Making A Difference Together
The CDRIN Central Canada Depression Hub (CCD Hub) is a partnership between The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR, University of Ottawa), the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH, University of Toronto), and the London Health Sciences Centre (Lawson Health Research Institute/London Health Sciences Centre and Western University).
With this strategic partnering, the CCD Hub brings unique strengths to CDRIN and Canada:
- Focus on youth depression:
- developing early episode depression clinics to help younger people deal with depression including the First Episode Mood & Anxiety Program – FEMAP;
- trans-diagnostic internet-based cognitive behaviour for early affective disorders: efficacy and neurocognitive predictors of responses;
- providing management leadership and knowledge translation on several youth initiatives: youth suicide prevention, resiliency and intervention; research in the areas of parent/child interactions, community mental health promotion, youth depression and youth suicide, via the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health.
- The closer integration of the CCD Hub partners possessing leading-edge brain imaging/molecular imaging capacity and stellar expertise to establish one of the strongest brain imaging consortiums in Canada;
- The piloting of a Standardized Depression Screening and Monitoring Package that will standardize the language shared by patients, clinicians and researchers. This is consistent with the one used in the United States and, hopefully, will be adapted for potential pan-Canadian dissemination via CDRIN/CCD Hub;
- Evaluation methods to link data related to homelessness and other disadvantaged populations with mental illness and addiction;
- Brain modulation technology involving rTMS (repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation) and direct brain stimulation techniques;
- Development of intra-and inter-Hub training/mentoring programs.
The CCD Hub Executive Board oversees and coordinates all CCD Hub activities and communications and will establish Hub partner engagement and sustainability. The governance model engages researchers, clinicians and persons with lived experience (including families and caregivers) in its leadership structure to ensure that all governance, directions and activities are meaningful to the full spectrum of stakeholders.
