$75 million new gift from James and Louise Temerty will enable researchers to revolutionize our understanding of the brain and mental illness
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto is proud to announce the new Temerty Discovery Centre, named in recognition of a $75-million gift from the Temerty Foundation.
Currently under construction at CAMH’s Queen Street West site, the Temerty Discovery Centre is part of the fourth and final phase in a 25-year redevelopment plan. When complete, it will be a state-of-the-art facility where CAMH researchers revolutionize our understanding of the brain and mental illness.
With 385,000 square feet of collaborative space, the Temerty Discovery Centre will unite CAMH’s research programs under one roof, spur and accelerate new breakthroughs that transform the future of mental health, and most importantly, inspire hope for those living with mental illness. As a magnet for recruiting and retaining the world’s top talent, the Temerty Discovery Centre will be home to over two-thirds of CAMH’s more than 1,400 research staff and creates capacity to increase the number of research scientists, staff, students and trainees by 43 per cent. Patients and families will have safe, dignified spaces to participate in research studies, and proximity to patient care areas will enable new discoveries to be seamlessly and rapidly put into practice to improve people’s lives.
“The Temerty family have been long-time champions for CAMH and mental health,” said Sarah Downey, President & CEO, CAMH. “We are grateful that they have continued to invest in groundbreaking mental health research that leads to better mental health care and outcomes for all. The Temerty Discovery Centre is more than a building—it’s a beacon of hope for people living with mental illness around the world.”
For more than a decade, the Temerty family has helped enhance mental health research and care at CAMH and beyond. They established the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at CAMH in 2012—which has since become a world leader in brain stimulation treatment, research and training—and have continued to support the work of the centre and its scientific leadership. The family’s philanthropy across the Canadian health care sector also has an ongoing ripple effect on education at CAMH: every psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine spends time training at Canada’s largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital.
“My family and I are immensely proud to support CAMH and the Temerty Discovery Centre. We’ve seen the impact of our investments on the life-saving work CAMH is doing in therapeutic brain stimulation,” said Jim Temerty.
“The Temerty Discovery Centre felt like the perfect way to continue our support. We believe CAMH is uniquely positioned to address the global mental health crisis. This world-leading research facility will enable CAMH’s incredible researchers and scientists to accelerate their work and take it to the next level so that they can bring new treatments and hope to more people sooner,” said Louise Temerty.
“The Temerty Discovery Centre will make a difference in the lives of the people CAMH serves now and for generations to come,” said Deborah Gillis, President & CEO, CAMH Foundation. “Thank you to the Temerty family and all those who have supported it for helping CAMH build a future where no one is left behind.”
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world’s leading research centres in its field. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.