On the death of Ted Stanley, giant psychiatric research philanthropist (Stanley Medical Research Inst. Statement)

The Death of a Research Giant

            The death of Ted Stanley on January 4 deprives the psychiatric research field of a philanthropic giant.  An extremely successful businessman, he chose to spend his money on research on serious mental illness, especially schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, rather than on yachts or Caribbean hideaways.  On occasion he was even known to fly coach, rather than business or first class, in order to have more money to donate.

            The creation of the Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) in 1989 by Mr. Stanley and his wife, the late Vada Stanley, has had a major impact on schizophrenia and bipolar research.  Over the past 27 years the Stanleys donated almost $600 million to SMRI.  This money has supported extensive research on the causes and treatment of these diseases.

            For example, SMRI has funded over 400 treatment trials using drugs that were unlikely to be supported by the pharmaceutical industry because the drugs could not be patented and therefore could not be profitable.  The Stanley funds were also used to set up the Stanley Brain Collection, the most widely used brain bank in the world by researchers for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  Over the past 20 years it has distributed without charge over 250,000 samples of brain tissue, as well as DNA and RNA, to 303 research laboratories in 22 countries. Finally, the Stanley funds were used to set up the Stanley Laboratory of Developmental Neurovirology at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center.  This laboratory has become the leading research center in the world for research on infectious causes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  SMRI’s coordinated research efforts are the primary reason for the emergence of inflammation as a major research area for these diseases and the likelihood that infectious agents play a role in the causation of at least some cases.  This in turn has led to the current use of anti-inflammatory drugs to treat these diseases, thus opening up a completely new avenue for treatment.

            In addition to funding research at SMRI, Mr. and Ms. Stanley also funded psychiatric research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and at the Broad Institute in Cambridge. In 2014 Mr. Stanley donated $650 million to the Broad Institute to support research on the genetics of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  Thus, altogether the Stanleys donated more than $1.2 billion to research on these diseases.

            All of us in the mental health field have lost a remarkable friend and supporter.  We are extremely indebted to Mr. and Ms. Stanley, and we should try and live up to the very high standard in commitment to this research that the Stanleys have set.

Maree J. Webster, Ph.D.

Director, Stanley Medical Research Institute

E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.

Associate Director, Stanley Medical Research Institute

Robert H. Yolken, M.D.

Director, Stanley Laboratory of Developmental Neurovirology