A $7.5 million gift from philanthropists Stanley and Elizabeth Star is helping Johns Hopkins scientists and clinicians better understand and treat major depression and bipolar disorders.

More than a fifth of Americans — roughly 58 million people — experience a mood disorder during their lifetime, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The most common are bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

Because of improvements in medications and treatments, the majority of these people may find relief, says psychiatrist Jimmy Potash, director of the Johns Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “But if 20% of people don’t do so well — they’re often referred to as treatment resistant — that is a very, very big number. We’re able to help a lot of them, but it sometimes takes a while.”

Now, to expedite that, a $7.5 million gift has helped establish a research center: the Stanley and Elizabeth Star Precision Medicine Center of Excellence in Mood Disorders. Johns Hopkins scientists and clinicians aim not only to identify the causes of severe mood disorders, but also to improve overall outcomes for people who have them.

Philanthropists Stanley and Elizabeth Star hope their gift will make a difference in understanding the genetic foundations of a condition he has struggled with his entire life.

“There’s very little work on dealing with the root causes of depression,” Stanley Star says. “As someone who struggles with it, we’re hoping that we can help support groundbreaking research that will have an impact.”

The Stars describe themselves as philanthropists who invest in the future of the organizations they support. Business executive Stanley Star is the former principal of Cliffstar Corporation, which began as his family’s 19th century winery in Dunkirk, New York, and became one of the country’s leading private-label juice manufacturers.

For decades, the couple has supported major projects and programs at Duke University’s law school which Stanley Star attended. They founded the Star Hospice House and have contributed to numerous organizations that address cancer treatment and care, behavioral health care and mental health services.

Elizabeth Star describes their “overarching philanthropic desire as helping people who cannot help themselves or who are in a very difficult position in life.”

"Our contribution to Johns Hopkins probably speaks to the issue that is most significant for us,” her husband emphasizes. “We hope to help speed breakthroughs that will be game changing for people that are struggling with depression.”

Work at the Stanley and Elizabeth Star Precision Medicine Center of Excellence in Mood Disorders includes:

• Testing whether genetic markers known as polygenic risk scores can help identify people who may require more intensive treatment options early in their care or may have a higher risk of developing bipolar disorder.
• Identifying the types of treatment that work best for individual patients, including newer treatments such as ketamine, esketamine and various brain stimulation techniques.
• Using a combination of easily deployed surveys, and smartphone and wearable technology to intervene early, help prevent undue suffering and promote better outcomes.

Potash says the center’s co-director, psychiatric epidemiologist Peter Zandi, is helping to lead a worldwide study examining the genetics of severe depression. The goal is to identify the best treatments for individual patients.

“As it can now take six or eight months — or even a year or two — to find the right treatment, a lot of people are suffering miserably,” he says. “Being able to figure out how to target the people who are going to do well on certain treatments quickly will make an enormous difference. I’m extremely grateful to the Stars for giving us the resources to move that work forward.”

He says the couple’s generous donation also speaks to the depth of their understanding of psychiatry that comes with the kind of long-term treatment these illnesses can involve.

“When people get treated in other departments —say, for certain surgeries — their experience tends to be a fairly quick in-and-out sort of thing. You get something done, and it works.

“In psychiatry, we’d love to get patients better more quickly. But often, our engagements mean many encounters over years. Over the course of time, our patients come to realize there is a lot more we as a field need to learn before we are going to be able to know which treatment will work best for a given patient. Sometimes, they are moved to want to become our partners in moving the field forward, for their children, and grandchildren, and for all who suffer as they have."