Milken Institute Announces Spin-Off of Breakthrough Discoveries for thriving with Bipolar Disorder to Continue Long-Term Growth in Accelerating Scientific Understanding of Bipolar Disorder

Today, the Milken Institute announced the spin-off of Breakthrough Discoveries for thriving with Bipolar Disorder (BD²) to continue its long-term growth in accelerating scientific understanding of bipolar disorder. Designed and incubated at the Milken Institute in partnership with philanthropic investors, BD² has become the largest collaboratively funded organization for bipolar disorder research in the world.

More than 40 million people worldwide are affected by bipolar disorder, experiencing symptoms from mania to depression, and often lack the treatments they need to lead fulfilling lives. With a storied history of accelerating biomedical research and development through strategic philanthropy, the Milken Institute designed BD² to advance progress in a research area with significant unmet needs. Cara Altimus, who has overseen BD² at the Milken Institute, will serve as the new independent entity's CEO.

“With this move, the Milken Institute celebrates the work of one of our most successful strategic philanthropy programs to date, and we thank the BD² team members for their commitment to important scientific research,” said Melissa Stevens, executive vice president of Strategic Philanthropy at the Milken Institute. “The Strategic Philanthropy team remains steadfast in our mission of helping philanthropists and nonprofits build research fields, guide program development, and influence philanthropic capital for real-world impact. The Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration team remains dedicated to advancing its work with renewed focus and momentum.” 

This spin-off is yet another example of the Milken Institute spearheading research for a disease area that has led to a transformative impact on the science community: The Melanoma Research Alliance was also formed under the auspices of the Milken Institute and went on to become the world’s largest private nonprofit funder of melanoma research.    

“We are grateful for the Milken Institute’s role in launching and developing BD²,” said Cara Altimus, managing director and now BD² CEO. " Our work with our partners, scientists, clinicians, philanthropists, and people with lived experience continues unchanged as we accelerate the science of bipolar disorder. We look forward to continuing our collaborative approach to realize our vision of a day where all people with bipolar disorder lead thriving lives.”

Since its inception, BD² has researched previously unknown scientific foundations of bipolar disorder; built the largest collaborative scientific network for bipolar disorder focused on applying learnings to evidence-based, personalized treatment; and collected the largest and most diverse set of brain samples to expand the understanding of the disorder.

Learn more about the Milken Institute’s work in science philanthropy at MilkenInstitute.org and explore the work of BD² at BipolarDiscoveries.org.