A research study, led by Dr Katie Douglas and funded by the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation in 2016, has recently been published in an internationally renowned, high impact medical journal – Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.
Dr Douglas has presented the findings of her study at three international conferences in 2021 and many researchers from across the globe have been very interested in the outcomes found and the subsequent impact on patients suffering from depression and bipolar disorder.
As we so often see, research is a cumulative investment. Studies require research specialists, participants, facilities, equipment, time – and most of all funding to make them possible.
CMRF, with the help of its generous donors, is able to invest in world-class medical research studies, so that ground -breaking results and findings such as Dr Douglas’ can offer better treatment options for patients affected, not only in Canterbury, but all over the world.
To view the study publication, click here
We asked Dr Douglas to comment on her successful publication:
Why was the CMRF grant funding important to your research?
To be able to run large-scale clinical trials that have an impact on an international stage, you need a large team of clinicians to deliver the treatment and to collaborate with community health services, and researchers to conduct research assessments, and collect and organise data. Our grant from CMRF helped fund many of these key positions.
What would you like your research to achieve and represent for your community?
Our research platform at the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, has an overarching goal to help people in their recovery from depression and bipolar disorder (mood disorders). We are developing innovative treatments that we can see are having a positive impact on how people live their lives, and how people understand their mental illness. Our clinical research also gives us a more detailed understanding of mood disorders, which we hope can help families/whanau and clinicians working in mental health services. We always have the aim to be developing treatments that could realistically be translated back into routine clinical practice.
If you could address the CMRF donors that made this grant possible, what would you tell them?
Thank you! The money that you continue to contribute to our research has allowed us to run ground-breaking clinical trials in Christchurch, and more importantly, has meant we have changed the lives of many who have been part of these trials.
We are delighted with the outcome of Dr Douglas’ study, and look forward to the findings of her other projects, including the Earthquake “Quake Brain” Trauma study.