On Tuesday, May 20, 2025, Psychiatrist and Neurologist Nolan Williams, MD, Associate Professor at Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, presented “Rapid Acting Therapeutics in Neuropsychiatry.” Every year, millions of patients seek treatment for depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions. Existing therapies work for some, but over one-third exhaust treatment option after treatment option, with little or no relief. Life can become overwhelmingly frustrating. For some, this can be life-threatening.
3:50 Goals of Talk
4:01 Physical health emergency and psychiatric emergency
5:52 Major depressive disorder (MDD)
6:25 Conventional Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
11:23 Spaced Intermittent (Excitatory) Theta-Burst Stimulation
18:30 SAINT Treatment
24:40 Q&A
Dr. Williams explained Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT), a new form of individualized neurostimulation for treatment-resistant depression. In a double-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT), 79% of participants receiving SAINT treatment achieved remission from depression following the five-day treatment protocol compared to just 13% in the sham group.
Dr. Williams is the founder and director of the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab, and he has an extensive background in neuropsychiatry and is triple board-certified in general neurology, general psychiatry, and behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry. He has specific training and clinical expertise in developing and implementing novel therapeutics, including devices and novel compounds for central nervous system illnesses. Themes of his work include examining the use of spaced learning theory in the application of neuromodulation techniques; development and mechanistic understanding of rapid-acting antidepressant therapies; and identifying objective biomarkers that predict responses to neuromodulation treatments.
The free webinar was held on Tuesday, May 20 at 11:30 – 12:30 pm PT via Zoom. It included 15 minutes for questions and answers following Dr. Williams’ presentation. The Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities at https://www.mhacc-usa.org will provide simultaneous Chinese interpretation. Alan Hu Foundation President and Co-Founder, Xiaofang Chen thanked Three Valleys Community Foundation for funding Dr. Williams’ presentation.
We were honored and privileged that Dr. Williams shared his knowledge and experience of Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT). We were grateful to our audience for tuning in across United States as well as from American Samoa, Benin, Canada, China, Germany, Palau, and Taiwan. Thank you, MHACC Founder and President Elaine Peng. Thank you, Ida Shaw, for simultaneous Chinese Interpretation.