International Mosaic Down Syndrome Association is excited to announce the first set of results from the research project focused on stress and depression in people with mosaic Down syndrome. The project is the work of Ruth Brown, PhD, a Research Associate at Virginia Commonwealth University. The ongoing results of this study will help families and individuals obtain correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment which would otherwise go undetected.

 Dr. Ruth Brown

Dr Ruth Brown explains, “I attended my first IMDSA research retreat weekend in 2013 at the invitation of Dr. Jackson-Cook, and shortly after we began developing a grant proposal to study stress and depression with people with mosaic and full Down syndrome. I’m so pleased that after years of perseverance and the continued support of the IMDSA, the project has finally been fully funded! I'm also excited to work with some really great people on the project, including Drs. Colleen Jackson-Cook, Ananda Amstadter, and George Capone.

My motivation for this project stems from previous research that shows that people with Down syndrome are more likely to experience stress and depression than the general population, but are less likely to be properly diagnosed and receive appropriate treatment. The goals of this study are to improve existing patient-report tools for screening and diagnosing stress and depression for use with people with mosaic and full Down syndrome and to see if we can identify biological markers of stress and depression. Improving the identification of stress and the diagnosis of depression is vital to improve the state of research and treatment of mental health of people with Down syndrome.

Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to seeing you at a future IMDSA Research Retreat!”

Ruth Brown has been a long-time supporter and friend of IMDSA and we are delighted that she has successfully secured the funding to make this study a reality. Ruth will be collecting new data at this year's Research and Retreat Weekend.

Results so far...

The infographic below shows the results of this research from the last 5 years.