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$7 Million Gift from G. Raymond Chang to Further Research at CAMH

 

The CAMH Foundation is pleased to announce an extraordinary gift of $7 million from Mr. G. Raymond Chang, Chancellor of Ryerson University and Chair of CI Financial. The gift will help to further research and education at CAMH

 

“CAMH is conducting world-leading research into mental health and addictions with pioneering gene science and advanced brain imaging, combined with clinical expertise,” said CAMH Foundation President and CEO, Darrell Louise Gregersen. “We are thankful to Mr. Chang, not only for his generosity, but for standing up and showing his leadership in supporting mental health and addictions,” she said.

 

After touring its facilities, Mr. Chang was moved to support CAMH.  He said:  “Unlike physical ailments, mental health issues are difficult to see or understand, making it easy to turn away in ignorance.  And in many respects support for mental health has been left behind.  As a result there is a lot of catching up to do in research and education.  I greatly admire those affected by mental health issues who have stepped forward to tell their stories, amongst them Harry Rosen, Valerie Pringle and Michael Wilson.”

 

Mr. Chang’s gift is the first to support the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) matching grant—the largest institutional grant in CAMH’s history—and will help achieve its goal of raising $15-million from the private sector to go towards a $38-million project, enabling CAMH to focus on research in key areas, including: schizophrenia, mood disorders, addictions, community health and knowledge exchange, neuroimaging, pharmacognetics and neuroscience.

 

“There have been significant advances in treatments for people living with mental illness and addictions, but there’s still so much to learn.” said Catherine Zahn, incoming President and CEO, CAMH. “In the past, therapies have been identified by trial and error rather than through an evidence based understanding of the complex factors leading to these conditions.  Today, research at CAMH is changing the way we treat mental health and addictions.  The impact will not only be within our facilities and our local community but also nationally and internationally.”

 

The combined donations will support the most ambitious fundraising campaign ever undertaken in Canada for mental illness and addictions: The CAMH Foundation’s Transforming Lives campaign aims to raise $100 million for the CAMH Redevelopment project.