AMSTERDAM: Psychiatrists and neuroscientists are taking a major step toward objective mental health diagnosis by launching a central reference database for the classification and communication of mental health biomarker research.

Psychiatry is almost unique in the medical sciences in not relying on biomarkers (measurable physiological tests) to diagnose psychiatric disorders, instead using patient-reported symptoms, behavioural observations, and standardized diagnostic manuals. Research on biomarkers is ongoing, but fragmented. Now psychiatrists and neuroscientists are setting up a structure to create a central resource to categorise and coordinate biomarker research. This work, to be launched today, 16^th January, is initiated by the ECNP, and funded by Wellcome.

Heading the initiative on behalf of the ECNP, Professor Martien Kas (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) said:

“Precision psychiatry is an approach to mental health care that integrates biological, behavioural, and clinical data. It moves us beyond the current symptom-based diagnosis of mental illness towards a more comprehensive approach, which incorporates more quantitative data, more based on the underlying mechanisms. In short, diagnosis based on the cause of the illness, not just the symptoms. It aims to continuously refine diagnosis and personalize treatment by identifying biologically meaningful subgroups and targeting the underlying mechanisms of illness, and is perhaps the hottest topic in mental health today.

There’s a lot of research, but we need to build a structure which enables researchers to understand how their work fits into the broader picture, who is doing related work, and what the findings (or problems) have been. So we are building a database to systematically review and communicate all the biomarker work in the field of anxiety disorders, depression, and psychosis. All this will become freely available online”.

As part of the process the ECNP will organise a series of stakeholder meetings and workshops, to bring together the researchers in the field. The ECNP has already staged several workshops, with representatives from most of the major bodies in the field, such as the GAMIAN-Europe patient organisation, the FDA, the European Medicines Agency, the European Psychiatric Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and representatives from the pharmaceutical industry.

Professor Kas continued, “Wellcome has recognised the importance of the initiative by funding mapping and consensus-building around biomarkers in mental health in a 30-month project. We see this as the start of the process to put precision psychiatry on a firm footing. Ultimately, we believe this will change the way we look at mental health, and make diagnosis psychiatric diagnosis and treatment really testable”.

Niall Boyce, Head of Knowledge and Measurement in Mental Health at Wellcome, said “This exciting new project is an important step towards providing people experiencing mental health problems with the right treatment at the right time. ECNP’s biomarker map will not only help researchers to orientate themselves in an increasingly complex and fast-moving field, but will chart the way towards much-needed transformation in the precision and quality of mental health care.”

ENDS