19TH ANNUAL HOPE LUNCHEON SEMINAR

STRESS AND THE BRAIN: THE LINK BETWEEN STRESS AND DEPRESSION

HDRF held its 19th annual HOPE Luncheon Seminar on Wednesday, November 12 at The Plaza Hotel. The Luncheon gathered top experts to speak on the topic: “Stress and the Brain: The Link between Stress and Depression.”  The event brought together 250 supporters and raised over $650,000 for HDRF’s research.

Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF) Founder and Chair Audrey Gruss presented Broadway legend Audra McDonald with the 2025 HOPE Award for Mental Health Advocacy.

Gruss said that six-time Tony Award winning singer and actress did not have an easy road to greatness on the Great White Way. “Audra has been very open about her ongoing experience with depression, including a suicide attempt as a junior at Julliard. She has bravely shared her story and message of resilience with the media and serves as an advocate for at risk youth, making sure they get the support they need to build their own buffer against adversity.”

Audra McDonald delivered a moving acceptance speech that brought the whole room to their feet and many to tears.

McDonald recounted how after her suicide attempt, she spent a month at Gracie Square Hospital, “It was the darkest time of my life. But it was also the beginning of my healing.”

Decades later, pregnant with her second child, McDonald said she would pass Gracie Square on her way to the OB/GYN. “Every step past that hospital felt like a love letter to survival, a reminder that coming home to yourself isn’t about going back to who you were. It’s about becoming who you’re meant to be.”

Elyse Arons, CEO of Frances Valentine, accepted the 2025 Hope Corporate Visionary Award. She said the cause was extremely personal to her, since she lost her best friend and business partner Kate Spade to suicide in 2018.

She said, “I try to honor her legacy in everything we do at Frances Valentine. Hope for Depression’s commitment to advancing real science driven research to creating tangible paths to healing is vitally important, and I’m so proud to support this organization.”

Dr. James Murrough, Director of the Depression and Anxiety Center at Mount Sinai, outlined the link between stress and depression. In short bursts, stress keeps us alive and functioning, but when stress is low grade and chronic, it leads to burn-out, and burn-out is the first step to depression.

Dr. Murrough ended by asserting that we can counterbalance stress through outlook, optimism, and social support.

“All of these resilience factors are part of a mental health treatment, and also something you can work on in your families and your everyday life,” he said.

Dr. Huda Akil, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at the University of Michigan and a member of HDRF’s Depression Task Force, spoke about the concept of “stress fitness,” or the ability to anticipate, endure, and adapt to challenges efficiently. She also re-capped her lab’s work with college freshmen, where they use advanced tools to identify and prevent depression in at-risk students.

“Prevention must be the next frontier,” she stressed.

HDRF Executive Director Louisa Benton then took the podium to discuss HDRF’s community outreach and education efforts. She highlighted HDRF’s 2025 events including the 10th Annual Southampton Race of Hope and the 7th Annual Palm Beach Race of Hope, as well as the 3rd Annual Teen Race of Hope in New York City.

We would like to thank the incomparable Chuck Scarborough for being our Master of Ceremonies.

And thank you to all the HOPE Luncheon Co-Chairs who helped make the Luncheon a great success: Marchesa Barel di Sant’Albano, Danielle & Ronald M. Bradley, Christina & Brian Flaherty, Susan Gutfreund, Kim M. Heirston, Tania Higgins, Eleanora Kennedy, Kristen Maltese Krusen, Susan R. McCaw, Kitty & Bill McKnight, Peter S. Paine III, Barbara & Randall Smith, and Scott Snyder.

Thanks also to our top donors: 

Founder Sponsors: EGL Charitable Foundation, Alina de Almeida & John Paulson

Benefactor Sponsors: Abraham Fuchsberg Family Foundation, The Richard S. and Karen T. LeFrak Foundation, Barbara & Randall Smith, Michael Spolan

Diamond Sponsors: Maru M. Hagerty, Tania Higgins, Kristen Maltese Krusen, Privé-Swiss Retreat, Thomas C. Quick, Teresa & James Remez, and Barbera Hale Thornhill

Patron Donors: Marchesa Barel di Sant’ Albano, Danielle & Ronald M. Bradley, Nancy & Edmund M. Dunst / HUB International Northeast, Christina & Brian Flaherty, Jamee & Peter Gregory, Susan Gutfreund, Kim M. Heirston, The Josephberg Family, Eleanora Kennedy, Judy Lauder, Susan R. McCaw, Kitty & Bill McKnight, Stephanie Olmsted, Peter S. Paine III, and Scott Snyder

Thank you all for a truly memorable day!

To view more picture from the event, click here and here.