IU’S PESCOSOLIDO NAMED INAUGURAL ‘JIM IRSAY MENTAL HEALTH CHAMPION’

INDIANAPOLIS – Dr. Bernice Pescosolido, distinguished professor of sociology at Indiana University and founding director of IU’s Irsay Institute, has been named the inaugural Jim Irsay Mental Health Champion by Kicking The Stigma for her groundbreaking leadership and research on suicide, stigma, healthcare and the social networks that shape mental health treatment.

Kicking The Stigma is the Indianapolis Colts’ initiative to raise awareness about and end the stigma surrounding mental health. The Mental Health Champion award was created to honor late Colts owner Jim Irsay, who, with his daughters launched Kicking The Stigma in 2020. Since then, Kicking The Stigma has committed more than $32 million to expand treatment and research and raise awareness in Indiana and beyond.

“In addition to being one of the world’s experts on stigma in mental health and a tireless professor at IU, Bernice has been an invaluable resource to Kicking The Stigma and our efforts to change the dialogue around mental health,” said Kalen Jackson, Colts Owner & Chief Brand Officer and president of the Colts Foundation. “Her work and research focus on discovering evidence-based solutions to the mental health challenges faced by so many of our friends and neighbors, and she is more than deserving of this recognition.”

Trained as a medical sociologist at Yale, Pescosolido’s research focuses on how social networks and culture provide insights into health, illness and healing, and more specifically on four areas – stigma, suicide, healthcare use and healthcare systems. Her concerns have spanned local, national and international questions and problems, primarily targeting mental illness.

Regarding stigma, in 1996 she initiated the first major national study of mental health stigma in the U.S. in over 40 years, which produced some of the groundwork for the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health and the 2013 White House Conference on Mental Health.

An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, Pescosolido is internationally recognized for her research. Widely published, her work has earned numerous awards, including Yale’s Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal and the 2023 Simmel Award. She also advises national and global initiatives to reduce mental health stigma.

Pescosolido also is one of the founding directors of The Irsay Institute, created in 2021 by a gift from the Irsay family. “The Irsay” is dedicated to directing support and development of research and researchers interested in health and health care through outreach, education and research.

Friends and fans can learn more or donate at KickingTheStigma.org.

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