FOUNDATION OF HOPE GRANTS OVER $1 MILLION TO MENTAL ILLNESS RESEARCH

RALEIGH, N.C., June 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In the biggest effort to date, the Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness (FOH) will make eleven research grants totaling $1,007,760 to 14 investigators at the Department of Psychiatry at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The recipients are Erin Bondy, PhD, Jessica Cohen, PhD and John Gilmore, MD, Cope Feurer, PhD, Ayse Belger, PhD, and Danielle Roubinov, PhD, Antonio Florido, PhD, Gabrielle Hodgins, MD, Zoe McElligott, PhD, Sam McLean, MD, MPH, Emily Pisetsky, PhD, Crystal Schiller, PhD, Anthony Zannas, PhD, Agnieszka Zuberer, PhD. Their projects encompass a wide range of mental and behavioral conditions, including child and adolescent mood disorders, PTSD, schizophrenia, dementia, eating disorders, anxiety, and women's mood disorders.

Since its inception, FOH has granted 197 scientific research awards, surpassing $9.4 million, and has leveraged $254 million in additional funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, other federal sources, and private investment.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), psychiatric disorders affect 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 6 children each year. Even minor manifestations of a mental illness can cripple a person's ability to function and have lasting consequences; the damage is often compounded by rampant social stigma and isolation.

With the growing tsunami of mental health care needs emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, conversations around treatment modalities, clinical services, and care access have become more urgent. The innovative research funded by the FOH could lead to breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses, improving the lives and livelihoods of those who suffer.

"While we celebrate the 40^th year of the Foundation of Hope, I am acutely aware that more people than ever are suffering from mental illnesses," says Shelley Belk, Executive Director of the FOH. "We are even more determined now to continue to provide seed funding for critical mental illness research projects that have the potential to change the trajectory of people's lives. We firmly believe that research is hope."

For grant details: https://walkforhope.com/what-we-fund/#news

The Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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SOURCE The Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness