NEW YORK, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF), the leading nonprofit dedicated to depression research, will honor Grammy and Academy Award winner Melissa Etheridge at its Annual HOPE Luncheon Seminar at The Plaza Hotel on November 10.

Marking HDRF's 20^th anniversary, the event will focus on "20 Years of Research: Emerging New Treatments," where top experts in medicine will discuss potential new treatments for depression resulting from the Foundation's unique research program. Television journalist and author Chuck Scarborough will be Master of Ceremonies.

The keynote speaker is Husseini Manji, MD, who helped develop the groundbreaking drug Spravato, a ketamine-like nasal spray used to treat depression and suicidal ideation, when he was Global Therapeutic Head for Neuroscience at Johnson & Johnson. He is now Co-Chair of the UK Government Mental Health Mission.

Etheridge will accept the 2026 Hope Award for Mental Health Advocacy. She founded The Etheridge Foundation to support groundbreaking scientific research into new plant-based medicines and psychedelic treatments for opioid use disorder.

HDRF Founder and Chair Audrey Gruss said: "Twenty years ago, I founded HDRF to bring velocity to the stalled field of depression research.  We urgently need new treatments for depression to move away from the typical, one-size-fits-all SSRI medications which do not work for half of patients.   Now, HDRF is testing new treatment ideas in pilot clinical trials, driving the field steadily toward precision treatment for every patient. I am grateful to the supporters who have made it possible." 

The program will also highlight discoveries by HDRF's acclaimed Depression Task Force, an international consortium of top neuroscientists established by HDRF in 2012 to accelerate depression research. Today, it conducts the most advanced depression research in the country.

Definium Therapeutics will accept the 2026 Corporate Visionary Award for its work investigating psychedelic treatments through advances in neuroscience, clinical research and evidence-based data.

The HDRF Clinical Trial/Drug Discovery Program Founders Group will accept the 2026 Hope Community Award for helping launch the foundation's first pilot clinical trials. Honorees include Deborah and Steven Barnes, Brent R. Nicklas Foundation/Richard Roeder, D3, Jamee and Peter Gregory, Pauline Pitt and Barbara and Randall Smith.

For more information, visit www.HopeForDepression.org/events

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SOURCE Hope for Depression Research Foundation