Dr. Congdon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and UCLA Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics. She received her PhD in Biopsychology from Stony Brook University before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA focused on identifying and measuring phenotypes suitable for large-scale genetic investigation. She is a recipient of the UCLA CTSI KL2 Translational Science career development award, and brings a growing expertise in the analysis of gene expression profiles and bioinformatics to understand response to fast-acting therapies in Major Depressive Disorder. With support from her Friends Scholar award, she will be able to collect additional samples from collaborating sites to validate preliminary results indicating that treatment-related signals (specifically changes in genes involved in neuroplasticity) can be detected in peripheral blood of depressed patients. This line of research is designed to identify biomarkers that can personalize treatment strategies and improve the quality of care for patients suffering from depression.