It's believed to be the largest philanthropic donation to a U.S. university to support research focused solely on depression.
The estate of Newport Beach philanthropist Audrey Steele Burnand has gifted $57.6 million to the University of California, Irvine, with most of the money funding a new campus-wide center researching the causes and treatments of depression.
The $55 million of the gift that is dedicated to mental health funding is believed to be the largest philanthropic donation to a U.S. university to support research focused solely on depression, the most prevalent mental health disorder in the U.S., afflicting about 1 in 15 adults.
The remaining $2.6 million of the gift will support the UCI-managed Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center.
"This is a truly transformative gift from a longtime and great supporter of our vital work," said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. "Audrey Steele Burnand's legacy will enable us to create a world-class research center that builds upon UCI's historical excellence in the neurosciences to make life better for millions of people."
The gift will create the Noel Drury M.D. Depression Research Center, named after a board-certified psychiatrist who practiced in Newport Beach.
UCI will funnel the gift through the Drury Center for depression-related studies from biology and the health sciences to engineering and the social sciences. The university already centers for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia (UCI MIND), behavior and learning (the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and the Conte Center@UCI), and integrative health (the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute) that are potentially poised to benefit from Burnand's philanthropy.
"This gift provides a unique opportunity for UCI to establish a world-class research center focused on the area of depression, which is extremely important from a societal point of view," said Pramod Khargonekar, vice chancellor for research. "With our campus strength in interdisciplinary, collaborative research, we are in a great position to leverage this support to produce discoveries about this debilitating disorder."
“This is a truly transformative gift from a longtime and great supporter of our vital work.”
UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman.
John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
More than $55 million of the gift will go toward depression research at UCI.
The gift will create the Noel Drury M.D. Depression Research Center, named after a board-certified psychiatrist who practiced in Newport Beach.
UCI will funnel the gift through the Drury Center for depression-related studies from biology and the health sciences to engineering and the social sciences.