Searching for A Way To Personalize Depression Treatment

Most depressed people must try several antidepressants before they find one that works for them. UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatrists are studying ways to  predict how people suffering from depression will respond to medications, in the hope that this information can eventually be used to personalize treatment for depression.  Also participating in the study are researchers at Columbia University in New York, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, and the head of UT Southwestern’s  Mood Disorders Research Program and Clinic, emphasizes the importance of identifying early indications of whether a particular treatment will work. “Depression is very complex and difficult to treat, and individual differences can impact the way medication works with a particular patient,” Trivedi said. “Which medication is taken makes a big difference to success, but there’s nothing to guide physicians in making that choice.”

Researchers hope the EMBARC investigation will identify the biomarkers that signal when an antidepressant is working.

The study is called EMBARC (Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response for Clinical Care).

You can read more about this study in the Newsroom at UT Southwestern’s website.

By Admin | Published in: Featured, In The Media, Mental Health | Tags: clinical trials, depression, depression tratment, embarc, treatment for depression