The Foundation of Hope funds groundbreaking mental illness research projects that explore the biological, neurological and genetic bases of mental illness and forge paths to improved diagnosis and treatment.
Through its seed grant funding model, the Foundation awards relatively small grants—typically between $50,000 and $60,000, but even up to $200,000 for impact grants—to qualifying researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Psychiatry. Each project functions much the same as a startup business: a small, but promising idea that needs an initial investment to grow.
Having proved their mettle, many Foundation-backed projects receive thousands or millions of dollars in subsequent investment from private organizations and the National Institute of Health.
News
May 2026
The Foundation announces more than $1.5 million in new research grants awarded to investigators within the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These projects address a broad range of mental illness challenges, from substance abuse to depression and suicide, while advancing innovative approaches through artificial intelligence, data modeling, and emerging therapeutic pathways.
The 2026 grant recipients include (click any researcher to learn more):
- Drs. Andrea Pelletier-Baldelli and Adam Miller • CHAAMP • $240,000
- Dr. Benjamin Buck • CHAAMP • $299,140
- Dr. Tingting Dan • Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders • $59,324
- Drs. Gabriel Dichter and Melissa Walsh • Autism • $200,000
- Dr. Hiroyuki Kato • Autism • $109,932
- Drs. Flavio Frohlich and Athena Stein • Depression • $199,991
- Dr. Camden Matherne • Eating Disorders • $60,534
- Drs. Roza Vlasova and Guorong Wu • Schizophrenia • $101,410
- Dr. Erin Bondy • Women’s Mood Disorders • $59,326
- Drs. Eric Hurwitz and Danielle Lowe • Women’s Mood Disorders • $58,820
- Drs. Zev Nakamura, Hyman Muss, Kyrsten Nyrop, and Brent Small • Other Research • $57,240
- Drs. Rebecca Stephens and Marissa DiPiero • Other Research • $58,540
June 2025
As part of its continued commitment to advancing mental health research, Foundation of Hope has awarded thirteen new research grants totaling over $1.35 million to investigators in the Department of Psychiatry at UNC. This is the most significant single-year investment in scientific research since the Foundation’s inception. FOH awarded the 2025 grants to (click any researcher to learn more):
- Dr. Adam Miller • CHAAMP • $200,000
- Dr. Elizabeth Andersen • Women’s Mood Disorders • $200,000
- Dr. Zachary Feldman • Anxiety • $199,624
- Dr. Guorong Wu • Dementia • $198,959
- Natalie O’Brien, MS • CHAAMP • $99,600
- Dr. Robert Mealer • Schizophrenia • $60,000
- Dr. Parisa Kaliush • Women’s Mood Disorders • $59,999
- Dr. Yoonmi Hong • Autism • $59,102
- Dr. Rachel Presskreischer • Eating Disorders • $58,756
- Dr. Ranran French • Schizophrenia • $57,705
- Dr. Kelly Caravella • Autism • $53,800
- Dr. Roza Vlasova • Autism • $51,690
Read the full press release (published prior to 13th research grant being awarded).
June 2024
In the biggest effort to date, the Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness (FOH) will award $1,007,760 in research grants to eleven investigators in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The innovative research funded by the FOH could lead to breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses, improving the lives and livelihoods of those who suffer:
- Dr. Erin Bondy • Award: $44,745 • “Examining the effect of estradiol on mood symptoms during perimenopause through immune gene expression”
- Dr. Jessica Cohen & Dr. John Gilmore • Award: $150,989 • “Development of Individual Differences in Adolescent Brain Structure and Risk”
- Dr. Cope Feurer, Dr. Ayse Belger, & Dr. Danielle Roubinov • Award: $74,802 • “Identifying Novel Biological Profiles of Early Risk and Intervention for Mood Disorders in Adolescents: Mapping Stress-Responsive Changes in Electrocortical Indices in Adolescent Anhedonia”
- Dr. Antonio Florido • Award: $44,577 • “Developing a pre-clinical model to study the interaction of female pubertal hormones and early-life stress in vulnerability to anhedonia”
- Dr. Gabrielle Hodgins • Award: $78,000 • “Identifying Modifiable Risk Factors Associated with Suicidality in Adolescents Following Acute Psychiatric Hospitalization”
- Dr. Zoe McElligott • Award: $110,000 • “Investigating Psychiatric Symptoms of Dementia”
- Dr. Sam McLean • Award: $89,708 • “Written Exposure Therapy to Improve Recovery among Sexual Assault Survivors Expansion”
- Dr. Emily Pisetsky • Award $99,001 • “Addressing an Urgent Need: Developing and Disseminating a Brief Eating Disorders Intervention for Primary Care (FAST-ED)”
- Dr. Crystal Schiller • Award: $64,840 • “Increasing Access to Evidence-Based Therapy for Perinatal Women: A Novel App-Based Approach”
- Dr. Anthony Zannas • Award: $147,167 • “Epigenetic mechanisms linking psychological stress with dementia risk in minoritized individuals”
- Dr. Agnieszka Zuberer • Award: $103,931 • “Novel Paradigm for Modulating Emotion Regulation with Non-invasive Brain Stimulation in Generalized Anxiety Disorder”
June 2023
The Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness will award over $987,000 for fourteen research grants at the Department of Psychiatry at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in its continuing efforts to mitigate the devastating effects of mental illness:
- Dr. Elizabeth Andersen • Award: $45,080 • “Probing the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying sex-specific testosterone-mood relationships during puberty: A randomized controlled trial using a smartphone-based training program”
- Dr. Joyce Besheer • Award: $70,152 • “Investigation of the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide on alcohol effects: relevance for the treatment of alcohol use disorder”
- Dr. Flavio Frohlich • Award: $146,110 • “The Carolina Recovery from Depression Protocol (CARED): A Novel Rapid Treatment Paradigm for Depression”
- Dr. Alex Gertner • Award: $39,900 • “The Effect of Addressing Children’s Early Life Social Needs on Behavioral Health”
- Dr. Rebecca Grzadzinski • Award: $40,000 • “Establishing the Validity of a Wearable Technology of Objective Arousal Measurements Across Development”
- Dr. Yoonmi Hong • Award: $27,044 • “White Matter Connectome and Behavior Relationships in Early Childhood”
- Dr. Tyehimba Hunt-Harrison • Award: $47,275 • “Youth Mental Health First Aid Training of Rural Black Church Leaders as a Tool to Improve Mental Health Literacy and Access”
- Dr. Rebekah Nash • Award $35,784 • “A Machine Learning Approach to Classify Medical Records by Psychiatric Diagnosis”
- Dr. Riah Patterson • Award: $100,000 • “ Mechanisms of Brexanolone Therapeutics in Post-Partum Depression: Expanded follow-up study”
- Dr. Julia Riddle • Award: $45,791 • “The Other Postpartum: Depression, Anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following Stillbirth and Neonatal Death”
- Dr. Danielle Roubinov • Award: $199,000 • “Identifying Treatment Targets for Children of Mothers Who Experienced Sexual Violence”
- Dr. Ryan Vetreno • Award: $98,592 • “Adolescent Binge Drinking Persistently Shifts Microglia to a Proinflammatory Phenotype through Reversible Epigenetic Reprogramming”
- Dr. Melissa Walsh • Award: $44,875 • “Do APOE4+ women stand to benefit from menopausal hormone therapy? Piloting an experimental therapeutics approach to accelerate progress in dementia prevention research”
- Dr. Guorong Wu • Award $47,761 • “Uncovering Midlife Dementia Risks from Altered Structural and Functional Coupling Mechanisms”
May 2022
The Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness will award over $478,000 for eight research grants at the Department of Psychiatry at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in its continuing efforts to mitigate the devastating effects of mental illness:
- Dr. Alana Campbell • Award: $92,932 • “Anxiety and emotion in parent-child dyads: A multimodal study”
- Dr. Sara Faccidomo • Award: $39,565 • “A novel glutamatergic mechanism for the treatment of cocaine and opioid use disorders, and co-occurring anxiety”
- Dr. Hiroyuki Kato • Award: $40,092 • “Circuit-level investigation of global hypoconnectivity in the sensory neocortex of a mouse model for autism”
- Dr. Samuel McLean • Award: $59,168 • “Written exposure therapy to improve recovery among sexual assault survivors”
- Dr. Leslie Morrow • Award: $98,500 • “Biomarkers of systemic inflammation in Alcohol Use Disorder”
- Dr. Juan Carlos Prieto • Award: $66,691 • “Data driven brain shape analysis framework and explainable AI”
- Dr. Danielle Swales • Award: $40,000 • “Hormone flux and the emergence of irritability during pregnancy: Investigating the trajectory and neurobiological correlates of an under recognized mood state”
- Dr. Mengsen Zhang and Dr. Tobias Schwippel • Award $41,080 • “Network neuroscience of a novel brief intervention for stress and depression symptoms in college students”
Press release coming soon.