From left, Randy Blakley, Ph.D., executive director of the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute; philanthropist Frances Fisher; and Patrick J. McNamara, president and CEO of the Palm Health Foundation, celebrate the Center for the Resilient Mind at an inaugural event in Palm Beach.

Palm Health Foundation has pledged $500,000 toward the launch of the  Center for the Resilient Mind  at Florida Atlantic University’s Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute (SNBI). Faculty and trainees affiliated with the center will investigate brain resiliency to stress and neurobehavioral disorders and explore opportunities to promote brain health through community engagement.

This pledge, in the form of a challenge grant, contributes to the center’s $2.5 million launch goal and was recently announced at an inaugural event at the home of Frances and Jeffrey Fisher in Palm Beach.  An additional donation of $50,000 by The Merrell Family Foundation initiated community support for the center.

The center will bring together neuroscientists, psychologists, clinicians, educators, social workers and artists to investigate the foundations of the resilient mind across the human lifespan. Anticipated focus areas include understanding how the brain builds resilience through early childhood, the brain dynamics modulated by artistic engagement, factors that make the brain responsive to learning, and the biological and environmental influences that contribute to healthy brain aging.

Palm Health Foundation leads change for health-related causes in Palm Beach County, with a focus on advancing brain health by inspiring partnerships between brain scientists, community members and care settings.

“What excites me most about the new Center for the Resilient Mind is that it will serve as a major lynchpin, connecting innovative neuroscience research with a current critical need in our mental health system, which is to foster and enhance resilient minds,” said Patrick McNamara, president and CEO of the Palm Health Foundation.

The center is the latest addition to the SNBI, which supports brain research and education across FAU’s campuses and in partnership with leading neuroscience research institutes. At a recent event, the SNBI celebrated the launch of The David and Lynn Nicholson Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, where neuroscientists are working to understand neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Parkinson’s disease and others to identify improved diagnostics and treatments.

“We are so pleased to be partnering with Palm Health Foundation in this exciting and important new venture to seek a better understanding of how neuroplasticities shape and sustain a resilient mind,” said Randy Blakely, Ph.D., executive director of the SNBI and professor of neuroscience and biomedical science at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “This center, the first of its kind, seeks to be a leader in revealing factors that allow the brain and mind to cope with physical, environmental and social challenges, and to translate findings into practices that can improve mental health.”

The SNBI and Palm Health Foundation also are partnering to promote the Brain Coast Vision, an aspiration for South Florida to accelerate innovation in diagnosing, treating and curing brain disorders through collaboration among researchers, educators, brain health care providers and business leaders in Palm Beach County. This vision is also endorsed by the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation; The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation and Technology; Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience; and Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network.

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