At the halfway point of the development phase of the German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), numerous scientists from the Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm site met at the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim to take stock of the current situation. In the presentations “Innovative interventional research”, “Living environments and mental health” and “Comprehensive phenotyping and digital research approaches”, ongoing projects were presented and their implementation and collaboration discussed.
They also looked to the future: the participants used the joint meeting to discuss the vision of the DZPG, particularly at the Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm site. The perspectives of the Early Career Scientists and the experience experts enriched the exchange and the view of the work at the DZPG.
Networking the locations
“The status symposium showed that we are on the right track. The establishment of joint research infrastructures and the networking of the sites are important in order to develop widely accessible prevention and early intervention tools and bring them into healthcare,” said Prof. Dr. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, site spokesperson and one of the two founding spokespersons of the DZPG.
The DZPG began its work in May 2023. Research is being conducted at six locations across Germany into new methods to prevent, better recognize and treat mental illness. The aim is also to improve the mental health of the population in Germany, destigmatize mental illness and inform the public. Patients and relatives are actively involved in the committees and research projects. In the current development phase, the DZPG is focusing on the topics of early detection and prevention.
Risk and protective mechanisms of mental illness
The CIMH in Mannheim coordinates the Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm site. The research work at the Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm site concentrates on the identification of risk and protective mechanisms of mental illness and their analysis with the help of machine learning methods. Another focus is on research into preventive interventions for social interactions and green spaces in the city.
The Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm site also coordinates two infrastructures. These include the “Biobanking, Omics and Bioinformatics” infrastructure. It forms a network for biobanks, genetic and biological analyses (omics) and bioinformatics. It develops standardized methods for collecting, processing, storing and retrieving samples, recording data and performing bioinformatic analyses.
The “Digital Mental Health” infrastructure is led by a team of digital mental health experts and supports all partner sites in the use of digital health applications and research approaches.
Source: News CIMH Mannheim
