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Depression

UCLA communicators ‘raise the bar’ on Depression Grand Challenge storytelling

Michelle Popowitz stands at a lectern, presenting a projected slide to an audience.
(From right) DGC Executive Director Michelle Popowitz and Director of Communications Anne Dahlem shared the DGC’s core values and strategic focus on Wednesday. “It was a rewarding and inspiring day and broadened the reach and understanding of the DGC among this important constituency of UCLA,” Popowitz said.

The UCLA Depression Grand Challenge hosted a speed-ideation session at the university’s 2023 Bar Raiser Summit: DISRUPTx, a full-day professional development workshop for communications professionals across the campus. The breakout session, which attracted more than 120 university storytellers, engaged attendees in a rapid creative session to reimagine key descriptors and language for the DGC’s overarching strategic objectives.

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Depression

UCLA collaborates with universities, industry and advocates to advance digital sensing tools and practices in mental health research and care

More than 50 leading mental health and computer science researchers, industry experts, advocates and funders from six countries came together at UCLA Feb. 28 – Mar. 2, 2023 to collaborate on a shared vision and common goals for digital sensing technologies in mental health research.

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Depression

The Depression Grand Challenge celebrates World Mental Health day 2021

By Veronica Fernandez

The past 18 months have been filled with missed and delayed plans, including the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. As we reflect on the past 18 months, it is evident that the need for us all (even Olympic athletes) to prioritize taking care of our mental health received a gold medal in 2021, with special credit due to Simone Biles. She has shown us that our mental health has to be put above our work, our responsibilities, our social media, and yes—even over winning an Olympic gold medal. We’ve learned to stay home if we feel bad, to seek out professional help, and to proactively reach out to those around us who are having a difficult time as well.

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Depression

UCLA’s Jonathan Flint debunks theory of “warrior gene” but signals possibility of predicting behavioral outcomes based on genetics

Jonathan Flint (UCLA behavioral geneticist, expert in the genetic determinants of depression and Depression Grand Challenge Executive Committee team member) shared background about the theory of the “warrior gene” in a blog post written for the Oxford University Press. Since the 1990s criminal defense lawyers have tried to argue that a mutation in the “warrior gene” mitigates responsibility for aggressive behavior. Flint highlights a 2021 New Mexico Supreme Court case which definitively ended the argument that a single gene mutation determines overall behavior.

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