UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk delivered the meeting’s opening remarks, affirming his confidence in the Depression Grand Challenge’s mission and underscoring the importance of sustaining ambitious, public-impact research amid recent disruptions to federal funding.

The UCLA STAND for Community Colleges Innovation Center completed its third year of research activities in March 2025, with the continuation notice arriving at UCLA in June. In a Q&A, ALACRITY Center Co-Director Kate Wolitzky-Taylor, PhD, outlines recent areas of emphasis, accomplishments, and next steps.

Today the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge launches a new website. The site features details about the DGC research and dissemination objectives, corresponding studies and projects, the unique operational playbook, organizational structure including stakeholders and advisors, values, recent news, and history of key milestones.

The UCLA Depression Grand Challenge appoints clinical psychologist Isabelle Lanser as its dedicated policy analyst to ensure DGC activities are in service of benefitting all.

The UCLA Depression Grand Challenge has established an advisory committee to help ensure its programs and decisions promote social justice and anti-racism. The inaugural DGC Social Justice Advisory Committee includes: Jeanne Miranda, chair, Gaby Aguilera, Denise Chavira, Nicole Green, Stan Huey, Tamar Kodish, Isabelle Lanser and Anna Lau.

The UCLA Depression Grand Challenge is the focus of a sponsored article in the April 2018 issue of New York Magazine. The article features detail about the approach to solving depression. This interconnected approach towards cutting the burden of depression in half by 2050 will change the scope of how society approaches problems of our time.

The 100K study is one of the four components of the Depression Grand Challenge and it offers the promise to reveal the underlying genetic, cognitive, social and environmental causes of depression.

On October 28, 2015, UCLA announced the official launch of the Depression Grand Challenge. The program is UCLA’s second Grand Challenge, following the ongoing Sustainable LA Grand Challenge.