Resources for industry

The purpose of this Alliance is to facilitate trusted and impactful collaboration to accelerate research into severe mental illness (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression) and improve the diagnosis and treatment of those living with these conditions, by bringing together academics, industry professionals and people with lived experience of severe mental illness. 

The aim is to undertake strategic planning to identify and collaboratively address the most pressing challenges around diagnosis, management and treatment of severe mental illness, utilising research from the Mental Health Platform as a starting point to augment the value and impact of the research for the diagnosis, treatment and management of people with severe mental illness.  

We have a particular focus on:  

• Identifying barriers to delivering treatment innovations in severe mental illness.
• Identifying opportunities for academic-industry collaboration.
• Developing initiatives and projects to deliver more effective interventions for severe mental illness. 

We will bring together people with the enthusiasm, skills and commitment to tackle the tricky questions, and work together to find systems solutions for these challenges. 

Academic members will be UK university researchers active within and/or having a strong interest in the wide range of mental health related fields including psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience and informatics represented within the UKRI-funded Mental Health Platform and the six research hubs supporting the platform. Hubs will be represented by senior academics, with cutting-edge research presented by current and future leaders in their fields. 

Members with lived experience of severe mental illness will be recruited from among the Mental Health Platform’s Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement groups. Many will have had prior involvement in research and/or advocacy as, for example, research participants, part of a research team, through involvement in the funding review process and/or as evidence users.  

Industry members will be leading professionals working within UK and international pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medtech companies who are active in and/or have a strong interest in the field of mental health. They should also have a keen interest in collaborating to define challenges and develop approaches that draw on the combined strengths of industry, academia and the perspectives of people with experience of SMI.  

All members will have an interest in improving the way research findings are translated into effective biomarkers, other diagnostics and technologies, and treatments. 

Members can indicate their interests in one or more of three different work strands: 

1. Pharma and biotech
2. Digital
3. Wellbeing and lifestyle 
   
    

As an Alliance member, you will be invited to contribute and shape challenges; attend hybrid meetings (online or in person) to develop transformative ideas; and support the proposals and projects that emerge from those discussions. This work will be enabled through access to funding provided by the Mental Health Platform and additional support offered by Medicines Discovery Catapult. Ideas and projects that emerge may involve a subset of members, based on their interests and priorities.

Annual Forum meetings

Annual Forum meetings (one per work strand) will bring together a diverse range of members of the Alliance.  

Each Forum meeting will profile two of the six Mental Health Platform hubs, relevant to the challenge(s) being discussed. More information about these hubs can be found via the Mental Health Platform website.  

Forum meetings are intended to offer strategic opportunities that prime new and exciting industry-academic collaborations and support co-creation of future projects, rather than pitching existing innovations to academia.  

Forum attendance is likely to be limited, so we may prioritise our invitations to industry members most closely aligned to the aims of the meeting. Thereafter, we will accept invitations in order of their submission until capacity is met. We may use a waiting list if demand is high. 

Forum meetings will operate under the Chatham House Rule to encourage inclusive and open dialogue. 

Operational support for Alliance members (e.g. onboarding, meeting attendance) and Forum meetings will be provided via the Mental Health Platform coordinating centre working in partnership with DATAMIND. Medicines Discovery Catapult will support the relationships with and between individual biotech and pharmaceutical companies. 

The next meeting will take place in London in early May 2025, and will feature challenges, updates and opportunities related to the DATAMIND and ImmunoMIND hubs for the Pharma and Biotech work strand. 

As a member of the Alliance, you will benefit from: 

• Access to leading UK research communities and findings. 

• Networking opportunities with the wide range of Alliance members.  

• Opportunities to collaborate and co-create projects with researchers and people with lived experience of severe mental illness. 

• Visibility (a listing) on the UKRI Mental Health Platform website. 

• Access to regular newsletter sharing opportunities and insights. 

• Invitations to relevant events organised by Medicines Discovery Catapult, Mental Health Platform and hubs. 

• Exclusive opportunities to access MHP funding sources: 

  • £1.5M Cross-Hub Collaboration Fund – Supports interdisciplinary partnerships between the Hubs and with Industry partners, focused on translational research, new biomarkers, new assessment tools, improving diversity in SMI research, and meaningful PWLE involvement
  • £1.5M ECR Fellowships Fund – Funds Early career researchers fellowships, pilot studies, and secondments, including projects involving industry partners
  • £250K Partnership Fund – Supports short-term collaborations between Early career researchers and industry, healthcare, or third-sector partners.