Sloan Leonard, M.D., and his wife, Mary Lois, hit rock bottom in 2016.

The couple had just lost their only son to bipolar disorder and the unfortunate side effects of an antipsychotic medication that wreaked havoc on his pancreas. Trey was a freshman at Washington and Lee University in Virginia when the extreme highs and lows of his psychiatric condition derailed him. For the next 30 years, his existence was punctuated by flights of mania and run-ins with the police, until he ultimately died when he was just 49 years old.

“Trey lived a life of instability, was in and out of mental hospitals, and was probably confined more than 20 times,” Dr. Leonard said. “But the greatest blessing was that he never hurt anyone else during his illness.”

Nearing the 10th anniversary of his son’s death, Dr. Leonard (Medicine ’65) reflected on his son’s life, which he and his wife – and several cherished family friends – have honored with generous gifts to his medical school alma mater UT Southwestern, including more than $2 million earmarked for behavioral health research.

Committed to creating a brighter future for families dealing with mental illness, the Leonards – through their support of UT Southwestern research – hope to break the unyielding code of bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions so no other families endure losing a loved one to the devastation of mental illness.

Spiraling down

Two years after graduating from UT Southwestern, Dr. Leonard and his wife welcomed a vibrant son into the world, with no trace of the mood disorder that would so rapidly overtake him after leaving home for college.

Living in Dallas for the first 18 years of life, Trey excelled in school and was named a National Merit Finalist during his senior year at Highland Park High School, where he played tennis and varsity soccer.

“Our son had the most idyllic childhood you could imagine,” Dr. Leonard said. “He was brilliant, good-looking, and athletic, and our family traveled the world. He had a heck of a background.”

More than 1,000 miles from home during his first semester at college, however, Trey began skipping class, drinking, and behaving recklessly. School counselors mistakenly chalked it up to separation anxiety.

In 1974, after several years of practicing medicine and studying finance at Southern Methodist University, Dr. Leonard started a highly successful laboratory testing company, Dallas Pathology Associates, which did blood work, conducted urinalyses, and tested tissue samples for small hospitals that didn’t have a pathologist on staff. The company went public in 1997 and was eventually bought by Quest Diagnostics.

His professional success, however, was overshadowed by heartache at home.

“During the onset of Trey’s bipolar disorder, my wife – who has a master’s in psychology – and I sought all the help we could find,” Dr. Leonard said. “The care that was given traditionally, you could describe it as the ‘dark ages.’ During my senior year, for instance, I did a psychiatry-focused semester in London, where they were using LSD and electroconvulsive therapy. The treatment was brutal, but the reality is that bipolar disorder is a horrible, punishing illness in itself.”

Driving discovery

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 40 million people worldwide suffer from bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression.

With support from the Leonard family and others, researchers at UT Southwestern have uncovered the basic neurobiology underlying mental illnesses and are translating research findings into novel approaches for therapeutic treatments.

Current studies supported by the John Sloan “Trey” Leonard III Fund for Bipolar Disorder Research are investigating how alterations in gene expression and neuroplasticity contribute to bipolar disorder and other conditions, including schizophrenia, autism, depression, anxiety, and addiction.

"Today we have some great researchers at UT Southwestern, but we know that the answer can only be found through more rigorous research and training," Dr. Leonard said.

Beyond the lab, there are welcome developments for the psychiatric population of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.

Leading the way

UT Southwestern's new Chair of Psychiatry, Tarek Rajji, M.D., has his eye on growing the Department in much the same way that UT Southwestern has experienced extraordinary growth.

“Psychiatry at UT Southwestern already has tremendous areas of strength, especially on the basic science end,” Dr. Rajji said. “My vision is to build on these strengths and expand clinical research toward discovering new treatments for patients with heretofore intractable mental health conditions.”

To that end, Dr. Rajji is recruiting a senior bipolar disorder specialist experienced in both clinical care and research to advance new methods to predict mood changes for patients experiencing wildly fluctuating moods and extreme disinhibition – the hallmarks of bipolar disorder – and treat them more effectively.

While it’s too late for Trey, Dr. Leonard dreams of a future when bipolar disorder is a curable or easily treated disease so people living with it can lead happy, fulfilling lives.

“The need is huge, not just because of my personal story with our son,” Dr. Leonard said. “For him and many others, I want to see UT Southwestern at the forefront of a cure.”

• Dr. Rajji holds the Stanton Sharp Distinguished Chair in Psychiatry.