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NIMH study will explore trauma-related mental illness
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The NIMH recently announced it will provide $21 million in funding over 5 years for a study on the development of mental disorders that develop following trauma.
“Trauma-related disorders affect millions of Americans and are a central concern for the health and security of the nation,” Farris Tuma, ScD, chief of NIMH’s Traumatic Stress Research Program, said in a press release. “Because of the lack of understanding of what contributes to these disorders, predicting outcomes for individuals — and treating them effectively — remain major scientific and public health challenges. While treatments are effective for many patients, not all benefit equally, and we lack effective prevention strategies. We are frustrated but not surprised that people respond differently to the best available treatments and must learn how to tailor existing and new interventions to specific patient needs.”
Samuel McLean, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina, will collaborate with Ronald Kessler, PhD, and Karestan Koenen, PhD, of Harvard University, and Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, of McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, to assess health history, genetics, stress responses, behavior and cognition among 5,000 individuals admitted to EDs after trauma. At baseline, study participants will undergo an initial evaluation and provide blood samples.
Researchers will use mobile technology, such as wrist wearables and smart phones, to follow participants over the next several months.
Additional blood samples, functional MRI and psychological tests will be conducted and data will be collected for over a year.
“This study reflects the need for our research investments to address short- and medium-term clinical goals, as well as long-term basic research,” Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, director of the NIMH, said in the release. “In the relatively short term, this project is expected to deliver tools for clinicians to make informed decisions about risk and follow-up care soon after trauma. In addition, the research resource to be created will fuel a new generation of analyses on the underlying causes of disorders, identify new intervention targets, and in turn give rise to mechanism-informed treatments based on individual needs.”