This new research building at the U. is seeking to 'change the world of mental health'
Waking up to heavy rain on Monday morning, Christena Huntsman Durham knew it was a message from her late sister, Kathleen Huntsman, who died in 2010 from a drug overdose after battling a substance use disorder.
"When we checked her in right here in this building (the Huntsman Mental Health Institute), it was through the back doors. It was in secrecy and it was in shame," said Durham, executive vice president of the Huntsman Foundation. "When she passed away, we could never put in her obituary what she died from because that doesn't happen in families like ours. Because of the stigma and shame associated with mental health disorders, people are too afraid to get the help that they need."
To her, the rain represented tears of joy from all those who lost their lives from mental health issues as she joined University of Utah leaders to break ground on the Utah Mental Health Translational Research Building, a facility dedicated to innovation in mental health research and clinical care, at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute.
The 185,000-square-foot, multistory building will have dedicated spaces for wet labs, dry labs, administration, outreach and education, along with housing the world's only 7-Tesla MRI for neuroimaging dedicated to brain research and clinical innovations.
"Our students and faculty from across campus will work with our patients, with their families and with our community of Utah to tackle complex mental health issues," said Dr. Mark Rapaport, CEO of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute. "Issues like the youth mental health crisis, suicide, substance use disorders and psychosis will be addressed in a comprehensive way."
From 2019 to 2021, the age-adjusted suicide rate in Utah was 20.6 per 100,000 persons, with an average of 648 suicides per year. Utah had the 9th highest age-adjusted suicide rate in the U.S. in 2020, according to data from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
In 2020, suicide was the leading cause of death for Utahns ages 10-17 and 18-24. It was the second leading cause of death for ages 25-44 and the fifth leading cause of death for ages 45-64. Overall, suicide was the eighth-leading cause of death for Utahns, according to the department.
The research building will also be taking a novel approach to addressing mental health as the first institution in the nation to co-locate mental health researchers with experts in science, artificial intelligence, public policy, business and law.
Speaking at the groundbreaking, Utah State Senate President Stuart Adams said that the Utah Legislature has appropriated $90 million to fund the research building, with $65 million more coming from philanthropic funding.
University of Utah President Taylor Randall often says that the university's goal is to be "a top-10 public institution with unsurpassed societal impact." It's the second part of that goal that is the most important to him.
"What it means is we have to take on this world's largest problems at the moment. This has got to be one of those top three problems — mental health," Randall said. "We have to come to this building to change the health care system so we actually deliver this to everybody where they need it. We have to talk about how we get these treatments into high schools, into those early ages where we know that many of these individuals are beginning to suffer for the first time."
"It means we need to take these solutions to the homeless population. It means we need to take these solutions to the elderly populations that are at the end of their lives and struggling with the same challenges that all of us do. Today is the day that we not only break ground on this, but I think it's the day that we take up this challenge and take it and double and triple and quadruple our efforts so that all of us can alleviate the suffering that's occurring in many of our families," Randall continued.
As far as his hopes for the research building, Randall said he wants to see a significant change in the way individuals with mental health issues are treated in Utah and beyond.
"You'll point back to the Translational Research Building and say, 'That intervention came from researchers in that building,'" Randall said. "We're just so excited that the state and the Huntsman family came together to address one of the most pressing needs of our state."
For Durham, she hopes that the research building will serve as a resource for mental health treatment similar to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
"When people walk into a building to get help with their mental health, it's like they're going into the cancer institute and they will be greeted with love and no judgment, and that they won't be as afraid of getting a mental health diagnosis," Durham said. "To all of you doctors and researchers, you are going to show the world that we can change the world of mental health. We don't need to be afraid of a diagnosis."
