Tiffany Cheing Ho
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Psychology
Depression is common in teenagers, yet up to 40% of depressed adolescents do not improve on the standard first-line antidepressants. The research links stress biology, the brain and treatment outcomes in youth depression.
- Fields
Psychology
Neuroscience
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
adolescent depression
major depressive disorder
treatment non-response
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Apr 2028
What they work on
- Test whether the Trier Social Stress Test raises inflammatory cytokines and glutamate in corticolimbic brain circuits of unmedicated depressed adolescents, using 7 Tesla neuroimaging and blood measures.
- Use machine learning on behavioral, inflammatory and fMRI measures of response to social threat to predict which adolescents will not respond to a 12-week SSRI trial.
- Test whether glutamate in corticolimbic circuits, including the amygdala and hippocampus, mediates the link between baseline inflammation and antidepressant non-response.
- Follow adolescents every 3 months for 15 months after treatment and use functional clustering to identify depression trajectories, such as persistent depression or remission, and their predictors.
- Assess the translation potential of a wearable cortisol sensor combining molecularly imprinted polymers with piezoelectric acoustic wave devices, through industry ecosystem investigation.
More about the research
One project follows depressed adolescents to learn why some do not respond to antidepressants. A second explores whether a wearable sensor that tracks cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, could become a practical tool for measuring mental health.
Why it matters
Adolescents whose depression does not respond to first antidepressants face higher risks of suicide and heart disease. Finding inflammatory, glutamate and brain predictors of non-response could help identify at-risk teens earlier and motivate tests of alternative treatments. A continuous wearable cortisol sensor could give clinicians a more objective measure of stress and mental state, which may support better treatment decisions.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Fabiano Nery
University of Cincinnati, OH·Medicine & Clinical Research
Measure how glutamate levels in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex change after 8 weeks of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and/or mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in youth aged 15–24 with mild depression, using proton MR spectroscopy.
Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
Northeastern University, MA·Psychology
Test whether mindfulness-based real-time fMRI neurofeedback engages its intended brain target by reducing hyperconnectivity within the default mode network, the circuit active during inward self-focused thought, in adolescents aged 13 to 18 with major depressive disorder.
Desmond Oathes
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Neuroscience
Establish that TMS targeted with resting-state fMRI connectivity modulates the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), a deep mood-related region, using interleaved TMS/fMRI to record brain responses to stimulation.
The school
University of California-Los Angeles: 84 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 803 research doctorates a year.
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