Dr. Glenda MacQueen will be the new mental health centre's interim director. (CBC)

The University of Calgary has announced the creation of a new centre devoted to research and education in mental health.

The centre is a partnership between the university, Alberta Health Services and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. The school is allocating $2 million to equip and staff the centre, while another $2 million has come from community donations.

Dr. Glenda MacQueen, an expert in mood disorders and changes in the brain, was recruited from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., to lead the Mental Health Centre for Research and Education.

"Almost every psychiatric illness develops before age 20. If we can educate youth about what they are experiencing and break the stigma around mental illness, they may be more willing to seek help when problems first begin," she said Friday, pointing out one in five Canadians experiences a mental illness in their lifetime.

One of them is Jamal Ali, 53, who had his first breakdown at age 9 but wasn't diagnosed with schizophrenia until he was 25.

"I was in a state of denial," he said. "I couldn't accept the fact that I was mentally ill and I lived in isolation in my parents' home for 20 years with a diagnosed, untreated illness."

Ali now uses services and support provided by Potential Place, a program that helps members hold independent lives outside of hospital settings.

Gord Young, the program's executive director, said the biggest challenge is working with people who live for years without treatment or diagnosis.

"There is a large gap of years where they have become quite dysfunctional to society and as a result, I have to work really hard with them to get them back to just a normal state, where we can start doing the rehabilitation."

The new centre, which the U of C hopes to have operational within the year, will specialize in prevention, detection and early intervention in mental illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia, and addictions.

"What are the first warning signs? What do people need to be aware of? … We think that by focusing at that end of the spectrum, we'll be able to recognize the illnesses earlier and ultimately, we'll be able to intervene and prevent them from going on to be chronic and so costly," said MacQueen, who will act as the centre's interim director.