A new University of Queensland scholarship will help shed light on the most challenging form of depression.
One third of people with depression will have a recurrence of the condition and one in six of these people do not respond to treatment. This is known as Treatment Resistant Depression. It is the focus of a $120,000 PhD scholarship which will fund groundbreaking Australian research into this type of depression.
The Sylvia Bligh Memorial Scholarship is funded by former Brisbane architect Graham Bligh and his brother-in-law Eric Bennett, in honour of their wife and sister, Sylvia.
Mr Bligh said he was “determined to have a body of meaningful research into this grey area of health, carried out in Sylvia’s name”.
Almost a quarter of the non-fatal disease burden in Australia is due to mental disorders, the majority involving depressive or anxiety disorders.
UQ Professor of Psychiatry, Gerard Byrne, who will supervise the research said very little was known about treatment resistant depression.
“There is an urgent need to deal with this particularly challenging form of depression,” he said.
Applications are now being called for the scholarship, with research expected to start next year.
The Scholarship was officially launched this month at an art exhibition by Mr Bligh, who took up print-making following his wife’s death and now dedicates his work to her memory.
The exhibition at The University of Queensland Art Museum is Mr Bligh’s first and is entitled “dedication”. Mr Bligh will direct the proceeds from any sales to the Sylvia Bligh Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides a $25,000 annual stipend for three years, together with additional funds of up to $15,000 per year for research-related expenses for a PhD research student to undertake this urgently needed research.
The exhibition runs until October 19.
Media inquiries: Marlene McKendry - 0401 99 6847.
