Florida Research Partnerships

Before becoming Sunshine from Darkness, NARSAD Florida was able to participate in the NARSAD National Research Partners Programs which allow donors to direct a major gift to a NARSAD scientist conducting research in a particular area of interest, geographical location or specific institution. The grants may be named in honor of the donor or as a memorial tribute. In recent years, three of our Sunshine From Darkness families have lost family members to mental illness. Sunshine From Darkness was able to endow these Young Investigator Awards to honor their memory, and to fight on against this most cruel and untimely kind of loss. "We shall not cease..."

The Alexander Van Rensselaer Award

Painting by Alexander Van Rensselaer

Alex Van Rensselaer was an artist, visionary and collector; he was the son of Alex and Sallie VanRensselaer, who have spearheaded NARSAD Florida activities on the east coast of Florida. Alex was a fine painter, a skillful competitor in both chess and billiards and a rated tennis player. He died in 2003 at the age of 35. The grant funded by NARSAD Florida to honor his memory went to Gilles D. Tamagnan, PhD for "Synthesis and In Vivo Evaluation of New Selective Antagonist for the Metabotropic Receptor Group."

The Alex Mendell Award

Alex Mendell was the grandson of the late Ira (Tubby) and Joan Mendell of Sarasota, long-time supporters of NARSAD Florida in Sarasota. At the time of his death in 2003, he was a sophomore at Tufts University, where he was a Tufts Community Union Senator, a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity, the Tufts Transgender Lesbian Gay Bisexual Collective and the alpine ski team. He was also co-chair of the Women's Union at Tufts. The grant honoring Alex Mendell's memory went to David C. Henderson, M.D. at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University for a placebo-controlled trial of Rosiglitazone for Clozapine-induced glucose metabolism impairment: Berman's Minimal Model Analysis.

The Patrick Alexander Coelingh Award

	Patrick Alexander Coelingh, the dearly missed son of Bunny and Bart

Patrick was born in The Hague, the Netherlands; at age two, he moved to Sarasota, Florida with his parents Bart & Bunny and his sister Suzanne. He attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and the University of South Florida. Patrick was interested in architecture and art history and he was a talented sculptor. His mother Bunny Coelingh is an active and valued supporter of NARSAD Florida. Her son died in 2003 at the age of only 28. The Young Investigator grant honoring his memory went to Peter Penzes, PhD of Northwestern University for research into the regulation of the serotonin signaling system.