The purpose of this application is to support the patient-oriented research program and career development of Patrick J. Brown, PhD, a fellowship-trained academic researcher and clinical psychologist at Columbia University. Dr. Brown's overall goal is to develop into an independent investigator with a focus on the assessment and treatment of diagnostically complex geriatric patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. The depressed, frail phenotype represents the most promising avenue to understand how to improve intervention outcomes for geriatric patients with diagnostically complex medical and psychiatric comorbidity. The complexity of this clinical population requires Dr. Brown receive cross training in the principles of geriatric medicine to apply these principles to psychiatric interventions research. As such, he has constructed a multidisciplinary training plan under the mentorship of Dr. Steven Roose, a psychiatrist and authority on the clinical, demographic, and treatment factors affecting response to antidepressants, Dr. Mathew Maurer, a cardiologist with research interests in cardiovascular health and anergia in older patients, and Dr. Linda Fried, a geriatrician, epidemiologist and expert in the concept of frailty, along with advisors in neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, biostatistics, and responsible conduct in research. During the proposed award, Dr. Brown will obtain formal training via coursework, patient-oriented experiences, and expert tutelage in 1) the assessment and understanding of the biological, neuropsychological, and physical characteristics common to frailty and depression, 2) the design, conduct, and analysis of therapeutic interventions, and 3) the complex ethical issues in geriatric research. The overall goal of this research proposal is to understand the depressed frail phenotype. Although depression and frailty individually result in dire outcomes for patients and families and appear to be phenomenologically and physiologically associated, the syndrome of frailty has never been explicitly studied in the context of late life depression. Based on his pilot data and the diagnostic complexities of these two conditions, Dr. Brown had constructed a model of this phenotype and hypothesized that the presence of specific frailty characteristics at baseline will diminish response to antidepressant treatment. To investigate this model, Dr. Brown will conduct a 12-month deconstruction of the depressed, frail phenotype using antidepressant medication. In doing so, Dr. Brown will also assess markers of chronic inflammation and malnutrition in this older depressed frail population to begin to evaluate the potential mechanisms underlying the phenotype, and he will investigate the impact of baseline frailty characteristics on long-term improvement in activity levels and disability. At the end of this proposal, Dr. Brown will be better able to answer how the syndrome of frailty impacts the diagnosis of late life depression, and whether the syndrome of frailty diminishes response to antidepressant treatment. With this experience and skill set, Dr. Brown will combine the knowledge gained from both geriatric medicine and psychiatry to use multidisciplinary assessment techniques to refine our understanding of diagnostically complex geriatric patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and personalize therapeutic interventions targeted to maximize treatment outcome.

Public Health Relevance

Both late life depression1-5, 121 and frailty,9-12, 77 a syndrome resulting from age-related declines across multiple systems,9 are associated with greater incident disability, institutionalization, and death. Despite phenomenological9-11, 29, 66 and physiological16-21, 122 associations between depression and frailty, however, frailty has not been explicitly studied in the context of late life depression, in large part because frailty hs remained a focus of study for geriatric medicine and outside the purview of psychiatry.13, 15, 29 The goal of this K23, a 12-month deconstruction of the depressed frail phenotype, is to acquire the requisite skills and content base to establish a career investigating the phenomenology and treatment of medically complex geriatric patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, and in doing so, bridging the gap between geriatric medicine and psychiatry13 to improve the quality of life for the diagnostically complex geriatric patient.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)
Project #
4K23MH099097-04
Application #
9107914
Study Section
Interventions Committee for Adult Disorders (ITVA)
Program Officer
Chavez, Mark
Project Start
2013-08-01
Project End
2018-07-31
Budget Start
2016-08-01
Budget End
2017-07-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
$146,124
Indirect Cost
$10,546
Name
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Department
Type
DUNS #
167204994
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10032
Brewster, Katharine K; Ciarleglio, Adam; Brown, Patrick J et al. (2018) Age-Related Hearing Loss and Its Association with Depression in Later Life. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 26:788-796
Rodebaugh, Thomas L; Levinson, Cheri A; Langer, Julia K et al. (2017) The structure of vulnerabilities for social anxiety disorder. Psychiatry Res 250:297-301
Brown, Patrick J; Badreddine, Dala; Roose, Steven P et al. (2017) Muscle fatigability and depressive symptoms in later life. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 32:e166-e172
Lenze, Eric J; Ramsey, Alex; Brown, Patrick J et al. (2016) Older Adults' Perspectives on Clinical Research: A Focus Group and Survey Study. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 24:893-902
Brown, Patrick J; Rutherford, Bret R; Yaffe, Kristine et al. (2016) The Depressed Frail Phenotype: The Clinical Manifestation of Increased Biological Aging. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 24:1084-1094
Pimontel, Monique A; Rindskopf, David; Rutherford, Bret R et al. (2016) A Meta-Analysis of Executive Dysfunction and Antidepressant Treatment Response in Late-Life Depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 24:31-41
Brown, Patrick J; Roose, Steven P; Zhang, Jun et al. (2016) Inflammation, Depression, and Slow Gait: A High Mortality Phenotype in Later Life. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 71:221-7
Rutherford, Bret R; Bailey, Veronika S; Schneier, Franklin R et al. (2015) INFLUENCE OF STUDY DESIGN ON TREATMENT RESPONSE IN ANXIETY DISORDER CLINICAL TRIALS. Depress Anxiety 32:944-57
Harpole, Jared K; Levinson, Cheri A; Woods, Carol M et al. (2015) Assessing the Straightforwardly-Worded Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale for Differential Item Functioning Across Gender and Ethnicity. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 37:306-317
Weisman, Jaclyn S; Rodebaugh, Thomas L; Brown, Patrick J et al. (2015) Positive Affect and Social Anxiety Across the Lifespan: An Investigation of Age as a Moderator. Clin Gerontol 38:1-18

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