Industry Forum: a Lived Experience Perspective

The UKRI Mental Health Platform Industry Alliance Forum, held in partnership with DATAMIND, and the Medicines Discovery Catapult, took place on May 6th, 2025, in London - bringing together researchers, industry leaders, individuals with lived experience of severe mental illness, and members from NIHR and the Office of Life Sciences.

The event focused on tackling challenges in mental health research for industry with discussions aimed at finding solutions.

Lisa, one of the members from our MHP Steering Group who attended the event online, shares some of her own personal reflections from the day.

What happened at the Forum?

I was pleasantly surprised to find the day charged with an atmosphere of optimism, enthusiasm and hope. I was initially apprehensive about attending, given that I don’t have a scientific background and this was to be an event laden with science. There were several presentations with lots of slides and information. While, admittedly, I struggled to understand some of the concepts, this didn’t detract from the engaging way that people spoke from all three areas - industry, academia and lived experience.

One of the key messages which came out of the conversations in the room was the need for better communication between us all. Indeed, one researcher from DATAMIND said, “You can’t have partnership unless you’re speaking a common language.”

From what I observed, all parties treated each other with respect and genuine curiosity. My only regret is that being online meant that I couldn’t join when coffee is served, a time when more connections and warmth are formed!

As the conversations continued it transpired there is in fact an appetite to work together. Many of the attendees appeared to value the expertise of the others and to want to work together towards the shared goal of more effective treatments for people with SMI.

What are the next steps?

We need to continue to build relationships and momentum on the back of this event and find tangible actions we can take together, recognising what each group brings to the Alliance.

Academia offers a wealth of knowledge and novel ideas that can underpin the needs of people with SMI. Pharma and Biotech can produce and deliver the drugs and laboratory tests to help the community. These could be new drugs, or repurposed existing medications. I think drugs which can mitigate side effects are as important as those treating symptoms. 

People with lived experience can offer their expertise and add value at every stage. This could be early-stage priority setting, such as asking if an area of research is in fact worth the time and investment. Endorsement by the people who are directly affected by the issues at hand could effectively bring the drug to public attention and boost confidence in medications

From my perspective, I recognise the need for alliance and collaboration with these ‘scientific’ domains.  Pharma is here to stay, Biotech is here to stay; academia is here to stay and we, the people with the lived experience of mental health conditions, are also here to stay.  At the very least, our potential collaborations could lead to a symbiotic relationship between all three of us and, at best, long-lasting, trusting and mutually beneficial relationships.