January 4, 2012
Dear Friend,
As you know, our mission is to improve the lives of people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders by advancing our understanding and treatment of it. We want to thank both those who participated in our research studies and those who supported our research by donating funds. Your participation and support are critical to our success.
We would like to share some highlights from 2011.
- We completed enrollment in our 5-year clinical trial (IRB#5188) that was funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH). This landmark study examined which was more effective for people with OCD with ongoing symptoms despite an adequate trial of a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI like fluoxetine or sertraline): the addition of cognitive-behavioral therapy consisting of exposure and ritual prevention or the addition of risperidone. Our findings will be posted on our website as soon as they are published. Thank you to all who participated!
- We became one of the sites in the United States participating in an industry-sponsored clinical trial (IRB#6349) examining the efficacy of a medication called ondansetron as a novel SRI augmentation strategy in people with OCD. Please contact us if you are interested in participating!
- We published findings from our 4-year NIMH study (IRB#5494R) that used positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to assess the brain distribution of a serotonin receptor (the 5-HT2A receptor), which has been implicated in OCD. We found no difference in the distribution of this receptor in the different brain regions we examined in people with OCD compared to healthy volunteers. The published article can be accessed from our website (www.Columbia-OCD.org).
We have many new projects for 2012. These include: 1) investigating whether brain glutamate levels differ in people with OCD (IRB #6218, funded by NARSAD, with Dr. Simpson named a Dylan Tauber Independent Investigator); 2) examining brain activity in people with OCD when they inhibit their responses, perform a habit, or process rewards (IRB#6159, funded by NIMH); and 3) evaluating whether people with OCD, social phobia, or anorexia nervosa differ from each other in their stress reactivity or their response to new information (IRB#6430, funded by NIMH). The goal of these projects is to learn how the brain produces obsessions and compulsions and to use this knowledge to develop new treatments.
Our program is also expanding in exciting new directions: Dr. Anthony Pinto is studying the relationship between OCD and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder; Dr. Susanne Ahmari is developing mouse models to study the brain mechanisms underlying repetitive behaviors (funded in part by the Louis V. Gertsner Jr. Scholars Foundation); and Dr. Carolyn Rodriguez is testing new medications for OCD (funded in part by the Molberger Scholar Award) and designing innovative approaches for people with compulsive hoarding. We are very proud of this new generation of outstanding clinician-scientists and deeply grateful for the private funding that has helped us to support them.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to us and our shared mission. If you would like to participate in our research studies or contribute to our research fund in 2012, please contact us or visit our website (www.Columbia-ocd.org). Together, we make the best team. On behalf of everyone here, we wish you a very happy and healthy new year,
H. Blair Simpson, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University
Director of the Center for OCD and Related Disorders and the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, NYSPI
1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 69, New York, NY 10032
212-543-5367 simpson@nyspi.columbia.edu
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