Providing Hope For Improved depression treatments - University of ...

University of Michigan
Depression center
The Michigan Difference ©
U-M Depression Center
Rachel Upjohn Building
4250 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2700
800-475-6424
update
Philanthropy
From the Nation’s First Comprehensive Depression Center
2012
www.depressioncenter.org
In This Issue
Highlights of New Gifts
A lasting legacy:
Providing hope for improved
depression treatments .......... 2
Expanding services for youth:
The Frankel Psychotherapy
Training Program and
Access Initiative ............... 4
Partnering to provide quality
mental health care ............. 6
Remembering Joshua:
A family’s gift for
breakthrough research ......... 8
Sparking innovation and
inspiring young investigators .... 8
Donor
Recognition .......... 10
It's all about impact
Spring 2012
Dear Friends,
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the University of
Michigan Regents’ endorsement of the U-M Comprehensive
Depression Center. In 10 short years, we have realized the
vision of developing an impressive, expanding platform of
interdisciplinary research, clinical translation, education, and public policy that is
recognized as the national prototype for emerging depression centers around the
country.
Our first decade was noteworthy for the remarkable role philanthropy played in our
accomplishments. We have seen firsthand how profoundly depressive and bipolar
illnesses touch families, and how motivated those families are to be part of finding
solutions. So many individuals, families, and foundations have generously supported our
efforts during this journey. We share some of their stories in the pages that follow.
We are thankful every day for every gift we receive. Each gift represents a crucial
contribution to our progress. The celebration of our 10th anniversary is an opportune
time to reflect and to express our gratitude to the many donors who have partnered
with us to achieve a new era of care. Those named in this annual issue of Philanthropy
Update and the many who came before them have put the U-M Depression Center in
a unique position to continue leading a global response to the complex challenges of
depressive and bipolar illnesses. As it has from the start, philanthropy will play a pivotal
role in fueling our momentum. We thank you and look forward to sharing its continuing
impact in the decade ahead.
Sincerely,
John F. Greden, M.D.
Executive Director
Donor support contributes
to conference longevity
Kathy Cronkite, Depression
Center National Advisory Board
member, and John Greden
celebrate with mental health
advocate award winners Mara
Minasian and Kristina Saffran at
the ninth annual Depression on
College Campuses Conference in
March 2011.

Highlights
A lasting legacy:
The overarching goal
of the award is to
transform the quality of
life of those living with
depression and bipolar
disorder.
Providing hope for
Helmut F. Stern, a businessman, investor, and
accomplished art collector, is well known for his
generous support of the humanities, public health, public
policy, and the arts and sciences at the University of
Michigan. Stern’s recent gift to endow a research award at
the U-M Depression Center, made in honor of the relative
who enabled him to escape Nazi Germany, carries particular
personal significance.
Stern came to the U.S. in 1938 during the period when
Hitler’s regime had taken control of his homeland (Stern was
born in Hannover). He says he likely would not have made
it out of Germany alive without the assistance of his uncle,
Oscar Stern, a Dutch businessman who helped him obtain
the visa he needed.
While few details are known about Oscar’s personal or
professional life, it is clear that he was successful in his work
and had immense loyalty to his family. While on business
in Argentina, Oscar learned that Hitler’s forces had invaded
Holland and captured three of his siblings whom he had been
sheltering in his home. Shortly thereafter they were taken to
the death camps. With enormous remorse for not having been
able to safeguard his family, Oscar committed suicide.
In 2011, to honor Oscar’s generosity, bravery, and compassion,
Helmut and his wife Candis established the Oscar Stern
Award for Depression Research.
The overarching goal of the award is to transform the quality
of life of those living with depression and bipolar disorder
by promoting innovative and translational research by
Depression Center investigators. The fund will support highimpact,
novel ideas leading to strategic interventions that are
consistent with the Depression Center’s mission to detect
depression and bipolar disorders earlier, treat them more
effectively, and prevent their recurrence and progression.
2 • University of Michigan Depression Center • www.depressioncenter.org

of New Gifts…
improved depression treatments
For 70 years, Helmut Stern has made his home in Ann
Arbor. He originally came to enroll in medical school, but
soon became consumed by a series of manufacturing
business ventures whose successes grew to become a
major part of his life’s work.
Although Stern never attended U-M, he has demonstrated
a remarkable and long-standing commitment to
supporting the university financially, and as an advisor
and volunteer, all ways of giving back to the university
community that has so personally enriched his own life.
Stern shies away from seeking recognition for his many
charitable contributions to U-M over the years. Instead, he
considers himself fortunate to have overcome adversity
in many forms throughout his life, and is grateful to the
individuals and institutions who have helped him find
success and fulfillment. His philanthropy is, in his words,
“a way for me to repay the set of circumstances that made
it possible for me to enrich my life.”
And even though Stern long ago chose to devote himself
to a career in business rather than medicine, he remains
fascinated with the medical field and the scientific basis
behind methods of prevention
and treatment. The Depression
Center is extraordinarily grateful
for this gift that both honors
Oscar Stern and, through
the translation of research
innovation, can profoundly
benefit so many others.
“I’m extremely grateful
for this award. It will
allow us to assess the
utility of this new
and exciting cortisol
measurement tool and
hopefully improve our
understanding and
treatment of depression.”
—Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D.
The First Oscar Stern Award Recipient:
Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D.
In March 2012, Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D., assistant
professor of psychiatry, was named the
first recipient of the Oscar Stern Award for
Depression Research. His project will examine
the relationship between
the development of
depression symptoms
under stress and
measures of cortisol (a
stress hormone) obtained
through hair samples.
Along with Depression
Center member James
Abelson, M.D., Ph.D.,
Sen and his team will
incorporate the new
technology of hair
cortisol measurement
into an existing study of
physicians during their
internship year, a time
when rates of stress
and depression have
been shown to increase
dramatically. Sen will assess whether this
unique measure of cumulative stress (blood and
saliva measure only momentary stress cortisol
levels) can be used as a biomarker for major
depression and serve as an inexpensive way to
diagnose depression, aid in treatment selection,
and help monitor how patients respond to
treatment. Exploring whether this new measure
of cortisol predicts or reflects depression levels
in these young physicians opens the door for
use of this measure in all populations.
Helmut and Candis Stern
Philanthropy update 2012 • 3

Expanding
The Frankel
“I believe that this is a
population that is so
often forgotten, or not
heard. I feel fortunate
to be in a position to
help make a difference.”
—Jo Elyn Frankel Nyman
Jo Elyn Frankel Nyman comes from a family that
has long supported a variety of charitable causes
and service organizations both within the University
of Michigan and throughout metropolitan Detroit. A
trained psychotherapist with a passion for children and
adolescents, Jo Elyn approached the U-M Health System
(UMHS) in late 2010 with a desire to help youth and
families who struggle with mental health issues, hoping
to provide earlier and better access to care and more
effective treatments.
Nyman believes in a holistic approach to mental health
care that includes mindfulness, meditation, and, more
generally, psychotherapy approaches that consider
the whole child and family. She is keenly aware that
many children and adolescents end up in hopeless
situations, incarcerated, or with problems that worsen
over time—and that they are hurting. She also knows
that psychotherapy services are sometimes the most
appropriate treatment and often produce the best
outcomes when used in combination with medication.
Yet unfortunately, largely because Michigan has a shortage
of well-trained clinicians who can provide psychotherapy
services, many youth are treated by providers whose
first-line treatment tends to be medication alone. Families
from underserved and rural areas, even if insured, cannot
make the trip to southeastern Michigan for ongoing care
through UMHS, and our clinics do not have the capacity
to treat everyone who seeks care. Jo Elyn felt compelled
to help advance earlier identification and intervention
strategies and to address this gap in access to quality
mental health services. She has partnered with the U-M
Depression Center to create a program to do just that.
With a generous gift from Jo Elyn and George Nyman
through the Samuel and Jean Frankel Health and Research
Foundation in 2011, the Depression Center established the
Frankel Program for Improving Access to Quality Mental
Health Services for Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults.
A team including Program Director Cheryl King, Ph.D.,
Program Manager Melissa Webster, M.S.W., Depression
Center Executive Director John Greden, M.D., and a select
group of child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and social
workers has launched two major Frankel Program initiatives:
The goal of the Frankel Psychotherapy Training Program
is to build capacity to provide quality psychotherapy
services within the U-M community, the surrounding
region, and statewide, an initiative that will significantly
impact children and families.
4 • University of Michigan Depression Center • www.depressioncenter.org

services for youth
Psychotherapy Training Program and Access Initiative
The Depression Center is now offering intensive
workshop training to mental health providers from across
the state. Those who choose to participate in extended
follow-up supervision will obtain case-based guidance and
feedback, culminating in program certification. Current
trainings include:
• Behavioral Activation
• Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System for Psychotherapy
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
The goal of the Frankel Psychotherapy Access Initiative
is to reach more disadvantaged children and families
in southeastern Michigan by improving their access
to psychotherapy and related services. “My goal is that
no child or teen who needs help is ever turned away
because of financial or insurance issues,” Nyman says. The
strategic plan for this initiative will emphasize providing
more accessible psychotherapy services to disadvantaged
families by integrating these services with their other
healthcare at university-affiliated centers and clinics.
In addition, the program anticipates providing free groups
to children and families on topics that may include:
• Using mindfulness to build resilience through awareness
of thoughts and feelings
• Helping families understand and cope after loss
• Raising children with challenging behaviors
• Enhancing family relationships through attachment
“Jo Elyn shares our vision of providing access to quality
mental health services to those young people who need
them most,” King says. “With the Frankel family’s support,
we are finally able to take major steps toward translating
this vision into reality. I am excited to be part of this
initiative, believe it will have long-term impact, and am so
very grateful for her support.”
Philanthropy update 2012 • 5

Partnering to provide
Since the late 1980s, the Michigan-based
Ethel & James Flinn Foundation has
provided over $3 million to the Depression
Center and U-M Department of Psychiatry to
support a shared vision of enhancing the lives
of those living with mental illness.
Established by the Flinn family in 1975, the Flinn Foundation is dedicated
to improving the quality, scope, and delivery of mental health services
in Michigan for people of all ages through the sponsorship of grants to
create, evaluate, and implement best practice mental health treatment
programs. In addition, the foundation works to increase resources
available to community mental health organizations, particularly those
focused on underserved and vulnerable populations.
”The Flinn Foundation looks forward to continued collaboration and
partnership with the Depression Center in the pursuit of improved
mental health care in Michigan,” said the Foundation’s Executive Director,
Andrea Cole. Depression Center researchers and staff are grateful for the
Flinn Foundation’s generous support over the years, which includes
current funding for the two innovative projects described here.
Coping with a cancer diagnosis:
Film tells personal stories of resilience
A previous issue of our annual report announced a
gift from Dr. Marylen Segal Oberman, a psychologist
and cancer survivor, who wanted to create a video
journal of individuals and their family members
describing how they coped during difficult times
following cancer diagnosis and treatment. Just
released, Reflections on the Experience of
Cancer includes rich narratives from people who
have lived through the anxiety, depression, and
other challenges that cancer may bring.
View the video by going
to youtube.com and
searching for Reflections on
the Experience of Cancer.
6 • University of Michigan Depression Center • www.depressioncenter.org

quality mental health care
Funds help launch “HomeFront Strong”
Michelle Kees, Ph.D., a child psychologist with extensive
experience in working with families under stress and at high
risk for mental health issues, leads HomeFront Strong, a
project to help the families of service members and veterans
build resilience and enhance their mental wellness.
“Military families are often overwhelmed by the many
challenges—to relationships, parenting, and communication—
that can arise during the deployment cycle,” says Kees. “Yet most military mental
health programs focus on the needs of the service member, with only limited
support extended to the family members who are also facing challenges. We intend
to fill this void, and the Flinn Foundation is helping us do just that.”
HomeFront Strong was created to promote positive adjustment and help counteract
mental health symptoms in military spouses and partners. The long-term goal, after
piloting, evaluating, and refining the program, is to disseminate HomeFront Strong
broadly across the country for use by other mental health service providers working
with military families.
“Funding from the Flinn Foundation has been pivotal to launching HomeFront Strong
in Michigan,” Kees says. “Military families have made enormous sacrifices in our
communities, and it is an honor to join with the Flinn Foundation in giving back.”
Support for managing insomnia in teens
Sleep researcher Deirdre Conroy, Ph.D., leads a Flinn Foundationsponsored
study of young people dealing with both depression
and sleep problems. Untreated insomnia in individuals with a
history of depression can increase the likelihood that depressive
symptoms will return, and also elevates the risk of suicide. Ninety
percent of adolescents with depression report suffering from
insomnia, yet clinicians currently have no available options other
than medications to treat their sleep disturbances.
“These teens need a treatment option that not only improves their sleep, but is also
acceptable and practical enough for them to stick with,” Conroy says. Her study
will determine how Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI), the standard
non-drug therapy for adult insomnia, can be adapted for the specific needs of
adolescents with depression.
“Ultimately, successful management of insomnia can reduce rates of depression,
anxiety, learning problems, and substance use disorders,” Conroy says. “We hope
that once the new insomnia treatment is developed with input provided by teens,
other teens will be more inclined to give it a try because it will target their unique
sleep issues.” She adds, “We’re so thankful for the Flinn Foundation’s support to
address this important health issue during the teen years, before problems escalate.”
Philanthropy update 2012 • 7

Remembering Joshua: A family’
Carl Stern (LSA ‘56) has been passionate about the
University of Michigan since he arrived by train from
New York almost 60 years ago to begin his freshman year.
Two of his sons graduated from U-M in the ‘90s, further
boosting his Michigan fondness and pride. And Carl, a
steadfast fan of Michigan football, continues to travel from
California to attend games each season.
Carl’s youngest son, Joshua Judson Stern, graduated from
U-M in 1997 with a degree in economics and held a variety
of jobs before enlisting in the Army at the relatively late age
of 30. He went on to serve two tours of duty in Iraq. After
his service, Josh traveled extensively throughout southeast
Asia, bringing his keen sense of adventure and passion for
new experiences everywhere he went. He established loyal
friendships all over the world with his good humor, kindness,
and gift for empathy. His parents were not aware of many of
these experiences and relationships until after October 2010,
when Josh took his own life at age 35.
Since his passing, which took those close to him by
complete surprise, Carl and his wife Jackie have been
searching for answers. They've learned enough about Josh’s
last few years to determine that he suffered from deep
depression. “Nobody knew it,” says Carl Stern, who even
retraced some of Joshua’s recent travels in 2011. While he
didn’t learn a great deal more about the course of his son’s
illness, Carl did meet many in the network of devoted friends
who loved Joshua for his generous spirit and adventurous
nature.
To pay tribute to their son’s memory, the Sterns recently
established the Joshua Judson Stern Memorial Fund at
the Depression Center. When asked what inspired them
to give, Carl identified two key reasons. First, in the stem
cell research they support, they find particular meaning
in its potential to better understand the development and
progression of a depressive illness, allowing for earlier
detection and treatment. And second, the Depression
Center’s mission to disseminate public education and
outreach about depression and related illnesses is deeply
and personally significant to them. “Jackie and I want to do
anything we can to bring about greater awareness about
depression, particularly so that other parents won’t have to
experience what we have,” Carl says.
Sparking innovation and inspiri
Entrepreneur, Ann Arbor-area
businessman and philanthropist
Phil F. Jenkins (left) has always been
focused on results.
More than 60 years ago, Jenkins
transformed his family’s small
business into a hugely successful
global supplier of equipment for
airports, municipalities, agriculture,
and construction (Sweepster, Inc.).
Today, philanthropy has become his way of life, and he
uses his business acumen to steer his many and significant
contributions toward what might be called “nimble
opportunities”—that is, the people, institutions, and ideas
that he perceives will have the greatest and most farreaching
impact.
Jenkins gives generously to the University of Michigan, the
U-M Health System, and to numerous organizations across
southeast Michigan. In part because of his own family’s
experiences with depression— Jenkins’ late wife of 47 years,
Lyn, struggled with the disease for many years—Jenkins has
been actively involved in the Depression Center’s work since
its inception. He has supported a major research fund and a
professorship, and serves on the Depression Center’s National
Advisory Board. He also made a key contribution toward the
construction of the Rachel Upjohn Building, home of the
Depression Center, where the lobby bears his name.
This past year, Jenkins provided funds to establish an
annual research award at the Depression Center to spur
creative advances in the treatment or self-management of
depression by empowering students and junior faculty to
bring original ideas to life.
8 • University of Michigan Depression Center • www.depressioncenter.org

s gift for breakthrough research
Joshua Judson Stern
Stem Cell Research May Unlock
Bipolar’s Mysteries
The Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research group, in partnership with the
A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute’s Consortium for Stem
Cell Therapies (CSCT), has embarked on innovative studies involving
a special type of human cell that can be manipulated in the lab to
better understand how bipolar disorder affects the brain, and how, at a
cellular level, people respond to treatments.
Stem cells are cells which have the ability to divide and develop into
many different cell types in the body. The stem cells at the heart of this
research are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. The
iPSCs in this particular research are skin cells donated by participants
in the Prechter Program’s Longitudinal Study of Bipolar Disorder that
have been “reprogrammed” with the ability to develop into cells found
in other areas of the body, including the brain.
Carl Stern (R) during a visit to one
of U-M’s stem cell research labs,
with Melvin McInnis, M.D., principal
investigator of the Prechter
Program, and Sue O’ Shea, Ph.D.,
who helps lead the research
Using these cells, “we will be able to see if
there are differences in how the neurons of a
person with bipolar disorder make connections,
determine how they respond to different
medications, and explore potential deficiencies in
signaling pathways,” explains Sue O’Shea, Ph.D.,
who helps lead the research at CSCT.
Eventually, the hope is to create stem cell lines
that can be used to study the development and
progression of other brain conditions, including
major depression.
ng young investigators
Danielle M. Novick, Ph.D. (left), a
U-M psychiatry research fellow and
Depression Center member, is the
recipient of the first Phil F. Jenkins
Award for Innovation in Depression
Treatment.
With these research funds, Novick will
identify ways that current technology
might allow individuals to better
monitor their moods, increase their treatment engagement
and adherence, and also help guide mental health care
providers in making more informed and personalized
treatment decisions for their patients.
The Jenkins-funded project will add a powerful new
dimension to Novick’s existing research that uses actigraphs
—instruments that look like standard wristwatches—to
measure a person’s daily physical activity and light exposure.
This information can then be used to estimate some of the
body’s biological rhythms. Because many effective treatments
for depression and bipolar disorder are believed to work in
part by shifting, re-setting, or stabilizing the body’s biological
rhythms, understanding how these rhythmic changes are
connected to mood and functioning is critical if we are to
ensure that treatments are successful.
Each day for several months, actigraph-wearing research
participants (recruited from the Prechter Bipolar Longitudinal
study) will be prompted with a text message reminder to
report their current mood using their cell phone. Integrating
the text message information with actigraph data will provide
“real-time” information about the relationship between an
individual’s biological rhythms, daily routines, and mood.
“I am very grateful to Mr. Jenkins for this award. This will
allow us to use technology to develop novel ways to help
individuals with depression and bipolar disorder, and
hopefully encourage them to take a more active role in the
management of their illnesses,” Novick says.
Philanthropy update 2012 • 9

University of Michigan Depression Center
Rachel Upjohn Building
4250 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2700
Non Profit Org
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Ann Arbor, MI
To learn more about specific areas where your
gift is needed, or to make a monetary donation or
pledge, please contact the U-M Depression Center
Development office at 734.764.6161 or visit
www.depressioncenter.org/
giving
Executive Officers of the University of
Michigan Health System:
Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, M.D., Executive Vice
President for Medical Affairs; James O.
Woolliscroft, M.D., Dean, U-M Medical School;
Douglas Strong, Chief Executive Officer, U-M
Hospitals and Health Centers; Kathleen Potempa,
Dean, School of Nursing.
The Regents of the University of
Michigan:
Julia Donovan Darlow, Laurence B. Deitch, Denise
Ilitch, Olivia P. Maynard, Andrea Fischer Newman,
Andrew C. Richner, S. Martin Taylor, Katherine E.
White, Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio).
The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/
affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable
federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination
and affirmative action. The University of Michigan
is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all
persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race,
color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability,
religion, height, weight, or veteran status in employment,
educational programs and activities, and admissions.
Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Senior
Director for Institutional Equity, and Title IX/Section
504/ADA Coordinator, Office of Institutional Equity, 2072
Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan
48109-1432, 734-763-0235, TTY 734-647-1388. For other
University of Michigan information call 734-764-1817.
© 2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan.
Ten Years of U-M Leadership
• The nation’s first Comprehensive Center of Excellence for depression and bipolar illness
• 150 interdisciplinary faculty experts representing 13 affiliated U-M schools, colleges,
centers, and institutes, and 33 departments
• Annual research portfolio of more than $40 million
• Founder of the nation’s first and largest private bipolar genetic repository in the Prechter
Bipolar Research Program
• Leader in Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) research and treatment
• Developer of the only Joint Commission-approved depression care management program
• Model depression outreach programs for target populations including women and infants,
veterans, students, and athletes
• Founding site and home for the 21-member National Network of Depression Centers
(NNDC)
• State-of-the-science facility that integrates Depression Center, Ambulatory Psychiatry, and
collaborative programs