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Depression

The Ottawa Hospital is conducting cutting-edge research to improve our understanding of depression and develop better treatments. This page includes selected news stories about our research related to depression, links to researchers working in this area and related resources. Learn more below.

Research News


Non-invasive brain stimulation shows promise in reducing psychological distress in advanced illness Non-invasive brain stimulation shows promise in reducing psychological distress in advanced illness
April 8, 2024 - A small clinical trial at The Ottawa Hospital and Bruyère has shown for the first time that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) holds promise as a treatment for psychological distress in people with advanced illness.
Treatment-resistant depression: mouse study reveals surprising new insights Treatment-resistant depression: mouse study reveals surprising new insights
January 29, 2024 - Dr. Paul Albert’s team found that not one, but two systems of neurotransmitters play a key role in mouse models of treatment-resistant depression.
The Ottawa Hospital awarded nine grants worth $5.6 million from Canadian Institutes of Health Research The Ottawa Hospital awarded nine grants worth $5.6 million from Canadian Institutes of Health Research
February 3, 2020 - How can we treat depression when nothing else is working? How can heart growth be both good and bad? How can we increase patient participation in clinical trials? These are just a few of the big questions that researchers at The Ottawa Hospital will
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Researchers


Name Scientific appointment Diseases, conditions and populations of interest Research and clinical approaches
Albert, Paul
PhD
Senior Scientist
(NS)
Mental health, Vascular cognitive impairment, Anxiety, Depression, Intellectual disabilities, Parkinson's, Schizophrenia, Stroke, Suicide Basic research, Epigenetics, Exercise, Gene expression, Translational research, Disease models, Epigenetics, Genetics, Imaging, Molecular and cellular biology, Optogenetics, Transgenic/knockout models
Arnone, Danilo
MD, PhD, FRCPsych
Clinician Investigator
(NS)
Anxiety, Depression, Suicide Biomarkers, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Neuro-stimulation, Psychology, Public health
Chen, Hsiao-Huei
PhD
Senior Scientist
(NS)
Aging, Autism, Dementia, Depression, Heart disease, Maternal and fetal health, Mental health, Tourette's, Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's, Anxiety, Diabetes, Obesity, Schizophrenia, Stroke, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease Disease models, Drug development, Gene expression, Neuro-stimulation, Optogenetics, Transgenic/knockout models, Basic research, Molecular and cellular biology, Translational research
Hatcher, Simon
BSc MBBS MMedSc MD FRCPC FRANZCP MRCPsych
Scientist
(NS)
Anxiety, Brain and neuromuscular disease, COVID-19, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health, Health equity, Mental health, Traumatic brain injury, Depression, Health in disadvantaged peoples, Suicide Clinical research, Digital and mobile health, Health economics, Health professional behaviour change, Health research methods, Health services research, Health technology, Knowledge translation and implementation research, Patient engagement, Prevention, Public health, Qualitative methods, Clinical trials, Cluster randomized trials, Epidemiology, Psychology, Systematic reviews
Hutton, Brian
MSc, PhD
Senior Scientist
(MIR)
Addiction, Anxiety, Breast cancer, Depression, Health equity, Health in disadvantaged peoples, Maternal and fetal health, Mental health, Population health, Suicide, Cancer Clinical research, Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Health research methods, Health services research, Patient safety, Public health, Rapid reviews, Biostatistics, Clinical trials, Systematic reviews
MacPherson, Paul
PhD, MD, FRCPC
Scientist
(MIR)
Anxiety, Depression, Gay men's health, HIV, Infectious disease, Men's health, Sexually transmitted infections Behaviour, Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Health promotion, Health services research, Knowledge translation and implementation research, Prevention, Psychology, Qualitative methods, Surveys
Poulin, Patricia
C. Psych.
Associate Scientist
(NS)
Addiction, Anxiety, Cancer, Chronic pain, Depression, Health equity, Musculoskeletal conditions, Pain Anesthesiology, Behaviour, Biomarkers, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Emergency medicine, Epidemiology, Health professional behaviour change, Health services research, Knowledge translation and implementation research, Palliative care, Patient decision aids, Patient safety, Peri-operative medicine, Pragmatic trials, Psychology, Qualitative methods, Quality Improvement, Systematic reviews
Ramsay, Timothy
PhD
Senior Scientist
(MIR)
Addiction, Alzheimer's, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Anxiety, Ataxia, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Autism, Bipolar, Brain and neuromuscular disease, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Colorectal cancer, Concussion, Cystic fibrosis, Dementia, Depression, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health, HIV, Immigrant and refugee health, Influenza, Kidney disease, Lung cancer, Macular degeneration, Men's health, Multiple sclerosis, Muscular dystrophy, Myasthenia gravis, Obesity, Ovarian cancer, Parkinson's, Pulmonary hypertension, Septic shock, Spinal cord injury Artificial intelligence and data science, Behaviour, Biomaterials, Biostatistics, Cell therapy, Clinical decision rules, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Critical care, Drug development, Emergency medicine, Epidemiology, Health professional behaviour change, Health promotion, Health research methods, Health services research, Health technology, Immunization, Immunotherapy, Palliative care, Patient decision aids, Pharmacology, Pharmacy, Prevention, Psychology, Psychometrics, Public health, Qualitative methods, Quality Improvement, Regenerative medicine, Rehabilitation, Risk assessment, Shared decision making, Surgery, Surveys, Systematic reviews, Transfusions, Translational research, Transplantation, Viral therapy
Santos, Marlise
MD (FRCPC), MSc, MPH
Clinician Investigator
(NS)
Alzheimer's, Anxiety, Ataxia, Autoimmune disease, Autoimmune diseases of the nervous system, Blood cancer, Brain and neuromuscular disease, Brain cancer, Cancer, Concussion, Dementia, Depression, Global health, Head and neck cancer, Health equity, Health in disadvantaged peoples, Infectious disease, Intellectual disabilities, Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, Population health, Sickle cell anemia, Spinal cord injury, Stroke, Subarachnoid hemorrhage, Thrombosis / thromboembolism, Traumatic brain injury, Traumatic injuries, Vascular cognitive impairment, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease Artificial intelligence and data science, Basic research, Behaviour, Biostatistics, Cancer biotherapeutics, Clinical decision rules, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Critical care, Epidemiology, Health economics, Health research methods, Health services research, Health technology, Imaging, Patient safety, Pragmatic trials, Prevention, Public health, Qualitative methods, Quality Improvement, Shared decision making, Surgery, Surveys, Systematic reviews
Solmi, Marco
MD, PhD, Psychiatrist
Clinician Investigator
(NS)
Addiction, Anxiety, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Autism, Bipolar, Dementia, Depression, Mental health, Schizophrenia, Suicide Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cluster randomized trials, Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Health research methods, Neuro-stimulation, Pharmacology, Pragmatic trials, Surveys, Systematic reviews
Walker, Lisa
PhD, C.Psych
Clinician Investigator
(NS)
Anxiety, Autoimmune disease, Autoimmune diseases of the nervous system, Brain and neuromuscular disease, Dementia, Depression, Mental health, Multiple sclerosis Behaviour, Biomarkers, Clinical research, Exercise, Imaging, Psychology, Psychometrics, Rehabilitation, Stem cells, Systematic reviews, Translational research




Clinical Trials

The following list of clinical trials is pulled from ClinicalTrials.gov using the search terms "Depression” and “Ottawa Hospital.” More advanced search options are available. If you find a clinical trial that interests you, you can bring the information to the next appointment with your care team and ask if you are eligible for the study. If so, they may be able to refer you to the study team. Visit ohri.ca/patients to learn more about participating in research and clinical trials.

Note that ClinicalTrials.gov is hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and is only available in English. Please note that we cannot guarantee a response from the person listed in the ‘Contact’ column.

NCTTitleConditionStatusContact
NCT04754061PSilocybin for psYCHological and Existential Distress in PALliative Care (PSYCHED-PAL) (NCT04754061)Depression, Anxiety, Distress, EmotionalRECRUITING 


Publications

The following research publications are pulled from PubMed using the search terms "Depression" and "Ottawa Hospital", with publication date of 2020 or later. More advanced search options are available. Note that PubMed is hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and is only available in English.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Depression in Parkinson's Disease: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.
2024-11-20

Efficacy and acceptability of lurasidone for bipolar depression: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.
2024-11-19

Excess mortality and life-years lost in people diagnosed with depression: A 20-year population-based cohort study of 126,573 depressed individuals followed for 1,139,073 persons-years.
2024-11-14

Physical activity and persistence of supra-threshold depressive symptoms in older adults: A ten-year cohort study.
2024-11-13

Exploring the impact of biological sex on intrinsic connectivity networks in PTSD: A data-driven approach.
2024-10-25

Impact of psilocybin on cognitive function: A systematic review.
2024-10-02

Cytokine dysregulation in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.
2024-09-29

The effect of weighted blankets on sleep quality and mental health symptoms in people with psychiatric disorders in inpatient and outpatient settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
2024-09-29

The Collaborative Outcome Study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT): Results from Cyprus.
2024-09-28

Global and risk-group stratified well-being and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in adults: Results from the international COH-FIT Study.
2024-09-22

View more on PubMed