Investigator, Lady Davis Institute
Geriatric Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University
FRQS Clinician Scientist Dr. Soham Rej completed his medical school (2009), psychiatry residency, and MSc of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montréal (2014), followed by a geriatric psychiatry research and clinical fellowship at University of Toronto (2014-2017). He then joined the Dept. of Psychiatry at the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University in 2017. Major Research Activities Using large administrative health databases and clinical trials, Dr. Rej’s research has focused on the pharmacoepidemiology of late-life bipolar disorder. An area of emphasis has been on finding ways to prevent and treat the kidney adverse effects of the gold-standard bipolar treatment, lithium. This work has been published in more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and has been kindly supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Ontario Mental Health Foundation, Kidney Foundation of Canada and other agencies. Dr. Rej recently received the Chercheur-Boursier Clinicien Junior Investigator Award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS).
Since 2015, Dr. Rej has also developed a secondary focus: clinical trials of mind-body interventions – such as meditation, tai chi, and yoga - in the treatment of late-life mood disorders, with the JGH Geri-PARTy research group and the McGill Meditation and Mind-Body Medicine Research Clinic (MMMM-RC). These trials have tailored mind-body interventions to novel populations and have increasingly examined the positive effects of these interventions on inflammation, vascular burden, and functional neural networks.
Recent Publications Rej S, Herrmann, N., Shulman, K., Harel, Z., Fischer, H., Fung, K., Gruneir, A.“Lithium Use, but not Valproate Use, is Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease in Older Adults with Mental Illness: A Population-Based Nested-Case Control Study”, Accepted by J Clin Psychiatry (IF 5.8) Jan 2017. Rej, S., Shulman, K., Herrmann, N., Harel, Z., Fischer, H., Fung, K., Gruneir, A., “Prevalence and Clinical Correlates of Renal Disease Amongst Late-Life Lithium Users: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study”. Am J Geriatric Psychiatry (IF 4.3). 2014 Nov;22(11):1075-82. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2014.01.015. PMID: 24566239
Khosrow-Khavar F, Rej S, Yin H, Aprikian A, Azoulay L, "Androgen Deprivation Therapy and the Risk of Dementia in Patients with Prostate Cancer". Journal of Clinical Oncology (IF 20.9), 2016 Nov 21:JCO2016696203. PMID: 27870566
Marshe, V., Macieukiewicz, M., Rej, S., Tiwari, AK, Kennedy, JL, Lenze, E., Blumberger, D., Karp, J., Reynolds, CF., Mulsant, BH, Muller, DJ, “Norepinephrine Transporter (SLC6A2) Polymorphism rs2242446 (T-182C) is Associated with Remission on Venlafaxine in Late-Life Depression”, Am J Psychiatry (IF 12.3), 2017 May 1;174(5):468-475. Epub 2017 Jan 10. PMID: 28068779
Thomas Z, Novak M, Torres-Platas SG, Gauthier M, Potes A, Fox R, Segal M, Looper KJ, Lipman M, Selchen S, Mucsi I, Herrmann N, Rej S, “Brief Mindfulness Meditation for Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Patients Undergoing Dialysis: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial”, Clin J Am Soc Nephrology (IF 4.7) In Press. |