It's the largest donation ever made to mental health in Canada.
An anonymous donor handed over $100 million to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health on Thursday. Officials say the money will be used for a new "Discovery Fund" that will support the recruitment of top scientists and help them conduct high-risk, high-reward research while at CAMH.
According to a press release, the ‘”Discovery Fund” will specifically help CAMH recruit and support “early and mid-career scientists” and invest in “enhancing the data, data platforms and analytics” that will help translate “research findings into clinical practice.”
The press release also says that the donation will primarily focus on supporting research around “understanding disease mechanisms, effective diagnosis, testing; and new ways to predict, prevent and recover from mental illness.”
No details have been provided as to the identity of the anonymous donor, however in a press release they said that they “have seen the devastating impact of mental illness on individuals and their families” and want to support research that will “directly transform care.”
The donor also said that they are specifically interested in supporting high-risk, high-reward research that can “enable quantum leaps forward.”
"I believe CAMH is well-positioned to make a transformational impact in the field of mental health research,” the donor said.
(With files from CTV news)