Deadline: 8 October 2026

Mental Health Goals Programme (MHG) launch event

The Mental Health Goals Programme (MHG) is a cornerstone of the Government's 2025 Life Sciences Sector Plan. The programme aims to harness the UK's unique digital, health data and research infrastructure to transform how we prioritise and deliver mental health research and innovation.

The MHG brings together expertise from across academia, industry, healthcare and government to:

  • Develop data-driven tools that guide priorities and planning across mental health research, clinical trials, methodology and research platforms.
  • Create clinically characterised, recontactable cohorts to accelerate recruitment into studies and trials.
  • Strengthen the UK's position as a global leader in mental health research, experimental medicine and life sciences innovation.
  • Enable more efficient development, testing and adoption of new interventions for people living with mental illness and neurodegeneration.

The launch event will bring together representatives from industry, academia, government, to outline the programme's vision, priorities and opportunities for collaboration to establish objectives to deliver the programme.

Event details

Date: Thursday 8 October 2026

(09:30 Business Breakfast)

10:00 - Session 1: Introductions and UK Landscape - Mitul Mehta: Introductions and Objectives

10:10 - Husseini Manji: UK Landscape - Strengths and Challenges

10:40- Q&A

10:50 - Coffee / Tea Break

11:10 - Session 2: MHG Programme Overview - The New UK Opportunity (Chair: Prof. Kathryn Abel)

12:20 - Symbiotic Partnering with Industry

12:40 - Lunch

13:20 - Session 3: Industry Roundtable (Chair: Prof. Vaibhav Naryan)

14:10 - Session 4: Building Earlier Strategic Partnerships (Chairs: Prof. Richard Emsley & Dr. Sian Rees)

15:00 - Industry Engagement Forum Launch – Profs. Vaibhav Naryan & Mitul Mehta

15:30 - Next Steps and Closing Remarks

To sign up for the event, please email Eric at [email protected]

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