The Highs and Lows of the antidepressant, Prozac

Fluoxetine (Prozac), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is the most commonly prescribed antidepressant. For gestational and postpartum depression, and for children and adolescents with mood disorders, Prozac is often the drug of choice because of its perceived favourable risk-benefit ratio. However, recent studies have raised concerns about perinatal and adolescent fluoxetine exposure with reports of long-lasting damaging effects on mood. In my talk I will discuss our recent results that provide mechanistic explanations of why Prozac may exert very different effects on mood when given during childhood/adolescence and adulthood. Our results have identified a role for epigenetic machinery which may be responsible for the lasting damaging effects on mood that arise when Prozac is given early in life.

About Prof. Vidita Vaidya:

Prof. Vidita Vaidya did her bachelors from St.Xavier's College, Mumbai and obtained her Ph.D. from Yale University. She has worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Oxford University, and Karolinska Institute. Currently she is a faculty member at TIFR. She has a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship Award and was the recipient of the National Bioscientist Award in 2012.