About the Institute
Establishing the Institute
Led by Diego A. Pizzagalli, the Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries at UC Irvine established thanks to a transformative $55 million gift from the estate of Audrey Steele Burnand. This generous contribution, one of the largest for depression research at a university, propels UCI to the forefront of understanding and treating depression. The center focuses on interdisciplinary research, leveraging UCI's strengths in biology, medicine, engineering, and social sciences.
About Director Diego Pizzagalli
Dr. Pizzagalli received his M.A. (1995) and Ph.D. (1998) from the University of Zurich, Switzerland and did post-doctoral work at University of Wisconsin, Madison. From 2002-2010 he was a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, where he served as the John and Ruth Hazel Associate Professor of the Social Sciences. In 2010, he was recruited to McLean Hospital to serve as the Founding Director of the Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, as well as the Director of the McLean Imaging Center. Until 12/2024, Dr. Pizzagalli was a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Since 2024, he is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford, UK. In 2025, he joined the University of California at Irvine as the Founding Director of the Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, and the Noel Drury MD Endowed Chair. He is also the Center Director for a Silvio O. Conte Center for Basic Translational Mental Health Research focused on the neurobiology of and novel treatment targets for depression.
The main goals of his research are to improve our understanding of the psychological, environmental, and neurobiological factors associated with mood disorders, particularly major depression. To this end, he integrates behavioral, electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and, more recently, pharmacological approaches and preclinical models to investigate three putative endophenotypes of depression: anhedonia (loss of pleasure), increased stress sensitivity, and executive function deficits.
Dr. Pizzagalli has published over 370 papers and chapters and serves on the editorial board of 13 journals. He is the Editor-In-Chief for the journal Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience.
Among several awards, he received the Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychophysiology from the Society for Psychophysiological Research (2006), the Early Career Award from the EEG and Clinical Neuroscience Society (2007), the Anne M. Cataldo Excellence in Mentoring Award from McLean Hospital (2015), two MERIT awards from the National Institute of Mental Health (2016, 2022), The Stuart T. Hauser, M.D. PhD. Mentorship Award in Psychiatry from Harvard Medical School (2017), the Joel Elkes Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2017), a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award (2018), the Anna-Monika-Prize for Research in the Neurobiology and Treatment of Depressive Disorders (2019), the Gerald L. Klerman Senior Investigator Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (2023), the Christensen Fellowship from the University of Oxford (2024), and a Visiting Fellowship from New College from the University of Oxford (2026). Since 2019, he has been a Highly Cited Researcher according to Web of Science (awarded to 0.1%, of the world's researchers across 21 research fields).
About Audrey Steele Burnand
Audrey Steele Burnand was a well-known philanthropist based in Newport Beach who made transformational contributions to the arts, education, environmental conservation and scientific and medical research at institutions throughout southern California. Her parents, Harry and Grace Steele, were also respected philanthropists who made many contributions to conservation organizations. Ms. Burnand’s father-in-law was A.A. Burnand, Jr., who played a key role in the development of Borrego Springs in the first part of the twentieth century. Ms. Burnand passed away on June 27, 2020. During her lifetime, she provided gifts to support Alzheimer’s disease research in UCI MIND and gifts to create and support the Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center.
About Dr. Noel Drury
Dr. Noel Drake Drury, born in 1944 in Memphis, Tennessee, is a distinguished psychiatrist with a career spanning several decades. His academic journey began at UCLA, where he majored in English. Later, in 1971, he graduated from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He then completed his internship in 1972 and psychiatric residency in 1975, both at the University of Southern California, establishing his specialization in psychiatry.
Dr. Drury maintained a private outpatient practice in Newport Beach from 1975 to 1990 and served as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UC Irvine from 1987 to 1990. He was also affiliated with Hoag Memorial Hospital, where he contributed as a speaker for programs on overcoming depression. In 1990, Dr. Drury relocated to Kalispell, Montana, where he worked at the Western Montana Community Mental Health Center until his retirement in 2012. His focus was on treating people with serious mental illnesses and combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. He also provided inpatient care at Pathways Treatment Center and Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell.
Throughout his career, Dr. Drury received several accolades, including the American Psychiatric Association’s Profile in Courage Award for his efforts in protecting Montana's public mental health system from private interests . He served as president of both the Montana Psychiatric Association and Montana Medical Association and collaborated with the Montana Bar Association to achieve tort reforms. Dr. Drury was a founding member of the California Institute for Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and trained with Dr. Habib Davanloo in intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy techniques. His commitment to mental health and community service has left a lasting impact on the field of psychiatry and the communities he served.
Strategic Direction
The Vision for the Depression Institute is:
To transform our understanding of depression’s origins, treatment, and prevention, while enhancing societal-well being.
The Mission for the Depression Institute is:
To create a vibrant, inclusive, and interdisciplinary community of scientists and clinicians devoted to (1) fundamentally improving our understanding, treatment and prevention of depression, (2) training the next generation of depression scientists and clinicians, and (3) improving the life of individuals with lived experiences.
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Goal 1
Prioritize research that integrates multiple units of analysis (e.g. genes → molecules → cells → systems/circuits → physiology → behaviors → self-reports) to probe mechanisms implicated in the emergence of depressive phenotypes and identify novel treatment targets.
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Goal 2
Promote a bidirectional, bench-to-bedside framework.
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Goal 3
Prioritize research ultimately enabling personalized treatments as well as identification of individuals at increased risk for a first episode of depression (e.g., offspring of parents with depression) or increased risk for relapse (e.g., individuals with past depression).
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Goal 4
Improve our understanding of social determinants of depression risk, maintenance, and relapse.
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Goal 5
Provide the infrastructure and framework to bring together current UCI faculty, trainees, and clinicians pursuing research or clinical work related to depression.
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Goal 6
Recruit faculty that optimally synergize with and complement existing research and clinical services focused on depression.
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Goal 7
Create an inclusive, respectful, and vibrant training environment for UCI undergraduate, graduate, and medical students as well as postdoctoral trainees and early career faculty.
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Goal 8
Be a leader in outreach activities related to depression to the public, with special emphasis on underserved communities.
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Goal 9
Be a catalyst for philanthropic activities related to depression research, treatments, and prevention.
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Goal 10
Foster a dynamic research community that generates IP opportunities leading to additional revenues for laboratories, the Institute, and UCI.
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Goal 11
Serve as an incubator to foster productive collaborations with industry.
Have Questions about the Institute?
Institute Leadership
Diego A. Pizzagalli,Ph.D.
Director
dpizzaga@hs.uci.edu
Amy Ruth
Chief Administrative Officer
aruth@uci.edu