Bipolar disorder affects millions worldwide, yet scientific progress has lagged behind many other areas of medicine. Funding gaps, fragmented research efforts, and a lack of biological clarity have slowed the development of new, targeted treatments. Breakthrough Discoveries for Thriving with Bipolar Disorder (BD²) was created to change that trajectory. In this conversation, Cara Altimus, PhD, CEO of BD², reflects on the organization’s collaborative funding model, its transition to independence, and the data infrastructure required to translate scientific discovery into personalized care.

What is Breakthrough Discoveries for thriving with Bipolar Disorder (BD²) and why is it important?

BD² is a new nonprofit that serves as a global network uniting science, data, and people with lived experience to accelerate precision medicine in bipolar disorder. We are focused on empowering people, families, and innovators with the tools and understanding needed to turn breakthrough discoveries into lasting care. Decades of insufficient funding and siloed research created huge knowledge gaps that have limited biological understanding, diagnostic accuracy, and meaningful interventions. This has left millions of people living with bipolar disorder without the tools to be well. BD² is taking these challenges head on with the goal of developing personalized care so that all people living with bipolar disorder can thrive.

To drive this transformation, we have committed more than $105 million in grants to close fundamental gaps in our scientific understanding of the disorder. Our four programs, the BD² Integrated Network, Discovery Research Grants, Brain Omics, and Genetics Platforms function as a unified ecosystem to share data, methods, and resources across initiatives and the bipolar disorder research community. The insights generated span foundational science through clinical interventions which allows rapid translation of findings to people. The structure of BD² has the potential to change biomedical research writ large.

Our collaborative, open-science approach is designed to transform and dramatically shorten the time it takes for scientific breakthroughs to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people living with bipolar disorder worldwide.

How did BD² come to be? How does BD²’s collaborative funding model enable the bold science at BD²?

The initial concept for BD² started back in 2019 when our team was at the Milken Institute. Recognizing that bipolar disorder research had been historically siloed and underfunded, the Sergey Brin Family Foundation was interested in creating a scientific strategy for bipolar disorder. We conducted a comprehensive landscape analysis to identify the field's most critical scientific gaps through a collaborative and rigorous process engaging over 100 scientists, leveraging inputs from 3,000+ individuals living with bipolar disorder, and convening a 25-member world-class scientific advisory committee to prioritize high-impact research areas. In the process, we met other families who cared deeply about expanding knowledge and clinical options for people with bipolar disorder. Out of these relationships, the philanthropic collaborative was born. We established the new organization in 2022, and our first grants were made on World Bipolar Day in March of 2023.

Why the spin-out now, and what will the independence allow your team to do?

BD² has been a very successful model of driving innovation and growing a community. As we pass the three-year mark, we have newly identified genes, new potential treatments, more than 1200 individuals who are part of our studies, and a network that spans the globe. The spinout to an independent nonprofit organization gives our network more runway to grow the mission and bring on new partners to be part of the journey with us. While our structure has evolved, our work with our partners, scientists, clinicians, philanthropists, and people with lived experience remains focused on accelerating the science of bipolar disorder so that we can improve diagnosis, care, and the lives of those living with bipolar disorder.

As we look ahead, we are very excited about expanding the network to include new ideas, understanding the intersections of other disorders, and creating an engine of innovation that is directly connected to the community. On March 30th (World Bipolar Day), we are releasing the largest dataset for bipolar disorder ever shared. This release brings together research and clinical data which will set us up to attract new innovators beyond our funded researchers. Ultimately, this work will continue to cultivate a community of collaborators that drive breakthroughs and bring us closer to the right care, for the right person, at the right time.

In the context of behavioral health innovation, where is there greater potential for research and development?

In the rapidly evolving landscape of behavioral health innovation, the greatest potential for research and development lies in precision medicine and the integration of real-time clinical data with deep biological exploration. We designed BD² to bring foundational research and real-life improvements under the same roof so that we can rapidly translate new discoveries into improved lives. The BD² Integrated Network embodies this potential through a groundbreaking, two-pronged approach connecting bipolar disorder research directly with clinical practice. By combining a traditional longitudinal cohort study of 4,000 participants with a learning health network, we are uniquely positioned to iteratively improve health outcomes and optimize clinical interventions in near-real time. This study collects information like comprehensive lifetime diagnoses and medication information and pairs it with blood tests and neuroimaging with the hope that we can uncover new biological understanding. Over time we have expanded the study to integrate tools like a Fitbit to link sleep and activity data and an app that people can download to share insights from their day to day lives. In total, this network brings a comprehensive data approach to innovation in mental health.

By learning more about participants’ daily lives and connecting them with clinicians and researchers who share data across sites, we are accelerating what we can learn about the biology of bipolar disorder, determining biologically defined subtypes, and providing a scientific basis for new, targeted treatments.

What is important to know about moving from research to practice when it comes to bipolar disorder? What barriers stand in the way, and what can we do about them?

Sadly, there have been no new therapies specifically developed for bipolar disorder since lithium was approved by the FDA in 1970. And while new therapies generally take the better part of two decades from discovery to being available to patients — we are committed to driving new discovery and dramatically collapsing the timeline required to reach people. The primary barriers have been a fragmented care system and the immense heterogeneity of the condition; bipolar disorder presents differently in everyone, yet the field has often relied on a one-size-fits-all approach.

BD² is working to break down those barriers by sharing standardized data across a global network of scientists and clinicians to turn biological insights into actionable care. By integrating a large-scale collaborative longitudinal study with real-world clinical practice, we are not just studying the disorder — we are building a feedback loop that ensures the next discovery reaches those with bipolar disorder in years, not decades.

Finally, stigma remains a challenge in conditions like bipolar disorder. We believe that by rapidly expanding the science, creating solutions that work, and having the data that can inform what will be most impactful for whom, we will be able to provide the promise that reduces or even eliminates stigma.

How can others get involved?

We welcome innovators and community partners who are committed to collaboration.

For individuals living with bipolar disorder, our BD² Integrated Network sites are actively recruiting for the longitudinal cohort study — the most in-depth data collection ever undertaken in the field. Visit our website and contact us if you’re interested in participating: bipolardiscoveries.org

Our shift to become an independent, nonprofit organization makes it easier for new funders to be part of our journey. We welcome individuals and foundations interested in creating new solutions for bipolar disorder to reach out and join us.

We also invite everyone to stay up to date with the exciting science coming out of the network by signing up for our newsletter by visiting bipolardiscoveries.org or following us on LinkedIn, Bluesky, X, and YouTube.