| November 01, 2010 | Media contact: Ian Demsky E-mail: idemsky@med.umich.edu Phone: 734-764-2220 |
Clearinghouse will connect mood disorder researchers, volunteers
Federal funds support partnership to advance knowledge of mood disorders
University of Michigan Depression Center
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. —The University of Michigan Depression Center and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, a national mental health support and advocacy organization, have announced a partnership to create an information clearinghouse that will help connect individuals with mood disorders to research opportunities.
Nearly 10 percent of the adult population – more than 20 million Americans – has a mood disorder such as depression or bipolar disorder. Mood disorders are highly treatable, but many barriers remain to early detection, treatment, and prevention. Recruiting participants to research studies can be difficult due to the stigma associated with these illnesses.
Volunteers living with depression and bipolar disorder are essential to research across disciplines from psychiatry and psychology to kinesiology and obstetrics and gynecology, where work is underway to further the understanding of the contributors to these disorders and to develop new treatments.
“To generate new knowledge, we need partnerships between those studying various diseases and their treatments, and those with the disorders who share the goal of developing better diagnoses and treatments,” says John Greden, M.D., Executive Director of the Depression Center. “Knowledge heals.”
Some studies only receive one third of the desired participants, notes Patricia Deldin, Ph.D., an associate director of the Depression Center, professor in the Department of Psychology and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at U-M.
"The more research participants we have, the better the chance for major breakthroughs in understanding and treatment," Deldin says.
Now in its formative research phase, the Depression-Bipolar Consumer Research Clearinghouse will create a unique forum for communication between consumers and investigators while raising awareness about depression and bipolar research. The Clearinghouse will feature web-based resources and a toll-free hotline to connect volunteers with research opportunities at the University and, in the future, at other research institutions.
The three-year project was made possible by more than $900,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which will create and support seven positions between the two partners, enabling foundational research, future Clearinghouse implementation, and essential evaluation efforts to ensure program effectiveness and responsiveness to research participants.
Developers hope to launch the Clearinghouse to the general public in mid-to-late 2011. Those seeking current volunteer opportunities in mood disorder research can visit www.depressioncenter.org/research.
The University of Michigan Depression Centeris the first center of its kind devoted entirely to bringing depression into the mainstream of medical research, care, education and public policy. Its mission is to detect depression and bipolar disorders earlier, treat more effectively, prevent recurrences and progression, counteract stigma, and improve public policy.
The Depression Center brings together over 225 interdisciplinary researchers from the Health System and other schools, institutes, departments and centers across campus to study the complex mechanisms underlying mood disorders and to improve outcomes.
The Depression and Bipolar Support Allianceis the leading patient-directed national organization focusing on depression and bipolar disorder, the most prevalent mental illnesses. Their mission is to improve the lives of people living with mood disorders by offering peer-based, recovery-oriented, empowering services and resources.
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