A record-breaking donation means a good day for Canadian mental health research.
By Katrina Caruso
An anonymous donor has given an unparalleled $100 million to Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the largest mental health centre in Canada. The biggest donation for mental health that Canada has seen, the gift is good news for the 6.7 million Canadians who live with a mental illness.
At a press conference announcing the donation, Dr. Catherine Zahn, CAMH president and CEO, thanked the donor, who wants to stay unnamed, and expressed the hope that the money will attract a new generation of scientists.
CAMH will use the money to create the Discovery Fund, to help researchers to better understand the causes of mental illness and transform the care offered to patients.
“The bold science leaders will be resourced to think big, the curious young clinicians will be positioned to jump high, and the budding up and comers of all stripes will be nurtured to reach far,” Zahn said. “They will have the ability to dream and to explore new approaches, new ideas and high-risk, high-reward innovations. These experts and experts-in-waiting will do the best work of their lives while they are here.”
Zahn said that the fund would be used to effect change: “We will be looking for ways to provide funding for really, really leading-edge ideas that are going to be focused on understanding disease mechanisms, effective diagnosis, and treatment.”
Photo: iStock/AlexRaths.
