Key takeaways
Brandon Nelson, a 26-year-old aerospace engineer and 2014 UCLA graduate, died by suicide in 2018 at a state-licensed facility that his family says promised to deliver quality medical care.
His parents, Rose and Allen Nelson, are using funds from a wrongful death settlement they received to improve mental health care, discover treatments to prevent serious mental illness (SMI), and more strictly regulate private facilities that may make fraudulent claims about the kind of care they provide.
The Nelsons’ $2.4 million gift enables UCLA Health to establish an endowed fellowship in translational and clinical neuroscience and provides immediate funding to accelerate the first award.
The Brandon Nelson Fellowship in Translational and Clinical Neuroscience is a program designed to cultivate generations of leaders focused on understanding the biology and clinical treatment of SMIs, including psychotic and mood disorders.
Rose and Allen Nelson have made a $2.4 million commitment to UCLA Health to establish and endow the Brandon Nelson Fellowship in Translational and Clinical Neuroscience in the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA in memory of their late son, Brandon. The gift also provides immediate funding to accelerate the first award.
The fellowship will support advanced neuropsychiatry research focused on psychosis and other serious mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Marder, a distinguished professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an attending psychiatrist at UCLA’s Psychosis Clinic; Michael Green, a distinguished professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences; and Dr. Daniel Geschwind, UCLA’s Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics, Neurology and Psychiatry.
Courtesy of Rose Nelson
Brandon Nelson
Jointly administered by UCLA Health and the Semel Institute, the fellowship aims to foster research to develop treatments that can prevent or change the course of severe psychiatric illnesses and mood disorders. Marder, Green and Geschwind will create a bench-to-bedside interdisciplinary training environment for physician- and nonphysician-neuroscientists to link genetics, neurobiology and neurodevelopmental processes with clinical research.
“UCLA Health is deeply grateful to Rose and Allen Nelson for their generosity, and we are honored to name this fellowship in memory of Brandon,” said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health and CEO of its hospital system. “The Brandon Nelson Fellowship in Translational and Clinical Neuroscience will have far-reaching influence on the career paths of a new generation of investigators who can connect genetic and basic neuroscience discovery to the development of clinical interventions.”
Brandon, a 26-year-old aerospace engineer and 2014 UCLA graduate, died by suicide in 2018 after experiencing a psychotic break and being housed at a California-licensed residential facility that had promised quality mental health care. Rose and Allen Nelson sued the organization for wrongful death and received an $11 million settlement.
“Over a three-month period, my family experienced the worst of California’s and our nation’s private-pay mental health system,” Allen Nelson said. “I subsequently vowed to not only advocate for the passing of stringent legislation in California to regulate the mental health industry, but to use the settlement we received to fund and improve mental health care and discover treatments to prevent serious mental illness. UCLA’s Semel Institute is one of the premier centers for brain research, and we could not support a better institution. Brandon would be pleased knowing that his tragedy has enabled the support of future leaders in the field of neuroscience who will find cures to alleviate the painful impact serious mental illness has on the patient, their family members, friends and society. We hope our investment in this enduring fellowship will help other families avoid experiences like ours.”
Courtesy of Rose Nelson
Allen and Rose Nelson
Marder, whose research focuses on improving the pharmacological and psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia, said: “This was a terrible situation that didn’t have to happen. It is our hope that the advanced research made possible by the Brandon Nelson Fellowship will result in better understanding of serious mental illness and the discovery of treatments to prevent and change the course.”
UCLA, through the work of physicians and physician-scientists like Marder, Green, Geschwind and others, is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with psychotic disorders.
“The Brandon Nelson Fellowship in Translational and Clinical Neuroscience will be a vital resource for young neuroscientists and an enduring tribute to Brandon that will hopefully prevent situations like his,” said Dr. Helena Hansen, professor and interim chair of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Geffen School of Medicine and the Semel Institute’s interim director. “Our hearts and our profound gratitude are with Rose and Allen Nelson and their sons, Trent and Justin.”