Novel Research Aims to Tackle Postpartum Depression - But Participation is Needed

Up to 1 in 7 women experience postpartum depression (PPD), yet questions remain about why some women experience PPD and why others do not.

In March, Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, Director of the Perinatal Psychiatry Program, UNC Center for Women's Mood Disorders at the UNC School of Medicine, launched a free iPhone app called PPD ACT which seeks to answer those questions - critical knowledge to help researchers find more effective treatments. The app, which is the first of its kind, engages women to provide a DNA sample so that researchers can study the genome to understand of the underlying causes of postpartum depression. This can lead to novel ways to screen for PPD, as well as to treat it and decrease suffering.

Upon the app's initial release, there was an immediate wave of success. Nearly 10,000 women enrolled within the first month. But there is still work to be done. Dr. Meltzer-Brody and her team are urging more women to participate to increase awareness and prevent future generations from experiencing PPD.

For more information about the app, please click here.

About Dr. Samantha-Meltzer Brody: Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor and Director of the UNC Perinatal Psychiatry Program of the UNC Center for Women's Mood Disorders. Her current clinical and research efforts are focused primarily on Perinatal Depression. She is currently funded by multiple NIH grants to investigate epidemiologic, genetic, and other biomarker models of postpartum depression (PPD) and has recently worked to establish an international postpartum depression genetics consortium (PACT). In addition, she is investigating novel treatment options for depression in perinatal women. Her funded research also investigates the neuroendocrine (oxytocin, HPA stress axis), genetic and other biological markers of perinatal mood disorders in a cohort of women recruited during pregnancy and followed longitudinally in the postpartum period during lactation. Dr. Meltzer-Brody also studies novel treatment modalities for perinatal depression.