The GW4 Alliance has launched a new cross-institutional Mental Health Research Network, designed to connect investigators, foster new conversations, share knowledge and spark new research collaborations across the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter.
The Network, which is open to investigators from across the GW4 Alliance, is intended to facilitate interdisciplinary working, drive innovative approaches to mental health research, and accelerate progress in addressing key challenges and questions across the fields of mental health and mental illness.
Improving mental health outcomes forms a core component of GW4’s strategic focus on advancing health and wellbeing research and innovation for all, as set out in the Alliance’s recently launched Strategic Vision 2023 -2028. Research into neuroscience and mental health is an area of complementary strength between GW4 universities, and is a critical societal challenge, with 1 in 4 people experiencing a mental health problem each year.
In September, investigators from across the Alliance gathered for an initial scoping workshop, with representatives from the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter giving an overview of the mental health research being undertaken within their institutions, highlighting access to resources, discussing shared research interests, and potential areas for future collaborations.
The online workshop, attended by around 100 representatives from across the four universities, covered research interests spanning a number of different themes, including:
- Neuroscience of Mental Health & Discovery Science
- Young People’s Mental Health
- Diagnostic Approaches to Mental Health
- Social and Environmental Drivers of Mental Health and Illness.
Dr Joanna Jenkinson MBE, GW4 Alliance Director, said: “Establishing a Mental Health Research Network for investigators across GW4 presents a fantastic opportunity to identify connections between work being undertaken across the universities and to share knowledge, innovative methodologies and examples of best practice, as well as building research collaborations designed to drive impact. I was thrilled to see so much enthusiasm from colleagues in our initial scoping workshop, and it was clear that there are a number of complementary areas and shared interests, across mental health research and innovation, which could be explored further.”
Chaired by experts from across each institution, discussions demonstrated a clear appetite to work together to make connections and uncover the synergy between the work happening across the universities. The event highlighted a number of areas of combined expertise, including co-design, stress, trauma-informed care, behavioural neuroscience, and more.
Following on from the success of this initial workshop, the GW4 Alliance has set up a SharePoint site for the community to share information on resources, tools and experimental approaches and are planning further activities, More details will be announced soon.
Professor Sarah Halligan, Professor in the Department of Psychology, at the University of Bath, said: “It is exciting to see the establishment of a GW4 Mental Health Research Network, demonstrating a shared commitment to working across the GW4 Alliance to tackle key challenges in the field. There is already considerable research activity focused on mental health/mental disorder across the network, presenting a real opportunity to achieve critical mass in this area. By harnessing the collective power of this network, we can drive true impact and innovation across mental health research.”
Professor Matt Jones, Professor in Neuroscience for the School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience at the University of Bristol, said: "Open, team science is the future, but it only works given a collective mission. GW4's team of neuroscience and mental health researchers clearly share that mission: to improve and nurture mental health for all society. GW4 already hosts a portfolio of major UKRI and Wellcome-funded joint projects, mapping routes to new therapies. This new Mental Health Research Network will help make sure those projects matter, building science with the people who need it most and launching the next generation of mental health scientists and practitioners."
Professor Jeremy Hall, HODGE Professor of Psychiatry, Director of Division of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience & Co-Director of Neuroscience and Mental Health Innovation Institute at Cardiff University, said: “We have a vast range of neuroscience, mental health and mental illness expertise across the GW4 Alliance academic research communities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter. By joining forces to form a new Mental Health Research Network, we have the power to work collaboratively to address important research questions and use our collective expertise to develop potential solutions to key mental health challenges, at scale.”
Professor Ed Watkins, Professor of Experimental and Applied Clinical Psychology at the University of Exeter, said: “Across GW4, we have a critical mass of neuroscience and mental health researchers covering a broad range of specialities from genomics and epigenetics; to developmental epidemiology; to drug discovery; to psychological treatment development and evaluation; from research into children and young people, all the way through to later life. This new Mental Health Research Network will foster new connections, seed new ideas, and catalyse new opportunities so that together we can fully realise the power of inter-disciplinary, large-scale and collaborative research that directly translates to real and meaningful improvements in the lives of those experiencing poor mental health.”
If you’re a staff member researching mental health, or helping to develop mental health research activities at a GW4 Alliance university, and you are interested in signing up to the Mental Health Research Network, please register to join via our online form.
Establishing a Mental Health Research Network for investigators across GW4 presents a fantastic opportunity to identify connections between work being undertaken across the universities and to share knowledge, innovative methodologies and examples of best practice, as well as building research collaborations designed to drive impact."
