Magnetic stimulation treating MDD study wins 2020 Health Innovation award

Congratulations to Shahzad K Ali, MD, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, and Robert K McClure, MD, Associate Professor, Psychiatry, on being awarded the 2020 Innovation Pilot Award from the UNC Center for Health Innovation. Their study is entitled "Intermittent Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Adolescent Major Depressive Disorder."

Adolescent depression due to untreated or undertreated Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common and serious medical condition affecting many North Carolinian teens. Between 2008-2017, the youth suicide rate nearly doubled, becoming the second most frequent cost of death for 10-17 year-olds. UNC Health will test the use of intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation, a low-burden yet highly effective treatment for adults recently approved by the FDA, to help youth struggling with MDD.

Since 2013, the UNC Center for Health Innovation has offered an annual internal pilot funding opportunity to UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine employees for health care innovations across a broad spectrum of interest areas including innovative care delivery models and care pathways, new technologies, new applications, advanced analytics, business model innovations, workforce development, and translational research. Since introducing the Innovation Pilot Awards in 2013, the Center for Health Innovation has awarded 28 teams over $1,280,000 total to support innovative pilots.

Learn more about the UNC Center for Health Innovation and their Innovation Pilot Award program at med.unc.edu/innovation.