The Mailman School of Public Health has opened the new Susan Lasker Brody Center for Population Mental Health, a hub for research, education, policy analysis, and advocacy that will focus on preventing mental illness and promoting resilience and well-being.
Made possible by a $15 million bequest from Susan Lasker Brody ’97PH, one of the largest gifts in the school’s history, the center will be codirected by Kathleen Sikkema, chair of the school’s sociomedical sciences department, and Michael Sparer, chair of its health policy and management department.
Brody, the granddaughter of pioneering public-health advocate Mary Lasker, who cofounded the American Cancer Society and led the Birth Control Federation of America (now Planned Parenthood), helped to conceive the center before her passing in 2022. Her bequest will support a robust research program, fund an endowed chair to lead the center, and provide scholarships for master’s and doctoral students.
