Our team consists of psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists and basic scientists. We use data from volunteer patients and animal research, along with meta-analytic methods, to examine brain changes associated with severe depressive illness and its treatment. We are currently performing a randomised controlled double-blind trial of standard bilateral ECT versus high-dose unilateral ECT to test the hypothesis that the latter will have the same clinical efficacy but less of the cognitive side-effects. Our research also involves the systematic search for molecular biomarkers of depression. Such biological markers will enable us to diagnose and better manage depression and will also be informative about the molecular neurobiology of depression. Together, these studies involve collection and formation of large databases that are being stored and back-up on the TCHPC storage facility.