Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch
The Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB) of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is a major research component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The ETPB conducts clinical research studies on mood disorders, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and suicide.
The ETPB comprises the Section on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders (SNMD) and the Noninvasive Neuromodulation Unit (NNU). The long-term vision of the ETPB, which was established in 2010, is to develop the next generation of innovative pharmacological and neuromodulatory treatments that act more rapidly and effectively than existing treatments for adult patients with mood disorders and suicidal ideation. Our proof-of-concept studies are conducted primarily in drug-free depressed and/or suicidal participants on our research unit within the Intramural Program (IRP), NIMH, while also offering outpatient screening and evaluations for patients and healthy individuals who may be interested in research studies.
Standard antidepressants can take weeks or months to achieve their full effects; however, studies by the ETPB have identified drugs that show improvement within a few hours or several days. The focus of our work is to understand how experimental medications work to quickly lift severe, difficult-to-treat depressive symptoms and, ultimately, to develop new, faster-acting, and more effective treatments. The branch seeks to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness through research studies that focus on:
- DEVELOPING medications that rapidly decrease symptoms of depression and suicide
- IDENTIFYING biological characteristics (biomarkers) associated with mood disorders and suicide as well as biomarkers that predict better treatment response
- UNDERSTANDING the brain mechanisms that cause depression and influence treatment efficacy
Our studies integrate a wide range of clinical, behavioral, and imaging technologies including magnetoencephalography (MEG), structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), polysomnography (PSG), plasma biomarkers, cognitive tasks, and noninvasive measures of neuroplasticity. We use state-of-the-art inpatient and outpatient clinical research units and labs located within The Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center, an 870,000 square foot complex resting on the 300-acre Bethesda campus of the NIH, near Washington D.C.