Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression

Gustavo H. Vazquez is a Full Professor at the School of Medicine, Queen's University, Director of the CME and staff member of the Mood Disorders Research and Treatment Service, Department of Psychiatry, Providence Care Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada. He is a member of the Centre for Neuroscience Studies (CNS) at Queen's University (Kingston, Canada), member of the Centre of Neurosicence at Palermo University (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and member of the International Consortium for Psychotic and Bipolar Disorders Research at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Boston, United States of America). Dr. Zarate completed his residency training in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Brockton VAMC division. He later completed a fellowship in Clinical Psychopharmacology at McLean Hospital of the Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and remained on staff at McLean Hospital as the Director of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Outpatient Services. From 1998 to 2000 Dr. Zarate was the Chief of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In 2001, he joined the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at NIMH. His achievements and awards include the Ethel-DuPont Warren Award and Livingston Awards, Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Outstanding Psychiatrist Research Award, Massachusetts Psychiatric Association; Program for Minority Research Training in Psychiatry, APA; the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Award; National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Independent Investigator Award; the National Institutes of Health Director’s Award Scientific/Medical, the 2011 Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Award for Bipolar Mood Disorder Research, the 2013 National Institute of Health Director’s Award—Scientific/Medical Achievement and Mogens Schou Research Award: Bipolar Disorder and the Simon-Bolivar Award American Psychiatric Association; 2015 Ruth L. Kirschtein Mentoring Award NIH and the Astute Clinician Lecture Award, NIH; the 2019 ACNP Dolores Shockley Minority Mentoring Award; and in 2019 was promoted to NIH Distinguished Investigator, NIMH, NIH. Dr. Zarate is a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and member of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and the Society for Neuroscience. Dr. Zarate’s research focuses on the pathophysiology and development of novel therapeutics for treatment-resistant mood disorders as well as the study of biomarkers and neural correlates of treatment response. Elisa Brietzke is a Psychiatrist and Professor at the Department of Psychiatry of Queen's University School of Medicine in Kingston, ON, Canada. She is attending psychiatrist at the Inpatient Unit from Kingston General Hospital and at Mood Disorders Research and Treatment Unit at Providence Care Hospital, both in Kingston, ON, Canada. Dr. Brietzke is also a member of the Centre for Neuroscience Studies (CNS) at Queen's University. She is a member of the Board of Councillors from the International Society of Bipolar Disorders (ISBD). The focus of her research is neurobiology and innovative interventions on mood disorders. She was awarded by a L'Oreal For Women in Science Award 2015 for her work on premature aging and inflammation in mood disorders.

1. Ketamine, Clio, and the hippocratic triangled fragments of the history of ketamine
2. Ketamine’s potential mechanism of action for rapid antidepressive effects – a focus on neuroplasticity
3. Treatment resistant depression
4. Suicide in psychiatric disorders: rates, risk factors, and therapeutics
5. Overview of ketamine for major depression: efficacy and effectiveness
6. How to implement a ketamine clinic
7. Development of new rapid-action treatments in mood disorders
8. Closing remarks