying mechanisms responsible for these two debilitating diseases and thereby paving the way for the development of breakthrough therapies.

Zoghbi received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences in 2017, the 2020 Brain Prize from the Lundbeck Foundation and the 2022 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience. Shulman received the American Neurological Association’s 2020 Derek Denny-Brown Young Neurological Scholar Award.

While the physician researchers delivered food for the brain, party hosts provided a wealth of sustenance for the body including mini hamburgers, petite filet mignon, smoked salmon and caviar, potato and caviar bites, pesto sun-dried tomato bruschetta, shrimp cocktails, and mini chicken curry finger sandwiches.

Visiting the Nagel/Montgomery contemporary home was a treat in itself. In addition to the sophisticated interiors, the sculpture gallery and beautifully landscaped gardens were food for the soul.

PC Seen: Carol and Mike Linn, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Nicole Katz, Elissa and Robert Turhnam, Soraya and Scott McClelland, Sveta Darnell, Allison Weaver Nicholas and Evan Nicholas, Rita and Henry Hortenstine, Barbara and Steve Durham, Barbara Cochran, and Virginia Tomlinson.