Additionally, increased understanding of how the immune system regulates brain function, a biological research environment enriched by the digital technology revolution, and the promise of personalized treatment all sit at the cutting edge of progress today. This paradigm shift has opened up a new world of cell and gene therapies for neurodegenerative diseases including brain disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Today, rather than waiting until people are acutely ill, we are moving to a model of “predict and preempt.” Our research suggests that some illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder include a prodromal period. In other words, patients will demonstrate symptoms before developing the full blown illness. There are reasons to believe that if we can intervene at the early stage, we have a real chance at changing a patient’s trajectory, just as we are trying to do in cancer, in pre-diabetes and heart disease. Additionally, relapse in these diseases is highly recurrent. When we can predict – and thus quickly treat or even ward off – a person’s relapse, we can have a much better outcome.