Platform for bipolar disorder research launched with $150 million
Google co-founder Sergey Brin; Roblox founder David Baszucki and his wife, Jan; and Keystone Capital chair Kent Dauten and his wife, Liz, have committed a total of $150 million to launch BD²: Breakthrough Discoveries for thriving with Bipolar Disorder, a global platform to transform bipolar disorder research and care.
The commitments include $50 million each over five years from the three families, and the Milken Institute’s Center for Strategic Philanthropy will design and oversee the initiative’s grantmaking. BD² will include four components: the BD2 Discovery Grants program, which will fund multidisciplinary teams of scientists and clinicians to develop targeted and innovative research proposals that examine the genetic, molecular, cellular, circuit, or behavioral mechanisms of bipolar disorder; the Brain Omics Platform, which will provide state-of-the-art multi omics to understand neural and non-neural changes in bipolar disorder on a molecular scale; the BD2 Genetics Platform, which will collect and genotype a large number of samples from individuals with diverse backgrounds who experience bipolar disorder; and the BD2 Integrated Network, a collaborative longitudinal study with an initial focus on people living with bipolar I.
Two of the Dautens ’children and the Baszuckis’ son have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and a member of Brin’s family is also affected by the disorder.
“For far too long, bipolar disorder has lacked funding and collaboration to identify scientific advancements and treatment improvements,” said Dauten. “BD2 is a commitment to the 40 million people living with bipolar disorder and their loved ones.”
“BD2 presents an opportunity to apply experience and resources directly to bipolar research to advance our knowledge and ultimately improve diagnosis and care,” said Cara Altimus, BD2’s managing director and senior director at the Milken Institute. “Together, we will accelerate discoveries for bipolar disorder and demonstrate that our approach to collaborative funding and integrated research is a new model for biomedical research.”
(Photo credit: Getty Images/Hayri Er)
