FOUNDATION OF HOPE FOR RESEARCH AND TREATMENT OF MENTAL ILLNESS ANNOUNCES $6.25M INVESTMENT IN LOCAL RESEARCH PROGRAM AND GRANTS

RALEIGH, N.C., May 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness (FOH) has reached a historic milestone in 2025, raising more than $5 million in support of breakthroughs in children's mental illness research for the Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Program (CHAAMP), a new scientific research program within the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at UNC. This achievement marks the Foundation's first multi-year investment through the Campaign for CHAAMP, focused on addressing the nation's youth mental health crisis and closing the gap in child and adolescent mental illness research under the leadership of a world-class research team.

"In a time of uncertainty, we are incredibly proud to continue investing in desperately needed seed research projects, and also help create a cutting-edge, CHAAMP program," said Shelley Belk, Executive Director of the Foundation of Hope.  "The scale of our impact reflects the strength of our community, our mission, and our firm belief that research is hope."

Additionally, as part of its continued commitment to advancing mental health research, FOH has awarded twelve new research grants totaling over $1.25 million to investigators in the Department of Psychiatry at UNC. This is the most significant single-year investment in scientific research since the Foundation's inception.  FOH awarded the 2025 grants to Dr. Adam Miller, Dr. Elizabeth Andersen, Dr. Zachary Feldman, Dr. Guorong Wu, Dr. Robert Mealer, Dr. Parisa Kaliush, Dr. Yoonmi Hong, Dr. Rachel Presskreischer, Dr. Ranran French, Dr. Kelly Caravella, Dr. Roza Vlasova, and Dr. Christopher Sikes-Keilp. Learn more at: https://walkforhope.com/what-we-fund/research/.

These projects address urgent needs across a wide range of topics, including suicide prevention, autism, anxiety, eating disorders, schizophrenia, dementia, and women's mood disorders, and many explore innovative approaches such as mobile brain stimulation, deep learning models, and experimental hormone stabilization to uncover new treatment possibilities.

Since 1984, the Foundation of Hope has awarded over $10.7 million in research funding and leveraged more than $272 million in additional support from public and private sources.

The Foundation of Hope is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is dedicated to funding mental health research, promoting awareness, and changing lives.

For more information or to support this year's work, visit www.walkforhope.com.

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