Sarah Fineberg, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, has been awarded a grant to collect safety and efficacy data for use of the rapid-acting antidepressant drug ketamine in people with epilepsy.
The grant was awarded by the Yale Swebilius Pilot Research Award Program in Epilepsy and is funded by the Swebilius Trust, a private foundation that funds research at Yale in two disparate fields, cancer and epilepsy.
The foundation selects projects to receive support which range from basic science to clinical and translational programs aimed at basic mechanisms, therapy, and a broader understanding of seizures and epilepsy.
Fineberg and Yale Department of Psychiatry colleagues Alfred Kaye, MD, PhD and John Krystal, MD, will collaborate on the study with Eyiyemisi Damisah, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery and neuroscience. The study is titled, “Testing Feasibility and Mechanism of the Rapid-acting Antidepressant Ketamine in Epilepsy Patients.” Fineberg said it is the first project she is aware of to collect safety and efficacy data for use of ketamine to treat depression in people with epilepsy.