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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


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
How a lucky accident helped spark a new era of depression research
October 21, 2019 - It all started with one lucky accident. In the late 1980’s, Dr. Paul Albert was trying to isolate a gene that controls metabolism. Instead, he pulled out a gene that controls motivation and another that controls mood. These two genes became the subje
Depression linked to “junk DNA” in the serotonin receptor gene
November 21, 2018 - The human genome is thought to be 75 to 90 percent meaningless “junk DNA”, but researchers are increasingly finding that some of this junk may actually do something important. For example, new research led by Dr. Paul Albert and Dr. Eitan Friedman sh
Show more news stories


Researchers


Name Scientific appointment Diseases, conditions and populations of interest Research and clinical approaches
Albert, Paul
PhD
Senior Scientist
(Neuroscience)
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
Chen, Hsiao-Huei
PhD
Senior Scientist
(Neuroscience)
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
(Clinical Epidemiology)
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
(Clinical Epidemiology)
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
(Clinical Epidemiology)
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
(Clinical Epidemiology)
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
(Clinical Epidemiology)
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, Dystonia, 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
(Clinical Epidemiology)
Alzheimer's, Anxiety, Ataxia, Autoimmune disease, Autoimmune diseases of the nervous system, Blood cancer, Brain and neuromuscular disease, Brain cancer, Cancer, Chronic disease, 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
(Clinical Epidemiology)
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
(Neuroscience)
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
NCT00819208Health Education Materials With/Out a Physical Activity Program for Patients Who Have Undergone Treatment for High-Risk Stage II or Stage III Colon Cancer (NCT00819208)Anxiety Disorder, Cognitive/Functional Effects, Colorectal Cancer, Depression, Fatigue, Psychosocial Effects of Cancer and Its Treatment, Sleep Disorders, ExcerciseRecruiting 
NCT04257227Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Psychological Distress in Patients With Advanced Illness (NCT04257227)Depressive Symptoms, Depression, Anxiety, Psychological Distress, Terminal IllnessRecruitingjdownar@toh.ca


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.

Teaching Adolescents with type 1 Diabetes Self-compassion (TADS) to reduce diabetes distress: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.
2023-12-04

Transcriptional Regulation of the Human 5-HT1A Receptor Gene by Lithium: Role of Deaf1 and GSK3β.
2023-11-14

An umbrella review of candidate predictors of response, remission, recovery, and relapse across mental disorders.
2023-11-14

Influence of pulmonary rehabilitation on symptoms of anxiety and depression in interstitial lung disease: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
2023-10-21

Does serotonin matter in depression?
2023-10-20

Occupational stressors and coping mechanisms among obstetrical nursing staff during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.
2023-10-17

Pharmacological interventions for antipsychotic-related sialorrhea: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized trials.
2023-10-12

Palliative care at any stage of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a prospective feasibility study.
2023-10-02

Reliability and validity of the revised Rushton Moral Resilience Scale for healthcare workers.
2023-09-29

The 2023 Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Mental Health and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
2023-09-07

View more on PubMed