Rebecca Brachman: A new class of drug that could prevent depression and PTSD
Rebecca Brachman: Eine neue Art von Medikament, das Depressionen und PTBS verhindern könnte
Rebecca Brachman is a pioneer in the field of preventative psychopharmacology, developing drugs to enhance stress resilience and prevent mental illness. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
were made from, of all things,
das vom Zweiten Weltkrieg über war.
one in five soldiers develop depression,
einer von fünf Soldaten Depressionen,
oder sogar beides hat.
that are at high risk for these diseases.
sind anfällig für diese Krankheiten.
cancer patients, aid workers, refugees --
Krebspatienten, Helfern, Flüchtlingen --
or major life stress.
und großem Stress ausgesetzt ist.
these disorders are,
dieser Krankheiten
if they work at all,
wenn sie denn funktonieren,
discovered the first vaccine --
die erste Impfung entdeckte --
a prophylactic for a disease,
eine Vorbeugung für die Krankheit,
verhindern konnte.
to extend to psychiatric diseases.
bei psychatrischen Erkrankungen angesehen.
accidentally discovered
zufällig den ersten Stoff entdeckten,
depression and PTSD.
und PTBS verhindern könnte.
whether they work in humans.
ob er bei Menschen anschlägt.
psychopharmaceuticals
von Medikamenten.
stress resilience,
Erhöhung der Stressresilienz.
that you've since recovered from.
von der Sie sich erholt haben.
you missed a flight.
eine Prüfung, einen Flug verpasst.
is the active biological process
aktiver biologischer Prozess,
to bounce back after stress.
uns von Stress zu erholen.
and your immune system fights it off.
einer Erkältung durch das Immunsystem.
enough stressor,
wie Depressionen, resultieren.
such as depression.
of major depressive disorder
von depressiven Störungen
against purely biological stressors,
biologische Stressfaktoren,
like bullying and isolation.
wie Mobbing und Isolation verhindern.
of stress hormones.
without a psychological component.
ohne eine psychologische Komponente.
of antidepressant treatment beforehand,
Antidepressiva gaben,
enhancer given a week before
die wir eine Woche zuvor gaben,
the depressive behavior.
a drug has ever been shown
von Stress verhindern.
often lifelong, clinical diseases.
oft lebenslange und klinische Krankheiten.
of substance abuse, homelessness,
Drogenmissbrauch, Obdachlosigkeit,
is over three trillion dollars per year.
über 3 Billionen Dollar pro Jahr.
where we know someone is predictively
jemand wird vorraussehbar
to extreme stress.
extremem Stress ausgesetzt sein.
going into an earthquake zone.
in einem Erdbebengebiet.
of a resilience enhancer
eine Spritze mit Resilienz-Erhöher geben,
by looters or worse,
oder Schlimmeres passiert,
against developing depression or PTSD
danach Depressionen
from experiencing the stress,
her susceptibility to depression and PTSD,
für Depressionen und PTBS senken,
her home, her family or even her life.
Verlust des Hauses, ihrer Familie
the smallpox vaccine,
die Pockenimpfung entdeckte,
was widely available.
überall verfügbar war.
sensitive and creative and empathetic.
kreativer und empathischer machte.
ausgelöst wurde, nicht durch Biologie.
by constitution and not biology.
today about depression.
über Depressionen gesagt.
opened the door
that followed after,
open the possibility of a whole new field:
die Möglichkeit eines ganz neues Feldes:
eingesetzt werden
choose to do with it.
was die Gesellschaft damit macht.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rebecca Brachman - Neuroscientist, writer, entrepreneurRebecca Brachman is a pioneer in the field of preventative psychopharmacology, developing drugs to enhance stress resilience and prevent mental illness.
Why you should listen
Current treatments for mood disorders only suppress symptoms without addressing the underlying disease, and there are no known cures. The drugs Rebecca Brachman is developing would be the first to prevent psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
Brachman completed her PhD at Columbia University, prior to which she was a fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where she discovered that immune cells carry a memory of psychological stress and that white blood cells can act as antidepressants and resilience-enhancers. Brachman's research has been featured in The Atlantic, WIRED and Business Insider, and her work was recently described by Dr. George Slavich on NPR as a "moonshot project that is very much needed in the mental health arena."
In addition to conducting ongoing research at Columbia, Brachman is an NYCEDC Entrepreneurship Lab Fellow and cofounder of Paravax -- a biotech startup developing vaccine-like prophylactic drugs ("paravaccines") -- along with her scientific collaborator, Christine Ann Denny. She is also working on a non-profit venture to repurpose existing generic drugs for use as prophylactics, and previously served as the Interim Program Director for Outreach at the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University.
Brachman is also a playwright and screenwriter. She holds Bachelor's degrees in both neuroscience and creative wWriting, and she is currently working on a tech-focused writing project with her long-time writing partner, Sean Calder ("Grimm," "Damages," "ER"). She served as the director of NeuWrite, a national network of science-writing groups that fosters ongoing collaboration between scientists, writers and artists, and she has been featured as a storyteller at The Story Collider.
(Photo: Kenneth Willardt)
Rebecca Brachman | Speaker | TED.com