Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among youth and young adults in Canada.
“In Canada, about 4,000 people lose their lives to suicide every year,” says Patricia Burhunduli, a uOttawa MD/PhD student who is conducting her graduate work at The Royal.
“Understanding this is very important, but also very complex. Exploring the relationship between brain structure, brain function, and suicidal ideation will give us a better understanding of suicide in itself and bring us one step closer to lowering the numbers.”
She believes a greater understanding of the biology behind suicide will also help reduce the stigma that is often associated with mental illness.
“No one wakes up and chooses to be suicidal or depressed,” she says.
“Your brain plays a part in controlling everything in your body, and your mental health is no exception.”
Burhunduli is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Phillips and Dr. Pierre Blier.
Burhunduli says she is grateful to be able to access the advanced neuroimaging technology at The Royal’s Brain Imaging Centre, not just for her master’s but for her PhD thesis as well.
For her graduate work, Burhunduli is using The Royal’s positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MRI) scanner to examine brain structure and function in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorders with varying degrees of suicidal ideation.
“Advanced imaging technology makes it possible to learn so much. I am especially lucky to have access to the PET-MRI scanner at The Royal as a resource,” she says. “I feel like the options – and the potential – of what we can learn is beyond even what I can imagine.”