Major Depressive Disorder: ALMOND Study
An artificial intelligence (AI) system is helping Mayo Clinic researchers and clinicians identify effective personalized treatments for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder, a leading cause of medical disability worldwide.
The novel approach, called the Analytics and Machine Learning Framework for Omics and Clinical Big Data (ALMOND) Study, uses an AI algorithm to discover patterns and unique characteristics in participants' genomic data and health histories, allowing for the right treatment to be chosen to achieve a therapeutic benefit.
Major depressive disorder is a chronic and severe psychiatric illness that affects more than 15 million people in the U.S. Treatment choices are often made on a trial and error basis; as a result, patients can receive several months of ineffective treatments before a clear nonresponse profile can be established.
In a preliminary study, the ALMOND algorithm was 75% to 85% accurate in predicting whether common antidepressant drugs would work for specific participants — compared with about 60% accuracy when predictions are based on clinical, demographic and social factors alone. With the ALMOND Study, Mayo Clinic is working to transform the management of major depressive disorder to serve all patients across all treatment settings.
Participation
To be eligible to participate in the ALMOND Study, volunteers must be:
- Between 18 and 64 years old
- Receiving outpatient care for nonpsychotic major depressive disorder
- Willing to undergo an assessment by the study team before enrollment
Eligible volunteers cannot be:
- Psychiatrically hospitalized or in an active suicidal crisis requiring hospitalization
- Currently undergoing electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation or deep brain stimulation
Contact
For more information or to volunteer, contact Sarah M. Williams at williams.sarah2@mayo.edu or 507-422-2972.
You can also contact the Center for Individualized Medicine for information on clinical studies and trials.