Approximately 2.3 million Americans live with bipolar disorder who are impacted by dramatic shifts in mood, energy and activity levels. In addition, treatment options could be limiting to some patients. Through a national research grant and innovative networking system aimed to connect patients to care, it might become easier for people with bipolar disorder to find new treatments and clinical trials.

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Dr. Anil Malhotra will run the central hub at Zucker Hillside Hospital. (Credit: Feinstein Institutes)

Researchers at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research received a $6.1 million grant from Breakthrough Discoveries for Thriving with Bipolar Disorders Foundation (BD2) to serve as a hub of six other sites across the country. Each site will evaluate patients and collectively offer the best treatment and clinical trial options using cutting-edge biotechnology, big data analytics and an unprecedented data ecosystem to address bipolar disorder in an innovative, equitable and rigorous way.

“Oftentimes people with bipolar disorder are unable to find the right fit with certain medications and therapies. It is important to give those patients access to the newest treatments and trial options,” said Dr. Malhotra, co-director and professor of the Feinstein Institutes’ Institute of Behavioral Science and vice chair for research with the Department of Psychiatry at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. “This funding and opportunity will allow us to be part of a larger national research hub, connecting even more members of our communities to the care they need.”

The hub is the Clinical Coordinating Center at Zucker Hillside Hospital and will be led by Dr. Malhotra and Patricia Marcy, BSN, executive director of the Vanguard Research Group. The collaborating sites are at Brigham and Women’s Hospital-McLean Hospital, University of California Los Angeles, Johns Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic, University of Michigan and UTHealth Houston.

Patients who visit a participating site will undergo a series of testing, including MRIs, and after, researchers will oversee and perform key diagnostic and clinical assessments to improve standardized diagnosis and clinical care. The Clinical Coordinating Center will also coordinate Institutional Review Board activities across the locations, help develop and implement a study monitoring plan to ensure protocol and regulatory compliance and coordinate clinical care activities.

“Although bipolar disorder impacts millions of Americans every year, it is under-researched,” said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes and Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research. “We’re addressing this at the Feinstein Institutes with our robust program in our Institute of Behavioral Science, and with this significant support and Dr. Malhotra’s leadership, we’ll produce knowledge about bipolar disorder that will benefit those living with it.”

Dr. Malhotra is a leader in mental health research. Earlier this year, Dr. Malhotra and his lab were granted $3.4 million from Wellcome to implement a new clinical trial that studies whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) improves social cognitive performance for people living with schizophrenia over five years.

About the Feinstein Institutes

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research is the home of the research institutes of Northwell Health, the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State. Encompassing 50 research labs, 3,000 clinical research studies and 5,000 researchers and staff, the Feinstein Institutes raises the standard of medical innovation through its five institutes of behavioral science, bioelectronic medicine, cancer, health system science, and molecular medicine. We make breakthroughs in genetics, oncology, brain research, mental health, autoimmunity, and are the global scientific leader in bioelectronic medicine – a new field of science that has the potential to revolutionize medicine. For more information about how we produce knowledge to cure disease, visit http://feinstein.northwell.edu and follow us on LinkedIn.

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