January 6 & 8, 2007
Tenth Annual Sunshine from Darkness Symposium & Gala
Sarasota, Fla.

NARSAD kicked off the New Year in the Sunshine State with its 10th annual Sarasota gala and mental health research symposium.

The 2007 Sunshine from Darkness gala, which raised $783,000, was held the evening of January 8th at Sarasota’s acclaimed Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. After a black-tie dinner, guests enjoyed VIP seating for a performance of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, “Aida - The Timeless Love Story.”

At the dinner, NARSAD’s Luminary Award was presented to Virginia Toulmin, a dedicated donor and volunteer who for many years has served as honorary chair of the Sarasota gala. Previous recipients of the award, which recognizes extraordinary individuals who have dedicated themselves to reducing the stigma attached to mental illness and brain disorders, have included journalist Mike Wallace, the late humorist Art Buchwald, Broadway and cabaret vocalist Barbara Cook, and Nobel Laureate economist John Forbes Nash and his wife, Alicia Nash.

The 2007 gala boosted the Sarasota event’s fundraising total for the decade to more than $4 million. “We are overwhelmed by the interest and generosity of our local donors and sponsors,” commented Lee Peterson, who in 1996 initiated NARSAD’s activities in Sarasota with her husband, Robert, vice president of NARSAD’s Board of Directors.

Two days prior to the gala, on Saturday, January 6th, a free NARSAD public symposium on mental health research drew an audience of over 900 to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Four of the nation’s leading researchers of brain and behavior disorders presented some of their latest findings on depression and schizophrenia.

The symposium presenters included:

• Alexander Glassman, M.D., professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, who discussed the relationship between depression and cardiovascular disease;



• Dolores Malaspina, M.D., chair of psychiatry at New York University, who spoke about risk factors for schizophrenia;



• Helen Mayberg, M.D., professor of psychiatry and neurology at Emory University, who described her work in deep brain stimulation for the treatment of severe, medication-resistant depression; and



• Herbert Meltzer, M.D., professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, the symposium moderator and professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, who discussed new approaches to drug treatments for schizophrenia.