‘I will benefit enormously from the guidance of a leader in perinatal mental health’
Three mentees to be mentored by this year’s ACLP Foundation Research Professor, Samantha Meltzer-Brody, MD, are set to meet her face-to-face for the first time at CLP 2023. They are:
Andrew Drysdale, PhD, MD, postdoctoral clinical fellow, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University—“I am currently working to develop a research program at the intersection of medical illness and mood disorders. My project centers on the neural mechanisms of heterogeneity in perinatal depression. I aim to study this disorder at, or perhaps even preceding, its onset—an approach made possible by the high risk of developing depression during the perinatal period. Furthermore, perinatal hormonal, neural, and psychological changes offer hints at potential mechanisms that may allow us to understand why a particular patient experiences a specific set of symptoms.
“I am a junior investigator at a critical juncture in my career. I am attempting to build a new research program studying neural mechanisms of perinatal depression from the ground up. Dr. Meltzer-Brody is an optimal mentor for my current stage. As I work to transition from fellow to faculty, from research trainee to PI, I will benefit enormously from the guidance of a leader in perinatal mental health.”
Khatiya Moon, MD, assistant professor, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell—“I am a psychiatrist and early career investigator interested in the use of digital technologies to characterize the digital phenotype of peripartum mental health disorders. My goal is to use this digital data (passive sensing, self-report, and communication measures) to understand subtypes of peripartum depression in the hope of personalizing treatment in a way that is currently not possible. I am also interested in how digital tools can be integrated into clinical practice to improve screening, care, and management.
“As I went through residency I started to see how behavioral health care was increasingly delivered in non-specialized settings. I also became interested in technology for behavioral health integration. This motivation led to the publication of a scoping review on the use of digital health to augment the collaborative care model, and a pilot study of a mobile app to augment a collaborative care program in the health care system, among other projects.”
Maria Prom, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine—“It is essential to address the mental health care needs of health disparity populations through research, clinical work, teaching, and leadership. This is my career motivation with a research focus in global mental health systems and services that address mental health care access gaps in under-resourced settings. My research is centered on developing and implementing evidence-based systems of integrated perinatal mental health care that focus on sustainable training and supervision for non-mental health professionals.
Currently, I am developing a project on mixed methods needs assessment for the adaptation of a perinatal depression integrated care program in an under-resourced maternal-perinatal health institution in Peru.
“The mentorship award is an exceptional fit to support me in advancing my goals as an early career researcher. Specifically, I will benefit from Dr. Meltzer-Brody’s perinatal focus—on the impact of adverse events on postpartum mental health, efficacy of psychological and pharmacologic treatments of postpartum depression, training non-mental health specialists for perinatal depression, digital health interventions, and patient centered outcomes.”
Dr. Meltzer-Brody, associate professor and director of the Perinatal Psychiatry Program, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, delivers her ACLP Foundation Research Professor Award lecture today (Thursday) at CLP 2023: The Development of Novel Neurosteroid Therapeutics as an Innovative, Rapidly Acting Treatment for Postpartum Depression.