Foundation Grantee Andrew Miller, M.D., is the senior author of a study that demonstrates improvements in symptoms of depression in patients with high inflammation levels. The study was published in the online version of Archives of General Psychiatry on September 3, 2012.
An Impressive Year of Progress: from establishing early intervention techniques and working toward diagnostic tools, to proving the effectiveness of next generation therapies, to advancing basic research and our understanding of how the brain functions and can malfunction, and continuing to refine the use of new technologies – this highlight of NARSAD-Grant funded discoveries in 2011 demonstrates how Foundation-funded research spans across research disciplines to better understand and treat all mental illness.
Hongjun Song, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is intrigued about niches in a brain structure called the hippocampus where stem cells live and can give rise to new neurons, a process called neurogenesis. With the support of a 2008 NARSAD Independent Investigator Grant, Dr. Song and team developed a genetic strategy for tracing the life cycle of precursor cells in the brain. What they found was that any single stem cell is capable of both replacing itself and of giving rise to both neurons and glia.
With the help of a Young Investigator Grant, Scientific Council Member Mark S. George, M.D. developed Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), a new kind of non-invasive brain stimulation as an alternative for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in treatment-resistant depression. In 1995, unable to get NIH funding for TMS, a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant allowed the work to gather important clinical information and served as "bridge" funding to set the stage for the emergence of this industry.
In 2008, Foundation Scientific Council Member Mary-Claire King, Ph.D. from the University of Washington—widely known for her discovery of a mutation in a gene she named BRCA1 that led to powerful breast cancer diagnostics— led research teams in the discovery of rare genetic mutations found in high volumes in people with schizophrenia.
