Congratulations to Dr. Michael Okun who was quoted in an article in the September 20, 2023 issue of Scientific American
The new biomarker could improve the efficacy of the technology because it tells doctors when a person’s symptoms call for an adjustment in the stimulation and when they don’t—and, if tested further, it might even serve as a predictor of depression relapse. With such guidance, a larger number of doctors could capably care for people who have undergone DBS. “It could be very useful to bedside clinicians and to making the therapy more scalable, more effective and, frankly, helping the physician to do no harm,” says Michael Okun, a neurologist at the University of Florida, who was not involved in the study. Okun is a co-founder of the DBS Think Tank, an annual forum centered on cutting-edge issues involving the technology. Nearly three million people in the U.S. have treatment-resistant depression and stand to benefit from an approved therapy.