Baszucki Group gives McLean Hospital $20 million for a metabolic psychiatry center

Baszucki Group, the philanthropy of Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki and author Jan Ellison Baszucki, is giving McLean Hospital $20 million to establish the McLean Center for Metabolic Psychiatry, Mass General Brigham announced on October 21.

McLean, a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, is a member of Mass General Brigham and a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. The announcement says the grant also supports medical education and training co-led by McLean and MH², a clinical practice, training and education hub.

What is metabolic psychiatry?

The study of how metabolism affects brain function and mental health. Neurologists have used metabolic approaches to treat epilepsy for more than a century, the announcement notes, while applying them to psychiatric illness is "an emerging area of study and practice." The best-known approach is ketogenic therapy, a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet used under medical supervision.

The hospital says a growing body of research points to the potential of such treatments in depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. We have not reviewed that research, and the announcement reports no outcome data of McLean's own.

What will the center do?

Clinical care, research and training. Dost Öngür, MD, PhD, chief of McLean's Psychotic Disorders Division, will direct it. He described it as "the first mental healthcare service focused on ketogenic therapy within a larger, established institution," a claim we have not checked, and said, "The center will demonstrate the feasibility of integrated metabolic care."

The center is a flagship of the newly launched Global Network for the Advancement of Metabolic Psychiatry (MetPsy), which offers researchers and clinicians collaboration, shared resources, accredited courses and clinical tools. Baszucki Group provides MetPsy's foundational support. Kirk Nylen, PhD, MetPsy's executive director, said the network "was created to be that unifying catalyst."

Why does the family fund this field?

For personal reasons, by its own account. Jan Ellison Baszucki, co-founder of Baszucki Group, said metabolic treatment "has restored the health and future of our son Matthew" and said she hopes other funders will join. The announcement says a primary focus of Baszucki Group, launched in 2021, is work at the intersection of metabolism, psychiatry and neuroscience.

What should donors and boards ask?

Funding a new clinical approach often means paying for the care and the evidence at once. In our view, a gift that builds both care and research should say how results will be measured and published. The announcement gives no payment schedule, timeline or evaluation plan. For another family-backed push into a field of medicine, see Sergey Brin's autism research network; for a gift that built a research institute, see the Mellowes family's $50 million to the Medical College of Wisconsin.