In what is being called the largest philanthropic donation to a U.S. university, UC Irvine has received more than $57 million from the Audrey Steele Burnand estate, the university announced Monday.

For context, Audrey Steele Burnand, a resident of Newport Beach, worked to help promote environmental conservation, with a background in Alzheimer’s research. Through these efforts, Burnand eventually helped establish the Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center, which is managed by UC Irvine and is one of the largest land preserves in the United States, located in Borrego Springs, California.

With the generous donation, UC Irvine will embark on creating a new campus-wide center to be dedicated to the research of depression. The university plans to use $55 million of earmarked funds to accelerate on-campus depression research while working to make discoveries in causes and achieve breakthroughs in treatment.

Once discovered, those breakthroughs will be taking place inside the Noel Drury M.D. Depression Research Center, which will be the name of UC Irvine’s future depression research facility. The facility will be named after Noel Drury, M.D., a Newport Beach-based board-certified psychiatrist.

UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman said this is an incredible opportunity for the university to continue maintaining the momentum for producing world-renowned research.

“This is a truly transformative gift from a longtime and great supporter of our vital work,” Gillman said. “Audrey Steele Burnand’s legacy will enable us to create a world-class research center that builds upon UCI’s historical excellence in the neurosciences to make life better for millions of people.”

Pramod Khargonekar, vice chancellor for research at UC Irvine, said depression is a serious issue that impacts millions of people globally, on a daily basis. From his perspective, this gift creates a vehicle for UC Irvine to drive into the future of depression research.

“This gift provides a unique opportunity for UCI to establish a world-class research center focused on the area of depression, which is extremely important from a societal point of view,” Khargonekar said. “With our campus strength in interdisciplinary, collaborative research, we are in a great position to leverage this support to produce discoveries about this debilitating disorder.”

Frank LaFerla, Dean of the UC Irvine’s School of Biological Sciences, said the throes of depression are boundless and more research toward understanding the root causes may lead to monumental breakthroughs in treatment.

“This is an opportunity for UCI to make an enormous contribution toward helping the millions of people who directly and indirectly suffer from the effects of depression, which has become a major mental health crisis that can lead to job loss, social relationship breakdowns, drug abuse and suicide,” said LaFerla said. “Through the discoveries made at this outstanding new research center, we look forward to becoming a global scientific leader in uncovering the underpinnings of depression and helping those who need it most.”

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting Irvine Weekly and our advertisers.