The HDRF held its Inaugural NY Seminar and Luncheon at the Plaza to support its mission of funding the most cutting-edge research regarding treatment and prevention of depression. Audrey Gruss, who founded the Hope for Depression Research Foundation in 2006 in honor of her mother, Hope, said, “If I couldn’t help cure my mother of this emotional imbalance in her lifetime, I am committed to do everything in my power to find answers in my lifetime.”

Supportive attendees shared this attitude, as well as a joint admiration of Gruss and her endeavors, as they joined co-chairs Coralie Charriol Paul and Lauren Bush for a profound and informative afternoon. Chuck Scarborough emceed, and Dr. Steven Roose, Samantha Boardman, Linda Hamilton, Muffie Potter Aston, Amy Fine Collins, Sharon Bush, Geoffrey Bradfield, Marcia Mishaan, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, Zani Gugelmann, and Fabiola Beracasa were among the attendees.

During the luncheon, Dr. Steven Roose, a leading U.S. expert in depression, discussed how depression impacts the physical body, and Linda Hamilton shared her poignant and inspirational story of her lifelong battle with Bipolar Disorder. Gruss’s strength and determination is itself a kind of treatment, as the supportive atmosphere she created left attendees with a sense of uplift and motivation.