Researchers to create better frameworks in psychiatry with new grants
The Independent Research Fund Denmark has recently awarded DKK 95 million to a total of 34 new research projects aimed at creating better frameworks for psychiatric research. Four of these grants have been awarded to researchers at Health.
Among the funded projects, research includes helping parents with mental illness, developing digital solutions for self-harming youth, and investigating memory and concentration difficulties in individuals with bipolar disorder.
The purpose of the funding is both to contribute to the prevention and treatment of mental illnesses and to strengthen professional environments, thereby enhancing the ability to recruit and retain talented professionals in psychiatry.
Health's grant recipients:
Clinical Professor Charlotte Ulrikka Rask from the Department of Clinical Medicine receives DKK 3.168.000 for the project: 'Associations between bodily distress, psychotic experiences, and low-grade inflammation in adolescents with familial high risk for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder: The Danish High Risk and Resilience Study – VIA.'
The project aims to investigate whether adolescents with a familial risk of severe mental illness show increased bodily distress, whether this is related to psychotic symptoms, and whether changes in inflammatory responses at ages 11 and 15 increase the risk of stress and psychosis later in life.
Associate Professor and Senior Researcher Oleguer Plana-Ripoll from the Department of Clinical Medicine and the Clinical Epidemiology Department (KEA) receives DKK 3.168.000 for the project: 'Restorative Environments and Mental Health: Salutogenic Potential and Equity Perspectives (EnvironMENTAL).'
This project explores how physical surroundings influence the risk of developing mental disorders. The goal is to develop an index for restorative environments in Denmark and analyze the effects on the general population and vulnerable groups, such as refugees.
Associate Professor Betina Elfving from the Department of Clinical Medicine – Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit receives DKK 3.156.480 for the project: 'A view into the depressed brain using plasma and saliva as 'liquid biopsies'.
This project focuses on how microRNA (miRNA) in blood and saliva can be used as biomarkers for depression, with an emphasis on gender differences and extracellular vesicles (EVs). The aim is to promote faster and more accurate diagnoses and enable more tailored treatments.
Professor Søren Dinesen Østergaard from the Department of Clinical Medicine and the Department of Depression and Anxiety at Aarhus University Hospital, Psychiatry receives DKK 6,033,168 for the project: "Leveraging the potential of language in psychiatry using artificial intelligence."
This project employs artificial intelligence to analyze language in speech and text from psychiatric practice. The goal is to develop tools that can both reduce the workload of healthcare providers and serve as an effective, data-driven alternative to current psychiatric diagnostic methods