Franciscan Children's, a Boston-based provider of pediatric medical and mental healthcare and educational services, has announced a $5 million gift from RoseMary and Dan Fuss in support of youth mental health research.

The gift will establish the Fuss Family Research Fund at Harvard University in support of research aimed at understanding and preventing youth suicide — research to be guided by Harvard's Nock Lab and conducted in collaboration with the mental health research team at Franciscan Children's. With a focus on improving the ability to predict and prevent suicidal thoughts and behaviors in youth, the fund will complement the efforts of the Tommy Fuss Fund, a private foundation established in 2007 by the Fuss family in memory of their son to promote medical research and advance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness and raise awareness and remove the stigma associated with the disease. 

"We are incredibly grateful for this generous gift from the Fuss family to further advance the research collaboration between Franciscan Children's and the Nock Lab," said Carol Nash, director of Franciscan's Mental Health Research program. "The innovative clinical research supported by this gift will transform our understanding of youth suicide and have a tremendous impact on the lives of the children and families we aim to serve."