Main Investigators: Valeria Mondelli, Christian  Kieling

 

Co-Investigators: Brandon Kohrt, Johnna Swartz, Rakesh Karmacharya, Helen Fisher, Abiodun Adewuya, 

 

The IDEA project is a study analyzing research and data about social and family environment, stressful experiences, brain images, and biological data of 10-24 year olds from four different countries – the UK, Brazil, Nigeria and Nepal. The goal of the IDEA team is to identify universally recognizable contextual risk factors for depression in young people. The first phase of the project is to review existing material on depression to develop an agreeable model on risk factors contributing to depression with experts across the world. Then using data and research of young people from the UK, Brazil, Nigeria and Nepal who have already taken part in research to identify how these factors work in tandem, leading to depression. The team will then investigate whether or not brain imaging, characterization of immune markers, and gene expression could have potential to increase our understanding of depression. The final step is to see if these same research methods can be implemented in lower and middle-income countries like Nepal and Nigeria and if these same tools to identify depression can be utilized on a worldwide level.

 

Supported by: UK Medical Research Council; MQ: Transforming Mental Health Charity, UK Academy of Medical Sciences.  

 

Status: Ongoing