Help us raise money

Our MOOD’n Youth team is looking to raise funds to support ongoing research focused on developing innovative approaches to better detect mood/behavior variability in youth/young adults at-risk of or diagnosed with bipolar and other mood disorders. This project is led by Dr. Aroldo A. Dargél at the Department of Psychiatry, at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. 

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a prevalent (2-4% of worldwide population), recurrent, and disabling mood illness, often with an onset of symptoms during young age. In comparison with the general population, individuals with BD have a 20-fold increased risk of suicide, significant increased risk of developing various aging-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and dementia; and their life expectancy is 10 to 20 years shorter.

The question is whether we can find a simpler solution to warn a patient (and his/her doctor) before a manic or depressive episode occurs. Mobile sensing technologies such as smartphones and wearables, which are equipped with multiple sensors, offer the opportunity to collect, in real time, many objective behaviors (e.g., emotions, physical/social activity), which may reflect a more detailed view of an individual's mind-body states within real life contexts, compared with the snapshot view that is typically acquired during brief clinical visits.

By merging clinical, digital, and novel artificial intelligence approaches, this research project may enable forecasting pre-episodic mood states, facilitating early and more individualized interventions to help those individuals live longer and healthier lives.

All donors who wish to receive a one-page report with the advances of this research can do so by emailing adargel@toh.ca Individuals who donate greater than $100 will receive, on request a short guide “living better with bipolar disorder”, coming next fall. Ninety percent of your donation goes to this research and 10% to the broader Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Fondation.