Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Suicide
Leader: Naguib Mechawar, PhD
For decades, research on stress and stress-related disorders has been one of the core strengths of the Douglas Research Centre. We bring together a group of investigators who are exploring the nature and consequences of stress exposure during different stages of life. These investigators, who are spread across the Centre’s four divisions, use a wide range of approaches including (but not limited to) basic research with animal models and human tissue samples, and clinical and psychosocial research. By studying various dimensions of stress, resilience to stress and stress-related psychopathologies, their main objective is, ultimately, to improve prevention and treatment.
Primary Researchers |
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| Serge Beaulieu | Bipolar disorders |
| Marcelo Berlim | Neuromodulation Research |
| Alain Brunet | Impact of traumatic stress on mental health |
| Eduardo Chachamovich | Social and clinical determinants of mental health in Aboriginal populations |
| Salah El Mestikawy | Glutamatergic systems in normal and pathological brains |
| Marie-Claude Geoffroy | Epidemiology of suicide and related mental disorders accross the lifespan |
| Bruno Giros | Pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders |
| Alain Gratton | Neurobiology of stress |
| Naguib Mechawar | Molecular neuroanatomy of depression and suicide |
| Johanne Renaud | Youth suicide and suicidal behaviours |
| Stéphane Richard-Devantoy | Cognitive control in elderly suicide |
| Joseph Rochford | Animal models, behavioral pharmacology, behavioural phenotyping |
| Gustavo Turecki | Suicide studies |
| Tak Pan Wong | Glutamate synapses and psychiatric disorders |
Associated Researchers |
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| Cecilia Flores | Adolescent brain development and susceptibility to psychopathology |
| Suzanne King | Role of prenatal maternal stress in the development of psychopathology |
| Mimi Israel | Eating disorders |
| Giamal Luheshi | Neuroinflammation |
| Michael Meaney | Biological basis of vulnerability for psychopathology |
| Kieran O'Donnell | Perinatal influences on early-childhood development, biological embedding of early adversity |
| Patricia Pelufo Silveira | Early life adversity and the co-morbidity between metabolic and psychiatric disease |
| Howard Steiger | Eating disorders |
| Dominique Walker | Early stress, maternal regulation and neuroendocrine development |
| Tie Yuan Zhang | Optoneuroepigenetics |
Research Program
The overarching goals of Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Suicide are the following.
- Better understand the functional consequences of chronic stress and the nature of resilience at the cellular, molecular and behavioral levels.
- Identify the environmental and biological factors associated with vulnerability or resilience to chronic stress.
- Develop better evidence-based interventions and policies aimed at preventing and treating stress-related mental illnesses.