University Hospital Frankfurt
Germany
History
The Meta-Network Depression was established in 2023 as a result of a discussion within the Executive Committee, where the gap of not having a Network on the most prevalent mental disorder (i.e., depression) was addressed. Owing to the heterogeneity and the cross-disorder relevance of depression, and also the breadth of depression research within ECNP, a mechanism was sought to adequately connect the ECNP community with the Network. It was therefore decided to build a Meta-Network including key members with depression expertise from other, existing Networks. The Meta-Network started its operations at the 2023 Annual Congress.
Depression is the most common cause for years lost to disability, it strikes early in life and has huge implications for the individual and society as a whole. Although effective treatments are at hand, they achieve functional remission in only ca. 60% of cases. Also, there is a considerable latency until treatments work and unwanted effects are problematic. One underlying reason for these unmet medical needs is the heterogeneity of depression, and, as a consequence, an only incompletely understood pathophysiology of the disorder. This leads to suboptimal diagnosis, prevention and treatment. By infusing the field with new concepts, revolving around the ideas of precision medicine, the Meta-Network aims to better understand the causes of depression and thereby to improve the life of those with lived experience.
Goals
1
Providing a platform facilitating collaboration between researchers to perform international, multidisciplinary and multi-method research on depression.
2
Organising cross-Network activities that bridge various research methods/lines in the field of depression.
3
Influencing policy-makers, to increase the funding and resources for depression research, by providing information on depression prevalence trends as well as prevention and treatment developments and opportunities.
4
Collaborating with the industry involved in pharmacological as well as non-pharmacological (i.e. wearables, lifestyle/psychotherapy solutions, neurostimulation techniques) interventions for depression.
5
Submission of collaborative international multi-centre study proposals to the EU Commission and/or other funding national and international agencies.
6
Maximising generalisability of findings, maximising study power through sample sharing, and homogenisation of research protocols and (depression) concepts across different countries in line with FAIR regulations.
7
Educating scientists, clinicians and the public in innovative research methods and questions in depression, as well as distribute, integrate and/or produce clinical guidance on how to prevent, screen for, and treat depression.
Members
| Member name | Institution | City | Country |
| David S. Baldwin | University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine | Southampton | United Kingdom |
| Michael Bauer | Technische Universität Dresden | Dresden | Germany |
| Bernhard T. Baune | University of Münster | Münster | Germany |
| Elisabeth Binder | Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry | Munich | Germany |
| Paolo Brambilla | Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico | Milan | Italy |
| Eero Castrén | University of Helsinki | Helsinki | Finland |
| Annamaria Cattaneo | University of Milan and IRCCS Fatebenefratelli Institute | Milan | Italy |
| John F. Cryan | University College Cork | Cork | Ireland |
| Gerard R. Dawson | P1vital Limited | Oxfordshire | United Kingdom |
| Livia De Picker | University Psychiatric Hospital Duffel | Duffel | Belgium |
| Vibe G. Frokjaer | Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| Catherine Harmer | University of Oxford | Headington, Oxford | United Kingdom |
| Catharina A. Hartman | University Medical Center Groningen | Groningen | The Netherlands |
| Sarah Kittel-Schneider | University College Cork | Cork | Ireland |
| Gitte Moos Knudsen | Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| Nikolaos Koutsouleris | University of Munich | Munich | Germany |
| Aiste Lengvenyte | CHU Montpellier | Montpellier | France |
| Inez Myin-Germeys | KU Leuven, Center for Contextual Psychiatry | Leuven | Belgium |
| Christian Otte | Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin | Berlin | Germany |
| Carmine Pariante | Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London | London | United Kingdom |
| Christopher R. Pryce | University of Zürich | Zürich | Switzerland |
| Jonathan Repple | Goethe University Frankfurt | Frankfurt | Germany |
| Henricus G. Ruhé | Amsterdam | The Netherlands | |
| Alessandro Serretti | University of Bologna | Bologna | Italy |
| Nic J.A. van der Wee | Leiden University Medical Center | Leiden | The Netherlands |
| Eduard Vieta | Clinical Institute of Neuroscience | Barcelona | Spain |
| Christiaan Vinkers | Amsterdam UMC (location VUmc) | Amsterdam | The Netherlands |
| Gil Zalsman | Geha Mental Health Center | Petah Tikva | Israel |
Early Career Academy members
| Member name | Institution | City | Country | |
| Mirjam Bloemendaal | University Hospital Frankfurt | Frankfurt am Main | Germany | |
| Jelena Brasanac | Charite University | Berlin | Germany | |
| Laura Han | Amsterdam University Medical Center | Amsterdam | The Netherlands | |
| Vibeke Høyrup Dam | Copenhagen University Hospital- Rigshospitalet | Copenhagen | Denmark | |
| Silvia Poggini | Istituto Superiore di Sanità | Rome | Italy |
The Network is divided into four workgroups
Workgroup 1: Dissemination (e.g. Meta Network presentations/meetings, position paper on Unmet Needs in Depression Research & Treatment; educational outreach). In 2025, the ECNP Educational course “Depression” will go live (see ECNP website).
Workgroup 2: Charting the EU-landscape in depression research (e.g. overview of EU-depression studies and large national trials/cohorts, creating an European Registry on Depression, analyzing needs, data collection & capture).
Workgroup 3: Conceptualization of Depression (heterogeneity of depression, personalized medicine approaches, cross-disorder nature, preclinical evidence). Work on a Delphi-paper that describes relevance and assessment tools. First, a Delphi process on these questions was initiated which is expected to deliver results in 2025.
Workgroup 4: Clinical trial harmonization (e.g. similar to/alike platform trials) and related interaction with industry. A collaborative platform trial on depression has – after receiving initial IHI EU-funding for design testing - recently be set up through funding by the Wellcome trust: EU-PEARL - Innovative Patient Centric Clinical Trial Platforms.
Courses
Access the ECNP Knowledge Hub where you can find online courses with high-quality lectures from expert speakers, organised by the Networks.
Depression: state-of-the-art and future directions in research and treatment (on-demand)
The Depression Meta Network organised this ECNP Course, in order to provide a state-of-the-art overview of prevention and treatment strategies to reduce the impact of depression in our society.
Depression: state-of-the-art and future directions in research and treatment (in-depth)
The Depression Meta Network organised this ECNP Course, in order to provide a state-of-the-art overview of prevention and treatment strategies to reduce the impact of depression in our society. Applications are closed for the in-depth track.
