UC joins bipolar research network

The Cincinnati Business Courier and Spectrum News highlighted the University of Cincinnati receiving a $2.3 million grant to join the Breakthrough Discoveries for Thriving with Bipolar Disorder (BD²) Integrated Network, a collaborative research and clinical care model with a mission to improve care, interventions and outcomes for people living with bipolar disorder.

Working in partnership with clinicians, researchers and people living with bipolar disorder, the BD² Integrated Network was established to expand knowledge of bipolar disorder while accelerating the translation of that knowledge into clinical care. An international site will be announced in the coming weeks.

The BD² Integrated Network is a novel, two-pronged approach connecting bipolar disorder research and care. It combines a traditional longitudinal cohort study of 4,000 participants and a learning health network to iteratively improve outcomes for people with bipolar disorder. Clinical sites have accelerated recruitment, with more than 500 individuals already participating in the study.

UC’s Caleb Adler, MD, will serve as site principal investigator. Patients will be enrolled both at the Lindner Center of Hope and University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

"The BD² Integrated Network is a unique approach to bettering our understanding of bipolar disorder," said Adler, professor, vice chair of research and co-director of the Division of Bipolar Disorders Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at UC’s College of Medicine and a UC Health physician. "We are very excited to have the opportunity to contribute to this important effort, a major step toward improving our care for individuals with bipolar disorder."

Read the Cincinnati Business Courier article.

Read the Spectrum News article.

Read more about the project.

Featured graphic at top of a speech bubble. Photo/bgblue/iStock Photo.