Marquette University in Milwaukee has announced a $5 million gift from Dr. Michael and Billie Kubly to establish a new mental health research center in its College of Health Sciences.

The new center will be dedicated to the study of mental illnesses, including depression. In addition to establishing the center, the gift will endow a senior professorship and provide funding for cutting-edge cellular and molecular research methodologies and additional faculty. In recognition of the gift, the center will be named in honor of the Kublys' son, Charles, who took his life after a long battle with depression.

"We're extremely grateful to the Kubly family for their enormously generous, transformative gift," said Dr. William E. Cullinan, dean of the College of Health Sciences and director of the Integrative Neuroscience Research Center at Marquette. "We have built a team of research neuroscientists here at Marquette whose work is focused on finding underlying causes of mental illness and discovering new, faster-acting and more effective ways to treat these debilitating conditions. The Kublys' gift is an investment that will allow us to expand our research capabilities and accelerate the pace of discovery toward that goal."

"When it comes to funding this mental health research center, it's important that it's a personal donation," said Billie Kubly, referring to the fact that the gift was not made through the couple's foundation. "We have an opportunity to draw attention to the need for research and to help remove the stigma that can be a barrier to charitable gifts."