Dr. Fang Liu

For more than 20 years, Dr. Fang Liu has been conducting research at CAMH to find a cure for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

“One challenge for psychiatry is the lack of accurate blood tests to diagnose mental illnesses like PTSD. We also don’t have a drug for PTSD that targets the root causes of the disease. That’s what got me interested in this research area,” says Fang, who was a pediatrician before switching careers and moving into research.

PTSD can develop after exposure to severe psychological trauma such as sexual assault or military combat. People with PTSD suffer from disabling anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks.

About 9 per cent of Canadians will develop PTSD in their lifetime.

Fang says many people suffering from PTSD have attempted suicide, die by suicide, or exhibit violent behaviour. 

“I want to develop a biological marker to diagnose PTSD that could also be a target for drugs to treat PTSD. As a scientist, I dream of developing a medicine with no side effects,” she says.

In her CAMH lab, Fang and her team of researchers study protein complexes in the brain, which help maintain normal functions but can lead to diseases when present at abnormal levels (too high or too low) for too long.

Earlier this year, Fang and her team made a groundbreaking discovery about a new potential diagnosis, treatment and prevention for PTSD.

The article published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation identified a protein complex that is elevated in PTSD patients. The researchers also developed a peptide to target and disrupt the protein complex. They found that the peptide prevented recall or encoding of fear memories in early tests. This suggests that the peptide could treat PTSD symptoms or prevent them.

“You can find this protein complex in the brain and the blood, which is why we can use it as a diagnostic marker,” she explains. “When people have exposure to a traumatic event, we could potentially test their blood to see if this protein complex is too high. That could be an indication that they may develop PTSD later in life.”

Fang says this recent discovery will help identify and predict who is more likely to develop PTSD since not everybody who has experienced a traumatic event will develop PTSD.

“That’s the beauty of our finding. If we can predict who will develop PTSD, we could potentially intervene and prevent them from getting it,” she says.

Following the publication of the findings in January, Fang says a number of people suffering from PTSD reached out to her to see if they could be candidates for clinical trials.

“They were quite desperate,” she says. “They all spoke about how much they have suffered as a result of having PTSD.”

When asked what Not suicide. Not today. meant to her, Fang says if her work leads to suicide prevention that would be wonderful.

“That would make my hard work all worth it,” she says.

Fang says that suicide is a complicated phenomenon, but mental illnesses including PTSD are important risk factors. By advancing the understanding and treatment of PTSD, CAMH can help.

“As Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world's leading research centres, CAMH has a unique group of researchers, clinicians and patient populations. These resources and expertise give it a critical role in leading efforts in many areas of mental health research, including suicide. But CAMH cannot do this alone. As with all important medical research, there is a huge national and international medical research community that needs to work together to make real progress,” she says.

This story was part of our Not suicide. Not today. campaign in 2020.