Funding provided through the Bell Let’s Talk – Brain Canada Mental Health Research Program will enable researchers to determine the safety of a new tool in treating adult depression.

Over the course of their lifetime, 1 in 9 people worldwide will experience depression. Though various treatments are available, their efficacy varies significantly from person to person. Roughly 70% of patients fail to see an improvement of their depression symptoms after undergoing their first treatment, with about 30% still not seeing improvement after their fourth. While guided by data-driven clinical guidelines, this trial-and-error approach to finding an effective treatment can substantially reduce the quality of life of patients by prolonging their recovery time to months or even years and increasing the risk of self-harm and suicide.

“Aifred Health, a Montreal-based start-up, is a novel clinical decision aid (CDA) that aims to bridge this gap by using new digital technology to help clinicians and patients better manage treatments for depression.”

In recent years, numerous studies have identified individual characteristics that can help predict the response of a given patient to a particular treatment, ranging from neuroimaging results to genetics and socio-demographic factors. Though these predictors could be tremendously helpful in guiding clinicians towards the most effective therapy for each individual, there is currently no tool in clinical use that summarizes this knowledge.

Aifred Health, a Montreal-based start-up, is a novel clinical decision aid (CDA) that aims to bridge this gap by using new digital technology to help clinicians and patients better manage treatments for depression. With funding provided through the Bell Let’s Talk – Brain Canada Mental Health Research Program, a team led by Dr. Manuela Ferrari from the Douglas Hospital Research Centre will now evaluate whether use of this innovative tool by physicians treating adults with major depressive disorder is safe and effective.

The safety and efficacy data gathered throughout the trial, led by Drs Ferrari and Gifuni are used as part of a regulatory submission to Health Canada and the FDA a step that Dr. Ferrari believes would transform the way we treat depression. “I really hope that the evidence we are going to generate from this study is going to help all the Canadians suffering from depression and, not just them, but also their relatives, friends and family,” she said. Following the trial, Dr. Ferrari and her team will work with patients and physicians to help improve the platform, ensuring that it will continue to meet the needs of its users, offering agency in their recovery journey.

“I really hope that the evidence we are going to generate from this study is going to help all the Canadians suffering from depression and, not just them, but also their relatives, friends and family,” – Dr. Manuela Ferrari

Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and its incidence has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with some estimating that 1 in 4 people are now suffering from depression or anxiety globally. Using this novel AI-based tool to guide the treatment of depression could therefore have a major impact globally and would make access to treatment more equitable by supporting telemedicine, reducing recovery time, and lowering treatment costs. This would not only represent a paradigm shift in the treatment of depression but would also open the door to the implementation of similar tools for the treatment of other mental health conditions, resulting in an even broader impact.

To learn more about Dr. Ferrari’s project, visit https://braincanada.ca/manuela-ferrari/