The world’s first research building solely dedicated to mental health to be named the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Translational Research Building at Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah
SALT LAKE CITY — Huntsman Mental Health Foundation today announced a $35 million gift from Gail Miller and the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation to support the new Translational Research Building at Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah.
The gift will help complete the 185,000-square-foot building in the University’s Research Park and equip its labs, imaging and technology. It will also help the Institute recruit and keep top physician-scientists. When the building opens in fall 2027, researchers and clinicians will work together to turn discoveries about mental illness into better care.
Pending approval by the University of Utah Board of Trustees, the building will be named the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Translational Research Building.
“Everyone deserves access to compassionate, effective mental health care,” said Gail Miller, co-founder of the Larry H. Miller Company and chair of the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation. “We are excited to celebrate the Translational Research Building because it will bring research and clinical care together, helping move new discoveries into better access for people and communities. We are grateful to the Huntsman family and all who share this commitment, and are proud to support an initiative that can advance hope and understanding around mental health.”
The Miller family joins the Huntsman family, who founded the Institute with a $150 million gift in 2019. The Utah Legislature appropriated $90 million for the Translational Research Building in 2021, and construction began in October 2023.
“From the day we broke ground, our family hoped others would join us to partner in this work to help improve and save lives of those struggling with mental illness. We know transformational change won’t happen without unlocking discoveries to better treatments and even cures. We couldn’t ask for better partners in this than the Millers,” said Christena Huntsman Durham, CEO of Huntsman Mental Health Foundation.
“Mental health touches nearly every family in our state. This extraordinary investment from the Miller family, building on the Huntsman family’s vision, will accelerate our ability to turn groundbreaking discoveries into better treatments and better outcomes for people and families,” said Taylor Randall, president of the University of Utah. “This is the promise of a great public research university, translating discoveries into solutions that improve lives in Utah and beyond.”
The building is designed to shorten the path from lab to patient. Scientists and clinicians will work alongside experts in artificial intelligence, public policy, business, and law. Research teams will be grouped into “hubs” around shared problems, with wet labs and computer-based dry labs on the same floors. The building will also house a 7-tesla MRI, a scanner more than twice as powerful as a standard hospital MRI. For example, researchers are using MRI to study whether lower oxygen levels at Utah’s high altitude may help explain the state’s higher rates of depression, and what treatments can best help people whose antidepressants aren’t working.
“For people living with mental illness, getting the right care and support can be a long, difficult process,” said Bob Carter, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President for Health Sciences and CEO of University of Utah Health. “We want to change that. Bringing scientists and clinicians together in this unique research facility means promising discoveries can reach patients sooner.”
Research in the building will cover a range of topics, including suicide prevention, addiction, youth mental health, psychosis and bipolar disorder, and maternal mental health. In suicide prevention, institute researchers draw on the world’s largest set of data on suicide deaths to learn who is most at risk, so families and clinicians can step in sooner.
The building will also be home to the Utah site of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States. The study follows nearly 12,000 young people from ages 9 and 10 into young adulthood. Brain imaging is at its core: by watching how the brain changes as kids grow, researchers can spot early warning signs of mental illness and substance use and help care begin before a crisis.
Researchers will also test new treatments for people who haven’t been helped by standard care. These include focused ultrasound, a noninvasive way to reach deep brain circuits linked to depression and addiction, and psychedelic medicine for hard-to-treat conditions. Teams will use artificial intelligence responsibly to help clinicians identify patients who need help earlier and to ease the workload on providers, giving them more time with patients. Researchers and educators from colleges and universities across Utah will partner with the institute there.
“This gift helps us bring great scientists to Utah and give them what they need to do their best work. The people and families we serve are why it matters,” said W. Brett Graham, M.B.A., M.P.A., president of Huntsman Mental Health Institute.
“We are fortunate to have the Huntsman and Miller families setting an example of prioritizing mental health funding at local and national levels. In the United States, the vast majority of Americans believe our country is in a mental health crisis yet fewer than 2% of charitable dollars go to mental health causes. Their support signals that our children, families, and communities deserve better treatments, care, and cures,” said Miranda Barnard, President of Huntsman Mental Health Foundation.
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About the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation
The Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation was established in 2007 to continue the philanthropic spirit exemplified by Larry and Gail Miller for future generations. The Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation supports programs that enrich lives and communities in the areas of health and medicine, shelter and food security, education and training, jobs and economic self-reliance, and cultural and spiritual enrichment.
About Huntsman Mental Health Foundation
Huntsman Mental Health Foundation is transforming the way the world understands, treats and heals mental illness. The Foundation raises funds and awareness to support the work of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, a national leader in life-saving mental health research, inpatient care, outpatient resources, and advocacy.
About University of Utah Health University of Utah Health is the state’s only academic health care system, providing leading-edge and compassionate care for a referral area that encompasses 10% of the U.S., including Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and much of Nevada. A hub for health sciences research and education in the region, U of U Health has a $531 million research enterprise and trains the majority of Utah’s physicians as well as more than 1,670 scientists and 1,460 health care providers each year at its Colleges of Health, Nursing, and Pharmacy and Schools of Dentistry and Medicine. With more than 27,000 employees, the system includes 12 community clinics and five hospitals: University Hospital, Huntsman Cancer
Media contacts:
Kim Sorrentino, VP of Marketing
Huntsman Mental Health Foundation
Email: ksorrentino@hmhf.org Cell: 801.842.1256
Sarah Lindsey, Philanthropy Communications Manager
The Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation
Email: communications@lhm.com Cell: 801.498.0237
