Health

Clinic renamed for Boston-born actress Eliza Dushku Palandjian and husband after $7.5 mil donation to Brigham & Women’s

The couple's donation will support the clinic, as well as research into new therapies for substance use disorders.

(From left to right) Robert S.D. Higgins, MD, MSHA, President, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Executive Vice President, Mass General Brigham; Samata Sharma, MD, Medical Director, Eliza Dushku Palandjian and Peter Palandjian Bridge Clinic; Joji Suzuki, MD, Director, Division of Addiction Psychiatry and Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program; Eliza Dushku Palandjian; Peter Palandjian. Angela Rowlings

By Chloe Courtney Bohl

August 2, 2023

Brigham and Women’s hospital announced a $7.5 million donation from actress Eliza Dushku Palandjian and her husband Peter Palandjian on Tuesday.

$5 million of the Palandjians’ donation will support treatment for substance use disorders, as well as The Brigham Fund, a general fund that helps sustain the hospital.

The remaining $2.5 million will be used to establish the new Palandjian Family Distinguished Chair in Medicine position, which Charles A. Morris — the hospital’s interim chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs, and the Palandjians’ longtime physician — will inaugurate.

The Palandjians have been donating to Brigham and Women’s since 2018, when they gave $1.25 million to the hospital’s Bridge Clinic, an inpatient and outpatient clinic for patients with substance use disorders. The clinic will be renamed the Eliza Dushku Palandjian and Peter Palandjian Bridge Clinic in recognition of the couple’s latest donation.

“Peter and Eliza hope having their names associated with the clinic will lessen the stigma around substance use disorders,” the hospital wrote in its announcement.

Dushku Palandjian is a Boston-born actress best known for her role as Faith in the cult classic series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” According to a press release from Brigham and Women’s, she is currently completing a graduate program in counseling and clinical mental health, with a concentration in psychedelic-assisted therapies for addiction and mental health disorders.

“Our gift is about honoring, supporting, and inviting in everyone who might come to the clinic,” Dushku Palandjian said in the release. “We’re thrilled to support the committed professionals who treat addiction with a multidisciplinary approach using evidence-based sciences together with holistic integration.”

“These principles have benefited me in my own recovery,” added Dushku Palandjian, who has spoken publicly about her experiences with addiction and recovery.

The Palandjians’ donation will be used in part to support research by Joji Suzuki, MD, director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry, into the use of psychedelic therapies in addiction treatment.

“Clinical studies are showing that psychedelic-assisted therapy can significantly reduce suffering in measurable ways,” Dushku Palandjian said. “Trauma, treatment-resistant depression, addiction, end-of-life palliative care — mental health in general — this scientific field holds incredible promise.”