MEDIA
Featured Highlights
Can predictive tools tell us who
really needs antidepressants?
October 14, 2026
Amid a U.S. push for “deprescribing,” researchers are finding new ways to match patients to their optimal treatment
By Sara Reardon​
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In a recent study, Williams found that prescribing based on biotype improved symptom remission rate from 16% to 70% for certain treatments. Her team is now testing the fMRI technique in 20 clinics across the United States, and in September FDA designated it as a “breakthrough device,” speeding its path toward commercial approval.
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The tool might also identify people who will likely never respond to either psychotherapy or first-line antidepressants, Williams says—potentially allowing them to skip straight to second-line therapies such as transcranial brain stimulation, electroconvulsive therapy, or ketamine.
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​Kennedy isn’t talking about predictive tools, Williams says, but they fit with his priorities. At a visit to the White House in April, she urged him to support research into the biological roots of depression and its treatment. “It really is about identifying early who is not likely to benefit from an antidepressant—but also who is,” she says.
Stanford Medicine’s Leanne Williams Joins MAP-D Initiative
July 31, 2026
​​The Vincent V.C. Woo Professor, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and director of the Stanford Center for Precision Mental Health has been selected as a member of the steering committee for a new project led by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, named the Multi-Modal Assessment and Phenotyping in Depression. MAP-D is the largest effort of its kind to define depression subtypes based on both distinct biology and clinical symptoms, enabling more individualized care. With more than $70 million committed, MAP-D will gather data using a broad set of measures — including genetic testing, neuroimaging, digital assessments and patient-reported outcomes — to create the most comprehensive dataset for depression in history, a resource that will serve as the foundation for future research. In her role on the steering committee, Williams will oversee the functional MRI biomarkers for the project, and the inclusion in the project of the standardized Stanford Et Cere image processing system, developed from her research.