Who We Are And What We Do
We of the International Mental Health Research Organization are people whose lives have been touched by brain disease, either in our families or in ourselves.
Shari and Garen Staglin are IMHRO's Board President and Vice President, and co-founders of The Staglin Music Festival for Mental Health. They write:
When our son, Brandon, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1990, we were devastated to learn that our “superstar” child had a severe mental illness. At that time, mental illness was something we knew almost nothing about, let alone how to help him get better. Worse, we knew that his life likely would never be the same.
We were fortunate that with our determination and resources we were able get him the right diagnosis, doctor, and medications. With the help of his psychiatrist, and his incredible will and intellect, he returned after one semester off from Dartmouth and graduated on time with honors. Today he works in our family business, Staglin Family Vineyard, as our Director of Marketing and Web Development and is happily married.
Brandon’s illness not only changed his life, it changed ours, too. As we stood by him and helped him emerge from his illness as a whole person again, we faced questions of our own. Should we just bury this “incident” and hope for the best? Or should we run towards the problem and try to do something to help change the way mental health matters are treated in this country? We took the latter path and have never looked back.
We set our sights on the twin goals of supporting the most promising scientific research and breaking down the cultural stigma around mental illness that in itself is a barrier to recovery. We soon learned that we were facing a daunting challenge. Mental illness is pervasive throughout the globe: one in six adults and one in 10 children have a diagnosable mental illness; the annual cost to our country of these illnesses exceeds $350 billion; the World Health Organization declared that depression is the No. 1 illness in the world.
But we also learned that we could make a difference. Since 1995, many publications and authorities have said that we have helped "change the landscape" on behalf of national mental health research. We say this not to pat ourselves on the back, but to illustrate what can be accomplished through the dedicated efforts of a few individuals who have both the resources and determination to confront an intractable problem.
Each year we host a Music Festival for Mental Health at our vineyard in Napa Valley. Together with generous chefs, wineries, top-bill musicians and scientists, we raise significant funds and awareness for the cause. Thanks to its donors and follow-on grant support from the National Institute for Mental Health, the Music Festival has raised $94 million so far and funded projects that have helped thousands of people.
Not long ago serious diseases of the brain were thought to be incurable and that the best we could hope for was to somehow manage them as we do other chronic conditions. But because of the progress directly linked to our funding, we actually now are able to use the word "cure" as our goal and are confident that in our lifetimes we have a real chance to dramatically alter the course of these illnesses. What greater legacy could one hope for than to have played a part in finding cures for conditions that wreak havoc on so many lives?
With the on-going success of the Music Festival for Mental Health, we have recently expanded our reach to the next level by creating the International Mental Health Research Organization or (IMHRO see www.imhro.org). We added new members to our Scientific Advisory Board so we could consider more grants with additional fund-raising. IMHRO now includes fundraising events around the nation, most recently in Greenwich, Conn., Sarasota, Fla., Atlanta, Ga., and Seattle, Wash. New chapters are being proposed in Connecticut, Florida and Southern California.
Taking on a task of this magnitude requires a very businesslike approach. We are not scientists or doctors, but we knew we could apply the skills we learned in business to raise money for this cause and manage how it would be spent. We could bring efficiency, discipline and commitment – all components of success at business. We knew that you need to stay focused and demonstrate fiduciary responsibility with the donations you receive because your donors want their money used wisely, just like shareholders in a company.
And you need to be aggressive. We don’t just wait for research proposals to come in, but rather send out requests for proposals to more than 1,500 research organizations around the world to pursue what our Scientific Advisory Board believes are the most cutting edge research opportunities. We fund only the best science and are completely independent from any university, pharmaceutical company or donor interest. Further, with careful planning, it’s possible to take advantage of the “leverage” derived from follow-on funding from NIMH and other institutions, multiplying the impact on research. By insisting on sharing the intellectual property developed, you can also accelerate progress by making sure that you don’t pay the same tuition fees twice and piggyback on others successes.
As with any start up business, we have formalized our mission and strategies: The mission of IMHRO is to alleviate human suffering from mental illness by funding scientific research into the causes, prevention and new treatments of mental disorders—all leading to cures for the major mental illnesses, focusing on schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and depression.
To further this purpose, IMHRO:
- Produces, supports and builds awareness for fundraising events to raise money for mental health research.
- Directs funding to the most promising research by soliciting and selecting proposals for prevention, treatment and cure of mental disorders.
- Collaborates with affiliate organizations, people and events worldwide to raise and direct funding and minimize duplication of scientific effort.
- Works to build awareness of scientific achievements and possibilities.
Recently, IMHRO led the formation of a first-ever coalition among all major mental health organizations to raise awareness about mental illness with a Public Service Announcement, produced by noted film director Ron Howard in Grand Central Station, featuring Oscar-winning actress Glenn Close and IMHRO members and the music of Grammy-winning artist John Mayer. (View the PSA at www.bringchange2mind.org).
Ours is a story of hope and dedication to a cause. Had we chosen to run away from Brandon’s problem, we would have missed the opportunity to be a part of the ground-breaking research that has been, and will be, accomplished. As we said in the beginning, the rewards are much greater if you run toward the problem, not away from it. We have found that taking action on behalf of an important cause is a remarkably liberating and energizing experience. Ours is just one example of the difference passion and commitment to a cause can make. And we hope our experiences will help motivate others to join us or to find their own mission. To them, we say find a meaningful purpose for your energy and resources and make the commitment. You’ll be amazed at what you can do.
-Shari and Garen Staglin
