Trivedi named first holder of Hersh Chair for Depression Research and Clinical Care

By James Beltran

Dr. Madhuker Trivedi
Dr. Madhukar Trivedi

Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, Director of the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been named the inaugural holder of the Julie K. Hersh Chair for Depression Research and Clinical Care.

The endowment honors Julie K. Hersh for her work as a national advocate for education and research on depression. Mrs. Hersh, President of the Hersh Foundation, details the struggles of living with depression in her book, Struck by Living: From Depression to Hope.

The Chair was made possible by a $5 million gift from the Hersh Foundation that also helped establish the Center as part of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern.

A Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Trivedi leads the Center, which addresses a critical need for advanced treatments of patients with depression and bipolar disorder. The Center also focuses on identifying biological and behavioral causes of these brain conditions.

“Julie Hersh’s tireless advocacy on behalf of depression and bipolar disorder is a true inspiration. It is a constant reminder of the urgent need to develop tests and tools for diagnosis and prevention, leading to personalized treatments of depression,” said Dr. Trivedi, Chief of the Division of Mood Disorders. “Julie and Ken Hersh have already made tremendous contributions toward increasing the awareness of depression and its consequences.”

Dr. Trivedi is an internationally recognized expert in depression and mood disorders. He has published more than 480 chapters and papers in journals, has been a Principal Investigator in numerous National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trials, and helped develop the benchmarks now routinely used for treating depression and other disorders.

He graduated from medical school at Baroda Medical College in 1980 and completed residencies at University General Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital. Trivedi joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1990.

“We are grateful to Julie Hersh for providing the opportunity for such a prestigious Chair at UT Southwestern,” said Dr. Carol Tamminga, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. “It is Dr. Trivedi’s outstanding research in depression which originally stimulated this event and his ongoing cutting-edge research in understanding the biological basis of mood disorders.”

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Dr. Tamminga holds the Lou and Ellen McGinley Distinguished Chair in Psychiatric Research, and the Communities Foundation of Texas, Inc. Chair in Brain Science.

Dr. Trivedi also holds the Betty Jo Hay Distinguished Chair in Mental Health.