June 24 & 25
Campaign for the Brain - Silver Ribbon Weekend
Los Angeles

The inaugural “Campaign for the Brain – Silver Ribbon Weekend” raised $306,000 for NARSAD on Saturday, June 24, when the organization hosted a gala dinner dance honoring Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, among others, at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Monies raised were derived from the dinner admission, direct donations and the event’s silent and live auction coordinated by NARSAD Artworks.


Other honorees included Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health; actress Linda Hamilton, who has spoken publicly about her battle with bipolar disorder; Steve Lopez, who has written about mental health for the Los Angeles Times and whose series of articles about a homeless man with schizophrenia is the basis for an upcoming DreamWorks movie; and The Village Integrated Service Agency (“The Village”), which supports and teaches adults with psychiatric disabilities.

The silent auction featured the works of 12 artists whose lives have been affected by mental illness. The live auction featured an original oil painting by Thom Bierdz, whose interest in NARSAD stems from personal tragedy. His brother committed matricide and subsequently, his other brother committed suicide. The work he created for NARSAD’s gala was painted live, one of his trademark techniques.

The following morning, a free public symposium on recent advances in mental health research took place at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Leading research experts covered such topics as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, postpartum depression and whether mental illness can be prevented through early detection.

The presenters included: Tyrone Cannon, Ph.D., Staglin Family Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at UCLA, who spoke on vulnerability to major psychoses; David Braff, M.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Schizophrenia Program at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, who addressed advances in schizophrenia research and treatment; Mark A. Frye, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry (in residence), director of the Bipolar Research Program and associate director of the Mood Disorders Research Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, who provided an update of treatments for bipolar disorder; and Vivien Burt, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and founder and director of the Women’s Life Center of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, who talked about postpartum psychoses and depression.

The symposium moderators were Lewis Baxter, M.D., professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Florida, who also currently is on faculty at UCLA, and Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Immediately following the symposium, Dr. Jamison hosted a free program of music and readings on the life of 19th century composer Robert Schumann, who suffered depression. Schumann’s “Quintet for Piano and Strings, Opus 44” was performed by a string quartet from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and pianist Gavin Martin. The “Moods and Music” program was created by Dr. Jamison, who is the New York Times best selling author of “An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness,” among other books.

NARSAD’s inaugural Los Angeles events were organized by Hal and Patsy Hollister, longtime NARSAD board members and the founders of NARSAD Artworks.