Uniting MINDDS for international collaboration

A mental health and neurodevelopmental conference unites researchers across Europe and the globe, promoting international collaboration to improve treatments for patients.

The Future MINDDS conference, funded by COST, was hosted at Cardiff University’s Neuroscience and Mental Health Innovation Institute drawing together 115 attended from across 34 countries.

In April, researchers joined the conference, focussing on the study of patients who are at risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders and psychiatric conditions.

Professor Adrian Harwood, Co-Director of the Cardiff University Neuroscience and Mental Health Innovation Institute, said: “The Future MINDDS conference brings together researchers across Europe, with the goal of fostering collaborations, which is vital in producing research with impact.”

The Opening Plenary was hosted by Professor Raquel Gur, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a world-leading researcher in neurodevelopmental disorders.

The conference unites neuroscience and mental health researchers to improve treatments for patients and facilitating international collaboration.

“This conference may have delivered our first direct line of sight from patient experience to underlying molecular mechanism.

Although the work is only just starting, this feels like a new dawn and the next decade is likely to see us make major steps forward in understanding and subsequent patient benefit," said Professor Adrian Harwood.