Finding Cures for Manic Depression/ Prechter Fund Awards $500,000 To Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital

23 января, 2003
DETROIT, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Waltraud "Wally" Prechter, founder and president of the Heinz C. PR via NewsEdge Corporation : DETROIT, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Waltraud "Wally" Prechter, founder and president of the Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression, announced today a $500,000 grant to researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to help find cures for manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder. The funds will be used to establish the "Prechter Center for the Study of Genetics of Pediatric Bipolar Disorders." MGH serves as a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School and was ranked the best hospital for psychiatry in the United States in U.S. World and News Report of 2001. Dr. Joseph Biederman, chief of MGH's Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Program and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, heads the research team. The team will receive $500,000 over a two-year period to conduct research of children suffering from manic depression. Dr. Biederman's team will launch one of the largest long-term genetics studies in pediatric bipolar disorder by analyzing over 1,600 DNA samples from children afflicted by manic depression and their related family members. The researchers set out to identify the genes responsible for manic depression. In addition, they hope to determine which genes affect how children respond to specific medications. "We are excited to partner with one of the leading bipolar research teams in the nation," said Prechter. "Dr. Biederman and his colleagues will be instrumental in identifying the genetic underpinnings of the insidious hereditary disease of manic depression. We are confident that Dr. Biederman's research will lead to better diagnostic tools, improved treatment options and -- ultimately -- cures for manic depression." "We are honored that the Prechter Fund would make its first major gift to us," said Biederman. "We fully share the vision of the Prechter family to help develop cures for manic depression. Through the Prechter Center we honor the family of a man who made a tremendous difference in this world -- and continues to do so." Prechter established the non-profit Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression in memory of her late husband to advance breakthrough medical research to help develop cures for bipolar disorder. Industrialist Heinz Prechter introduced the sunroof to America and built his one-man enterprise into a global group of companies. He suffered from intermittent bouts of manic depression for most of his adult life and fell victim to suicide at the age of 59 in July 2001. Since then, Prechter has emerged as one of the most outspoken and effective mental health advocates in the United States. She provided testimony before Congress to increase the federal funding for bipolar disorder research and was appointed by President George W. Bush to the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to help improve the mental health care system in the United States. Moreover, the Prechter Fund raised over $1.25 million at its first gala dinner in October 2002 turning the event into the largest single fund-raising event for manic depression in U.S. history. Manic depression affects an estimated 2.7 million adult Americans. As debilitating as blindness or paraplegia, manic depression adds significantly to the overall economic burden of mental disorders of $170 billion a year in health care expenditures and economic loss due to lost productivity, absenteeism and premature death. An estimated 730,000 Americans attempt suicide every year with close to 30,000 of them completing the horrific act, that is one suicide every 17 minutes. Nearly 70 percent of suicides are depression related. SOURCE Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression -0- 01/23/2003 /CONTACT: Stephan Koller, Executive Director of Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression, +1-734-246-0056; Susan McGreevey of Massachusetts General Hospital, +1-617-724-2764/ CO: Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression; Massachusetts General ST: Michigan, Massachusetts IN: MTC HEA SU: NPT TH-ML -- DETH019 -- 7480 01/23/2003 13:29 EST http://www.prnewswire.com <> << Copyright ©2003 PR Newswire >>
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