The New Therapeutic Approaches in Translational Mental Health Conference was held on 16 September 2024 at the Mathematical Institute in Oxford. The event was organised by Betina Nair and Dr Paul Whyte of the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (OH BRC) Business Partnerships Office and supported by the OH BRC Better Sleep, Data Science, Depression Therapeutics, Molecular Targets and Pain Themes and sponsored by the Mental Health Mission (MHM).
Over 130 delegates attended in-person from academia, industry and government regulatory and funding organisations to discuss the current challenges facing therapeutic development in psychiatry and brain health.
Professor Husseini Manji, co-chair of the MHM delivered the keynote address at the start of the day, followed by Dr Joshua Chauvin from Koa Health who provided an overview of how industry and academia can collaborate to make a positive impact to healthcare.
There were two Industry Workshop sessions involving Avata Biosciences, Big Health, Boehringer Ingelheim, Angelini Pharma, Reckitt Benckiser and COMPASS Pathways and a series of lightning talks showcasing the breadth of research being done at the OH BRC and MHM.
The day ended with a lively roundtable which addressed the topic of ‘Why UK for psychiatry drug discovery and development’, chaired by University of Oxford’s Professor John Geddes with panel members Professor Sir Simon Lovestone, Professor Rachel Upthegrove, Professor Vanessa Raymont and Dr Raghib Ali.
Overall, it was a successful conference with an engaged audience and an expectation to further increase and develop industry partnerships moving forward. Clear opportunities to establish the UK as a leading place to undertake research trials were identified during the event.
Event organiser Betina Nair said:
“The event was successful in bringing together a variety of stakeholders to discuss new innovative developments in mental health interventions and the challenges and gaps in de-risking future therapy development.”
OH BRC Director Designate Professor Rachel Upthegrove MBE, MBBS, FRCPsych, PhD said:
“It was a fantastic day, showcasing work across the BRC’s full breadth and reach, with Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) presentations and discussion, lightning and early career researcher talks were a particular highlight for me. Our industry partners brought a unique focus and meant that discussions stretched the full translational pipeline. Lots of work to do, but lots of energy and drive get it done.”
NIHR MH-TRC Manager, Mental Health Mission Operational Lead Dr Julie Bieles said:
“The day provided an excellent opportunity to learn more about the research being done within the OH BRC and the MHM, and for more detailed discussion during the Industry Workshop sessions. However the highlight for me was the ample opportunity to network between sessions, which should help lead to even more collaboration moving forward.”
