Statewide Initiatives

Mood Disorders Research

Focus on Systems

To better understand the areas of greatest impact, we have identified and partnered with schools, community organizations, and healthcare systems on initiatives to improve the diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders and enhance suicide prevention efforts.

    A collaboration with Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, The Cloudbreak Initiative focuses on standardizing early detection and treatment in primary care through two proven approaches.

    As a key leader in the field of mood disorders, Dr. Madhukar Trivedi serves as the Principal Investigator of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) sponsored Clinical Trials Network (CTN) Big South/West Node that researches novel interventions aimed at improving outcomes for substance use disorders.

    The CDRC is participating in a collaboration with Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, winner of the statewide Lone Star Depression Challenge, whose purpose is to scale an innovative, proven, transformative solution that builds healthier, stronger communities throughout Texas to improve the quality of life for all Texans.

    The TX-YDSRN hub is led by Dr. Madhukar Trivedi at UT Southwestern and co led by Dr. Sarah Wakefield at Texas Tech University Health Science Center. The purpose of this research network is to improve the evaluation of and response to the increasing problem of youth depression and suicide in Texas.

    Since the program began in 2016, the CDRC team has reached over 20,000 youth in over 1,100 classrooms with the YAM program. with the YAM program. Due to the program’s success, the CDRC team has transitioned to training new facilitators to reach more students and create more sustainable school-based mental health programming.

    Mood Disorders Research

    We are building a research-backed network that promotes personalized healthcare and interventions to reduce the burden of mood disorders.

    We are changing the trajectory of youth depression with early diagnosis, precision treatment, and resilience training through cutting-edge research.

    Why we do the work...

    • Access is one of the biggest barriers to diagnosing and treating depression.
    • Most people diagnosed with depression experience onset before the age of 18.
    • It is far more expensive not to solve depression than it is to solve it.

    Engaging Community

    The CDRC is committed to providing learning opportunities for clinicians, students, and anyone in our community interested in learning more about mental health and resilience.

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    Driving the Future

    The Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care is always striving to build bridges to better mental health and wellbeing for our community in Texas and beyond. Accomplishing this means addressing the particular needs and levels of community involvement that make success possible.

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    Prioritizing Youth

    Designed to prepare students for the Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) Program, Blue Steel is a trauma-informed, resilience-building education program designed to teach resilience skills and effective tools for supporting one's self and others during times of stress.

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    Developing a Biosignature

    Be part of the great impact we're having on science and medical care across the globe.

    Our priorities at the CDRC include studying biomarkers related to youth suicide risk and more effective ways to treat suicidal ideation and behavior. To further this goal of reducing adolescent suicidality, our team has received two grants from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).