Mom Genes Fight PPD (previously called PPD Act) is a research study developed by Postpartum Depression: Action Towards Causes and Treatment (PACT) Consortium, an international group of academic clinicians and scientists committed to understanding the interaction of genes and environment to predict which women are at risk of postpartum depression (PPD).
Researchers in the Departments of Psychiatry and Genetics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who are PACT Consortium members are leading Mom Genes Fight PPD and overseeing the US arm of the study. Researchers from Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland, and University of Toronto oversee the Australian and Canadian arms of the study. Teams from Aarhus University in Denmark and Uppsala and Karolinska Universities in Sweden have also joined this global project.
The PACT Australia team is composed of several different institutions, including Naomi Wray and the team at Queensland.
Bernhard Baune
Anne Buist
Enda Byne
Ian Hickie
Julio Licinio
Nick Martin
Jeannette Milgrom
Naomi Wray
The Australian arm collects more detailed information about health and lifestyle as part of the Genetics of Risk and Response to Treatment of Depression study.
The PACT Canada team is comprised of contributors from institutions across Canada, and is being led by Dr. Simone Vigod and her team from Women's College Hospital at the University of Toronto, in Toronto, Ontario. PACT Canada gratefully acknowledges funding from the Women's Mental Health Program at Women's College Hospital for the launch of the PACT Canada pilot study of the PACT app.
Dr. Simone Vigod, Lead Investigator | Women's College Hospital and University of Toronto
Dr. James L. Kennedy | Centre for Addiction and Mental Health & University of Toronto
Dr. Valerie Taylor | Women's College Hospital & University of Toronto
Dr. Cindy-Lee Dennis | St. Michael's Hospital & University of Toronto
Dr. Sophie Grigoriadis | Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre & Univeristy of Toronto
Dr. Tim Oberlander | BC Children's Hospital and BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre & University of British Columbia
Dr. Benicio N. Frey | St. Joseph's Healthcare & McMaster University
Dr. Ryan Van Lieshout | St. Joseph's Healthcare & McMaster University
The PACT Canada team also gratefully acknowledges the research personnel supporting the development of this project, including Ms. Neesha Hussain-Shamsy and Dr. Kennedy's Research Team at the Psychiatric Neurogenetics Laboratory and Tanenbaum Centre for Pharmacogenetics at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Alkistis Skalkidou, MD PhD
Inger Sundström-Poromaa, MD PhD
Stavros Iliadis, MD PhD
Susanne Lager, PhD
Theodora Kunovac Kallak, PhD
The PACT Denmark team is associated with National Center for Register-Based Research, Aarhus University.
The UNC School of Medicine Departments of Psychiatry and Genetics sponsored the creation of the app. Within the UNC Department of Psychiatry, The team from UNC Center for Women's Mood Disorders provided the infrastructure to create the app. The UNC Center for Health Innovation provided critical project management.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the lead federal agency for research on mental disorder focused on transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure. NIMH is partnering with PPD ACT to provide the spit kits used for DNA collection.
Postpartum Support International was founded in 1987 by Jane Honikman in Santa Barbara, California. The purpose of the organization is to increase awareness among public and professional communities about the emotional changes that women experience during pregnancy and postpartum. Approximately 15% of all women will experience postpartum depression following the birth of a child. Up to 10% will experience depression or anxiety during pregnancy. When the mental health of the mother is compromised, it affects the entire family.
SAGE Therapeutics is a neuroscience-focused company discovering medicines to treat life-threatening, rare CNS disorders. Launched in 2010, SAGE is a publicly traded company led by an experienced team of leaders, CNS experts and investors. Our lead program, SAGE-547, is in clinical development for super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) and is the first of many in an exciting portfolio of potential seizure medicines.
The Foundation of Hope promotes scientific research aimed at discovering the causes and potential cures for mental illness in order to develop a more effective means of treatment. The Foundation is committed to raising community awareness and supporting effective treatment programs. The Foundation provides financial support for ongoing and new research and treatment, as well as the development of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, its affiliated psychiatric institutions, and local mental health agencies.
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