The Woman’s Board Depression Treatment Research Center, or TRC, has been an integral part of the Department of Psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center since 1987, with a satellite site in suburban Skokie. The TRC has worked with thousands of patients to assess and manage mood disorders using innovative and state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment modalities.
The TRC has a reputation that draws patients from the Chicago metropolitan area, but we are also nationally and internationally recognized for our innovative diagnostic and treatment approaches. We are clinically based, providing comprehensive psychiatric and medical assessments (usually at no cost for those who qualify for a clinical trial), and a broad range of treatment options.
All research involving human subjects is reviewed by the Institutional Review Board of Rush University Medical Center. Subjects who participate in our projects have excellent access to our clinical staff.
You can see the caliber of work done through the TRC by the many notable accomplishments and successes in the area of treating and managing mood disorders, including FDA approval of many new medications and alternative treatments, development and use of assessments, and hundreds of peer-reviewed publications to improve the management of these illnesses. The TRC’s scope of work represents the experience and passion of our staff.
Those accomplishments include the impact of combined psychotherapy with a personalized medication approach tailored to an individual’s needs. The TRC currently serves as a model for optimal diagnostic and treatment strategies for those who suffer from mood disorders (unipolar and bipolar disorders), genetic testing to predict outcomes to treatment, and a novel diagnostic approach using EEG-based technology to predict and assess treatment outcome by looking at how the brain adapts to specific treatments.
The TRC provides a model to study the impact of novel diagnostic and treatment strategies including following the Rush Values of personalized care toward optimal acute and long-term recovery and remission, which is applicable to all patients and clinicians who experience the challenges associated with treatment of mood disorders, as well as minimizing the risk of mortality (such as suicide, for example) and educating patients and significant others to improve outcomes.
Papakostas GI, Shelton RC, Zajecka JM, Etemad B, Rickels K, Clain A, Baer L, Dalton ED, Sacco G, Schoenfeld D, Pencina M, Meisner A, Bottiglieri T, Nelson E, Mischoulon D, Alpert JE, Barbee JG, Zisook S, Fava M. L-methylfolate as adjunctive therapy for SSRI-resistant major depression: results of two randomized, double-blind, parallel-sequential trials. Am J Psychiatry 169(12):1267-1274, 2012
Amsterdam JD, Zajecka J, Soeller I, Topel M, Goldstein C, DeRubeis RJ. Prevention of relapse & recurrence of bipolar type I depression: A study protocol for a multi-site randomized, double-blind, placebo-substitution trial. J Clinical Trials. 4:197, 2014
Hollon SD, DeRubeis RJ, Fawcett J, Amsterdam JD, Shelton RC, Zajecka J, Young PR, Gallop R. Effect of Cognitive Therapy with Antidepressant Medications vs Antidepressants Alone on the Rate of Recovery in Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Trial. JAMA 71(10):1157-1164, August 20, 2014
Rush JA, Marangell LB, Sackeim HA, George MS, Brannan SK, Davis SM, Howland R, Kling MA, Rittberg BR, Burke WJ, Rapaport MH, Zajecka J, Nierenberg AA, Husain MM, Ginsberg D, Cooke RG. Vagus nerve stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a randomized, controlled acute phase trial. Biol Psychiatry. 58:347-354, 2005
Zajecka J. Residual Symptoms and relapse: Mood, cognitive symptoms, and sleep disturbances. J Clin Psychiatry 74 (suppl 2):9-13, 2013
The TRC has options for individuals who …
The TRC will work collaboratively with a patient’s current health care provider.
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Funding to conduct our clinical work comes from federal grants (such as the National Institutes of Health), the pharmaceutical industry, philanthropic contributions, and private foundations.
The TRC team includes board-certified psychiatrists who are leading academic physicians, psychologists, certified raters and a physician assistant. We use a team model to provide a personalized approach to diagnostic and treatment options, collaboration with other tertiary-care academic institutions and interdisciplinary relationships with other departments at Rush.
Our staff has regulatory and safety expertise to follow the evolving climate in medical care, as well as clinical expertise in neurological science, neurological/medical clinical expertise, genetics, neuropsychological testing, brain imaging, neurosurgery, and liaison with community and advocacy groups. The TRC participates in mentoring and educating medical students and residents and supports postgraduate clinical research in the area of the treatment of mood disorders.
Phone: (312) 942-6597