Forschung

Main research interests

Difficult-to-treat depression, often referred to in the scientific literature as treatment-resistant depression (TRD), is - like depression in general - a very heterogeneous phenomenon. In everyday clinical practice, particularly at a university centre for affective disorders such as ours, the majority of patients belongs to this group. These are patients who have already undergone one or more treatments but have not yet responded sufficiently to them. Suicidal behaviour is a common problem in this context and a very stressful one for both patients and their relatives, with the worst outcome completed suicide.

The research group investigates different clinical aspects of TRD and suicidality/suicide prevention. One focus is the establishment of biomarkers for the response to antidepressant therapies, including the use of smartphone-based neuropsychological tests, but also blood-based biomarkers and EEG parameters. Predictors and risk factors for suicidal behaviour are clinically assessed and evaluated using modern analysis methods. In addition, the investigation of resilience factors plays an important role, particularly with regard to the recurrence of depressive illness. With our research, we would like to help improve the care of patients with TRD and ensure that these severely affected patients receive the appropriate treatment more quickly.

Current projects

• P4D study - Personalised, Predictive, Precise & Preventive Medicine for Major Depression, joint project with the University Hospitals of Hanover, Würzburg, Greifswald and Kiel
• VIP-D - Vigilance EEG as a possible parameter for therapy response
• LORA-FM 2.0-resilience factors in mentally ill patients with depression
• Esketamine-which biomarkers can predict relapse?
• Suicide screening instruments in everyday clinical practice
• RestoreLife - vagus nerve stimulation for difficult-to-treat depression

Group members

• Dr. Christine Reif-Leonhard (Leader)
• Dr. Martin Rieger (MD)
• Dr. Hendrik Friedrichsen (MD)
• Dorsa Ferdowssian (cand. med.)
• Rachana Joshi (cand.med.)
• Yunus Gülegen (cand. med.)