$650-Million Gift Aims to Spur Research on Mental Illness

Billionaire businessman Ted Stanley has pledged $650-million to the biomedical research center the Broad Institute to help scientists uncover genetic triggers for mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and develop more effective treatments, The Boston Globe writes.

The gift, to be announced Tuesday, will be paid out over a number of years and could help provide long-term security for mental-health studies as government support for biomedical research has become uncertain. It comes on the heels of a major schizophrenia study, in which Broad researchers took part, that identified more than 100 spots on the genome that are linked to the disease.

Mr. Stanley, 83, headed MBI, a Connecticut firm that markets and sells collectibles. He and his late wife, Vada, got involved in mental-health philanthropy after their son, Jonathan, was diagnosed with and successfully treated for bipolar disorder during his college years. Mr. Stanley has previously given $175-million to the Cambridge, Mass., institute, which is home to the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research.