Every one of us knows someone whose life has been altered by stroke, dementia or mental illness. At Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, we understand a dynamic approach is needed to find innovative treatments for these and other challenging brain conditions and disorders.

This is why our vision for the new Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre will capitalize on the power of bringing together experts from across a full range of disciplines under one roof to work toward a singular goal: taking on the biggest threats to brain health of our time.

This hub for research synergy and innovative care will be unlike any other — and it is only possible because of donors like you.

Thanks to the remarkable support of our community, Sunnybrook will soon break ground on the state-of-the-art Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre, the first collaborative space of its kind in Canada.

This new 121,000-square-foot facility, will allow Sunnybrook to embed research into patient care, to apply research in real time, and to offer the best possible care for people at all stages of life.

Neurologists will work alongside psychiatrists. Neurosurgeons will team up with brain imaging specialists. Without barriers, the potential for discovery is limitless.

Sunnybrook’s community has contributed more than $60 million toward this vision, and we are pleased to report that the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is committing up to an additional $60 million. A provincial resource for mental health care and research, the building will house adult and youth inpatient mental health care, serving needs across the age spectrum, and making Sunnybrook one of the largest youth mental health service providers in the Greater Toronto Area.

Brain pathways are connected and complex; targeting the ‘right’ pathways may help us discover new treatments of the future.

“The major brain afflictions of our time — mood disorder, stroke and dementia — are all interrelated,” says Dr. Anthony Levitt, chief of the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program. “So it makes sense for us to understand and treat them with meaningful collaboration between specialities.”

Here’s a closer look at what’s inside the Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre:

• The Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation, the world’s first centre to offer a complete range of neuromodulation treatments under one roof, where clinicians will use the latest image-guided therapies to reset faulty brain circuits or destroy disease. This includes focused ultrasound, now in clinical trials for patients diagnosed with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, treatment-resistant major depression, Alzheimer’s disease, brain cancer and others. A North American-first trial in deep brain simulation for alcohol use disorder, and a first-in-Canada trial investigating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are investigating novel treatments for the future.
• The Murphy Family Centre for Mental Health, where mental illnesses will be treated with the same compassion and understanding as other medical conditions. The connectivity between the brain, body and mind will be central in determining personalized patient care. Inpatient units for adults and youth will offer advanced clinical facilities that include home-like single-patient suites, a gym, a classroom and outdoor courtyard.
• Multidisciplinary clinics where research will directly impact outpatient care in stroke, memory, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), traumatic brain injury, sleep and cognition.
• Fresh Start, an intensive day-treatment program to help adolescents who are recovering from mood, anxiety or psychotic disorders transition back to school.
• Ontario’s first Circadian Sleep Centre with sleep rooms dedicated to round-the-clock testing.
• Plus: a secure main floor outdoor space for psychiatric in-patients, an exercise facility for large-scale research projects on the connection between fitness and brain health, and a rooftop garden.
• The centre has been designed to accommodate additional floors in the future, to ensure expansion is seamless and cost efficient when the opportunity arises.