Mental health research gains $30M

A $30 million gift aims to support mental health researchers in Toronto.

Scientists will use the donation for interdisciplinary research on early detection methods, developing effective new treatments and providing better care for the one in five Canadians who live with mental illness.

The Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health says the gift could help attract and retain leading investigators in the fields of mood disorders, addictions, schizophrenia and cognitive impairment.

"The vision is a future where suicide is no longer the second leading cause of death for youth, where disabling depression is a thing of the past, and where an understanding of neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration will produce remedies for autism and Alzheimer's," CAMH said in a statement on Monday.

Researchers will focus on understanding the critical pathways and circuits in the brain that are disrupted in mental illness and addiction, and work to "retune" them to help people stay healthy and live well, said Dr. Bruce Pollock, the institute's vice-president of research.

Record donation

Scientists will also use state-of-the-art brain imaging technology to further their work.

It's the largest private donation to a hospital for mental health and addiction research in Canada, the centre said.

The donors are the families of sisters Linda Campbell, Gaye Farncombe and Susan Grange, granddaughters of the late Thomson Corp. magnate Roy Thomson and nieces of his late billionaire son Ken Thomson.

Bell, which announced a $10-million contribution to support new care, research and infrastructure at CAMH in May, applauded the family's donation.

"Accelerated investments in Canadian mental health care at every level — by government, corporations and private contributors like the Campbells — are essential to enable the ground-breaking work of world-leading Canadian organizations like CAMH," said Mary Deacon, chair of the Bell Let's Talk mental health initiative.

The Let's Talk program invites Canadians to fight stigma surrounding mental illness.

Previously, the three Campbell sisters and their late mother Audrey Campbell provided multimillion-dollar donations to Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.

The lives of people with mental illness are 20 years shorter than the national average, according to CAMH.