Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Receives Nearly $80 Million

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto has announced a gift of C$100 million ($79.8 million) from an anonymous donor.

The gift to Canada's largest academic health sciences center focused on mental health will support clinical research aimed at defining the causes of mental illness and developing cures that save lives and create hope. To that end, the gift will create a Discovery Fund in support of the center's efforts to attract talent and support young scientists; foster discovery and innovation around disease mechanisms, effective diagnoses, and new ways to predict, prevent, and recover from mental illness; and leverage data to help translate research findings into clinical practice.

"I believe CAMH is well-positioned to make a transformational impact in the field of mental health research," said the donor. "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."

"Complex problems need complex solutions," said CAMH president and CEO Catherine Zahn. "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."