Abdeali Saherwala | Staff Writer
Featured image: Starting the year off in a powerful and influential way, CAMH has big plans. | Basma Elbahnasawy
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) started off their new year strong, receiving a $100 million donation from an anonymous donor on January 11.
This donation will fund several mental health initiatives, allowing CAMH to increase their staff and services. Additionally, a portion will go towards the Discovery Fund, which is dedicated to defining the causes of mental illnesses and developing their treatment.
“I believe CAMH is well-positioned to make a transformational impact in the field of mental health research. I have seen the devastating impact of mental illness on individuals and their families; I want to provide support to the next generation of researchers and scientists to pursue the research that will directly transform care.
“In order to enable quantum leaps forward, this gift will also support high-risk, high-reward research,” said the anonymous donor.
CAMH, through the Discovery Fund, will attract highly-skilled individuals, explore expansive ideas, support upcoming researchers, and analyze significant quantities of data to solve mysteries of the human mind.
“Complex problems need complex solutions. We need to invest in the fundamental research and the clinical innovation that will improve the health of individuals and populations, locally, nationally, and globally. This gift will make that a reality,” added CEO and President of CAMH Dr. Catherine Zahn.
This fund is dedicated to high-risk, high-reward research by prioritizing a number of areas, such as development, fostering new ideas, and increasing data platforms.
“I hope that the money will be spent toward developing programs that will truly improve the lives of people who have mental illnesses, as well as enhance the accessibility of services,” says Helen Lam, a second-year Social Work student.
The Discovery Fund will encourage, train, and activate next-generation scientists, who are just starting out, as well as those with more established careers through the people development area. Another priority for the Fund is fostering ideas concentrated on understanding the mechanisms of different diseases, developing effective diagnostic and testing methods, and creating new ways to recover from mental illness.
The Fund’s final priority is to invest in enhancing data collection, increasing the number of data platforms, analyzing data more effectively in research, and creating efficient data translation tools needed for clinical practice.
Through this donation and the creation of the Discovery Fund, CAMH has provided hope for more than 6.7 million Canadians coping with mental illness.
“We are eternally grateful to this donor, for investing $100 million in our capacity to generate world-leading clinical discovery, and to invest in some of the high-risk, high-reward research that usually doesn’t get top funding priority.
“Philanthropy at CAMH is truly changing the future of mental health, and creating hope for all Canadians,” said Darrell Louise Gregersen, president and CEO of the CAMH Foundation.
Despite the pressure from the media and curiosity from the public, the donor has not identified themselves, nor has CAMH released that information to the public.
