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The country’s
leading non-profit dedicated to advanced depression
research, Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF),
held its 15th annual HOPE luncheon seminar at The Plaza
Hotel on November 10th. The seminar focused on
“The Importance of the Gut Microbiome For Your Mental
Health” and research highlights from the HDRF’s renowned
Depression Task Force. The event drew over 280 guests and
raised over $750,000 for life-saving mental health
research.
The day concluded
with a moving award ceremony, where 23-time Gold Medalist Michael
Phelps received the 2021 HOPE Award for Depression
Advocacy and Owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim
Irsay, received the Community Ambassador of Hope Award.
Findlay Galleries, represented by CEO James Borynack and COO
Adolfo Zaralegui, received the HOPE Corporate Visionary
Award.
Master of
Ceremonies, Chuck Scarborough began the event by
welcoming everyone and speaking about the pressures society
has faced during the pandemic and lockdown over the past 18
months. He then took the audience back to 2006, the year
HDRF was founded, covering major headlines and happenings of
the day, such as the growth of Facebook. He also mentioned
that in 2006, depression was severely stigmatized and
research into new treatments was stalled. He stated, “It
seemed there was no hope,” before introducing HDRF
Founder and Chair Audrey Gruss.
Gruss then came to
the podium to discuss the staggering statistics of
depression today and the foundation’s significant
accomplishments in its mission to address the epidemic.
Depression is the Number One cause of disability worldwide
and is at an all-time high across the world in the wake of
COVID-19.
Gruss noted the
Foundation works on two fronts: 1) to raise awareness
educate the public about depression and 2) research into the
root causes of depression in the brain and new and better
treatments.
On the education
front, Gruss spoke about the myriad of topics covered at the
annual luncheon seminar over 15 years, from depression and
genes, depression and pain, depression in children,
depression in men, to depression through the lifecycle.
She also highlighted the many celebrities that have appeared
at the Foundation’s events to raise awareness, including
Lorraine Bracco, Terry Bradshaw, Jane Pauley, Anderson
Cooper, Brooke Shields, and Taraji P. Henson, to name a few.
Gruss noted another way in which the Foundation raises
awareness is through the Hope Fragrance Collection, which
gives 100% of the net profits to depression research.
Gruss also pointed
to remarkable research progress by the Foundation’s
acclaimed Depression Task Force, which she convened in
2010. The DTF has largely defined the entire filed of
depression research in the past decade and currently has two
potential new categories of medication in clinical trials.
Several more potential new treatments are in the pipeline.
Ms. Gruss also
poignantly shared that she launched the foundation in 2006
in honor of her mother, Hope, who struggled with depression.
She watched her mother endure treatment by trial and error,
hospitalizations, and the life-sapping loss of energy that
is the mark of major depression. Conventional medications
for depression, she said, have not changed in over 35 years
and are not fully effective in 50% of patients.
Furthermore, these medications are all based on the same
formula as the first SSRI, Prozac, introduced in 1985.
Gruss said HDRF is determined to change that by discovering
new targets for treatment in the brain.
HDRF Executive
Director Louisa Benton took the floor to speak about
how the Hope for Depression Research Foundation has built
national awareness, even despite the pandemic. She
highlighted the Foundation’s Race of Hope, a 5K Run/Walk in
Palm Beach, FL in the winter and Southampton, NY in the
summer. During the pandemic both races went virtual, an
adaptation that allowed thousands of runners from all over
the nation to participate. Even as the race of Hope returns
to in-person events, HDRF will host a Nationwide Virtual
Race of Hope in May as part of the mental health awareness
month celebration. Benton also spoke about the New Treatment
Initiative (NTI), whereby HDRF has awarded four “Defeating
Depression Awards” to promising new treatments for
depression in development at universities across the
country.
Dr. Helen
Mayberg,
a member of the Depression Task Force, then came on stage to
give the audience an update on important research progress.
Mayberg is a pioneer in deep brain stimulation, a surgical
intervention for severe, resistant depression. She is
currently the founding director of the Center for Circuit
Therapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Her work
has helped the Depression Task Force identify brain circuits
in depression.
The medical
keynote speaker, Dr. Conor Liston, Associate
Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at the Brain and
Mind Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine, delivered a
presentation about the importance of the gut microbiome to
our mental health. Every human has a second brain, he
said, called the enteric nervous system, consisting of 100
million neurons embedded in the walls of our digestive
tract. There, too, live trillions upon trillions of
bacteria of different species known as the microbiome.
These microbes play a role not only in intestinal health,
but also, it has been recently discovered, in psychiatric
health, including our risk of developing depression.
Liston’s own research studies have significantly moved this
new branch of science forward.
Findlay
Galleries, represented by CEO James R. Borynack and COO
Adolfo Zaralegui, accepted the 2021 Hope Corporate
Visionary Award, established by HDRF to honor
corporations that demonstrate exceptional creativity,
advocacy, and vision to promote the mental health of our
communities. Findlay Galleries is one of the nation’s oldest
art galleries, with branches in New York and Palm Beach, and
they are a longtime supporter of HDRF and other mental
health non-profits. Borynack stated, “The Hope for
Depression Research Foundation’s outstanding work and
extraordinary accomplishments, year in and year out, keep us
focused on our community support.”
Owner of the
Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay accepted the Community
Ambassador of Hope Award. Irsay and the Colts Community
created the “Kicking the Stigma” campaign to make it safe to
talk about mental illness, and to expand mental health
treatment services throughout their Indianapolis community.
Irsay stated, “When life doesn’t make sense anymore and you
don’t have hope and you don’t want to live, it’s a tough
place to be.” He continued, “It’s an illness, and it’s been
stigmatized, and that’s the reason we started “Kicking the
Stigma.” People who are sick are afraid to speak up, and
they don’t want to seek help.”
Audrey Gruss then
presented Michael Phelps with the HOPE
Award for Depression Advocacy.
“And now it’s time
for the GOAT,” she said, using the acronym for Greatest of
All Time. “While no man could touch him in the water,
outside of the pool he relentlessly battled with the demons
of depression and anxiety. He has used his fame as a
platform to be open about his experience with depression and
to spread hope and understanding.”
Phelps took the
stage to speak in a Q&A with Gruss about his struggles with
depression.
When asked about
his first moment of depression, Phelps stated, “In 2004 I
won eight total medals, six gold and two bronze, and coming
back from that is when I first noticed a depression spell.”
He continued:
“2014 -- that was where I found myself not wanting to be
alive.” He went on to speak about entering into a treatment
center after hitting rock bottom and feeling it was one of
the scariest places he has ever been. He noted that
ultimately those 45-days helped him to better understand
himself and continuing in therapy is why he was able to
stand on the stage today.
Gruss then asked
about other athletes such as Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka
coming forward about their own experience with depression.
Phelps stated, “What Naomi Osaka did on her own platform, in
her own words and telling her own story… wow. We can all
learn some things from her.” He continued, “All of these
athletes and celebrities, these human beings that have
stepped up and shared their experience about mental health
have been able to save lives.”
When speaking
about The Michael Phelps Foundation IM program he stated, “I
want to give every kid the chance to accomplish their goals
or their dreams, no matter how easy or hard it is to get
there. It wasn’t easy getting to where I was and it sure
wasn’t easy getting back in 2016 with the journey, but it
was a dream nobody else was going to stand in front of.” The
audience burst into laughter when Phelps noted, “I had
people doubting me my whole life. I had a teacher in sixth
grade telling me I would never amount to anything… thanks.”
The Q&A concluded
with Phelps responding to a question about his work with
Talkspace and helping people receive talk therapy. He noted,
“I can make the joke now that I learned to communicate at
the age of 30, but at least I got there. I am just trying to
spread that message, as it’s something so simple, but
something so helpful just to be able to open up and share.”
Each year, the
HOPE Luncheon Seminar is held at the Plaza Hotel in New York
City and is attended by over 300 top New York
philanthropists, asset managers, business and media
professionals, socialites and celebrities who gather to
raise awareness about depression and its related mood
disorders as well as funds for continued research.
The Luncheon
Seminar Co-chairs were: Sharon Bush, Jamee and Peter
Gregory, Susan Gutfreund, Maru Hagerty, Kim Heirston, Tania
Higgins, Eleanora Kennedy, Susan R. McCaw, Kitty and Bill
McKnight, Peter S. Paine III, Liz Peek, Nancy Silverman,
Barbara and Randall Smith, Scott Snyder and Felicia
Taylor.
Additional guests
included: James Aman, Krista Bard, Janna Bullock, Joanna
Goldenstein, Martin Gruss, Christine Mack, John Meeks, Margo
Nederlander, John Paulson, Marc Rosen, Dr. Steven Roose,
Hilary Geary Ross, Lis Waterman, Veronica Webb and Lynne
Wheat.
Doctorate
Sponsors: Jamee
and Peter Gregory and Eric Javits Inc.
Founder
Sponsors: Paulson
Family Foundation and Nancy Silverman.
Benefactor
Sponsors: EGL
Charitable Foundation, FINDLAY Galleries/James R. Borynack
and Adolfo Zaralegui, and The Richard and Karen LeFrak
Charitable Foundation.
Anniversary
Sponsors: Judy
and Leonard Lauder, Abraham Fuchsberg Family Foundation,
Susan R. McCaw, Christine and Stephen Schwarzman, Felicia
Taylor, Lynne Wheat and Vera Serrano.
Corporate
Patron Sponsors: The
Estée Lauder Companies, HUB International Northeast, Fishers
Finery, Indianapolis Colts, Otsuka and Talkspace.
Patron Donors: Nancy
and Edmund M. Dunst / HUB International Northeast, The Estée
Lauder Companies Inc., Fishers Finery, Mrs. John Gutfreund,
Kim Heirston, Tania Higgins, Indianapolis Colts, Eleanora
Kennedy, Kitty and Bill McKnight, Otsuka, Peter S. Paine
III, Liz Peek, Thomas C. Quick, Katharine Rayner, Barbara
and Randall Smith and Talkspace Inc.
Friend Donors: Bloomberg
Philanthropies, Laura Louise Breyer, Sharon Bush, Jennifer
and David Fischer
Frances Fisher,
Mary Ann Fribourg, Lundbeck LLC, David B. Lynch Foundation,
Ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Anne and Jay McInerney,
Heidi McWilliams, Mary P. Moran, Kathy Prounis, Roberts &
Holland LLP and Scott Snyder.
Gold Level
Donors: Acquavella
Family Foundation, Catherine Adler, Meredith Aman, Shelley
Bergman
Kimberly Bitterman,
CeCe Black, Jill Blanchard, Janna Bullock, Mrs. Mirella
Cameran-Reilly, Myron Cohen / Federman Steifman LLP,
Caroline Coleman, Pilar Crespi Robert, Gus N. Davis,
Marjorie S. Federbush, Firmenich, Hope Fitzgerald, Joanna
Goldenstein, Mai Hallingby Harrison, Carolyn Ryan Healey,
Linda Hickox, Karen Klopp, Stephanie Krieger, Margo
Langenberg, Kamie Lightburn, Carol Mack, Christine Mack,
Annie MacRae, Kristina Grimm McCooey, Grace Meigher, Muffy
and Donald Miller, Marcia and Richard Mishaan, John A.
Moran, Margo and James Nederlander, Anne Nordeman, Jane and
Richard Novick, Pamela Pantzer, Marina Pellecchi, Darcy
Rigas, Marc Rosen, Hilary Geary Ross, Julia Ryan, Nicole
Salmasi
Frances G. Scaife,
Chuck Scarborough, Jane Scheinfeld, Joan Schnitzer, Jean
Shafiroff, Catherine and Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, Ginny and
David Sydorick, Amanda Taylor, Barbara Tober, Lis Waterman,
Douglas Wright, Clelia Zacharias, Richard Ziegelasch, David
Zislin and Silvia Zoullas.
Gift Bag
Sponsors: Diane
Conn, Eric Javits Inc., Essence of Vali, The Estée Lauder
Companies Inc., Exhale Spa, Fishers Finery, Garde Robe, Hope
Fragrance and Scott’s Protein Balls.
ABOUT HOPE FOR
DEPRESSION RESEARCH FOUNDATION
HDRF's mission is
to fund the most innovative neuroscience research into the
origins, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression
and other mood disorders – bipolar disorder, postpartum
depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, anxiety disorder
and suicide.
In 2010, HDRF
launched its Depression Task Force – an outstanding
collaboration of ten of the world’s leading laboratories, at
the frontiers of brain science, from different research
institutions across the U.S. and Canada. These scientists
have developed an unprecedented research strategy that
integrates the most advanced knowledge in genetics,
epigenetics, molecular biology, electrophysiology, and brain
imaging. To accelerate breakthrough research, they share
ongoing results, in real time, at the HDRF Data Center. For
more information, visit: www.hopefordepression.org
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