HOPES, version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Help Overcome and Predict the Emergence of Suicide
IRAS ID
257626
Contact name
Anne-Laura van Harmelen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
Aligned with the MR-IMPACT research objectives and following upon the MR-IMPACT findings, the HOPES project aims to further investigate the emergence of a key symptom of Depression: Suicide. The MR-IMPACT study collected detailed records on Suicide, imaging, and psychosocial data related to Depression in youth, but focused on the exploration of the emergence of Depression as a condition and did not look at the individual depression symptoms. Depression is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a constellation of 11 psychological symptoms, including suicide. Given the heterogeneity and co-morbidity found in depression, to better understand its emergence, it is vital to better understand how depression symptoms emerge and evolve over time. By studying Suicide, the HOPES project aims to expand upon the MR-IMPACT study to investigate its biological, cognitive and psycho-social underlying factors, to shed new light in our understanding of its emergence in adolescence and how it can be predicted to enhance prevention strategies.
To achieve its research aims, the HOPES project is structured in 3 distinct Work Packages (WP):
Aim 1/ WP1A: (led by The University of Melbourne) – To reveal the brain mechanisms that make young people diagnosed with a range of psychiatric illnesses vulnerable to suicidal thoughts and behaviours.Aim 2/ WP1B: (led by Yale Medical School) - To identify what brain mechanisms predict future suicidal thoughts and behaviours in young people, and whether this can be changed through talking therapy.
Aim 3/ WP1C: (led by The University of Cambridge) - To examine how the brain interacts with the social environment (such as bullying, and abuse) to make young people liable to suicidal thoughts and behaviours.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EE/0029
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jan 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion