Maastricht University
The Netherlands
History
The Experimental Medicine Network was established in 2010 by David Nutt (President, 2007–2010), United Kingdom, and Gerry Dawson, United Kingdom. Its initial goal was to develop best practices and methodologies for early-phase clinical studies, particularly those involving emerging technologies such as fMRI. The network expanded rapidly and, in 2016, successfully secured a €16m grant from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), which was renewed in 2021. In addition, the network collaborates closely with industry partners to identify and validate novel biomarkers—most notably through the Reward Task Optimization Consortium (RTOC), a joint effort supported by five pharmaceutical companies, four academic institutions, and two SMEs.
Our global Network is actively working on developing trans-diagnostic biomarkers that will support the discovery and development of novel treatments in psychiatry. Examples of successful network-initiated activities include the development of a quantitative biological approach to understanding and classifying neuropsychiatric diseases (e.g., PRISM), and the validation of novel (e.g., task-based) measurements of anhedonia. More recently, the Network has been developing work packages aimed at improving the prediction of treatment response with fast-acting antidepressants. With these initiatives, we aim to accelerate and maximize the benefits of novel treatments for those most in need of them.
Goals
1
Advance biomarker availability, selection, and implementation.
2
Conduct transdiagnostic neuroscientific research, with the aim of developing quantitative measures that can be used for stratification and/or subgrouping purposes.
3
Develop new biomarkers within various domains, including markers of reward-oriented behavior, social functioning, and cognition.
4
Use these biomarkers to validate and predict the effects of novel therapeutic compounds, such as rapidly-acting antidepressants.
Members
| Name | Organisation | City | Country |
| Celso Arango | Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon | Madrid | Spain |
| Derek Buhl | Abbvie | Cambridge, Massachusetts | USA |
| Philippe Danjou | Biotrial | Rennes | France |
| Gerard Dawson | P1vital | Wallingford, Oxfordshire | United Kingdom |
| Caroline Golden | Novartis | Basel | Switzerland |
| Oliver Grimm | Johann Wolfgang Goethe University | Frankfurt am Main | Germany |
| Catherine Harmer | University of Oxford | Oxford | United Kingdom |
| Dennis Hernaus | Maastricht University | Maastricht | The Netherlands |
| Martien Kas | University of Groningen | Groningen | The Netherlands |
| Gitte M. Knudsen | Rigshospitalet | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| Mitul Mehta | IoPPN - King's College London | London | United Kingdom |
| Carmen Moreno | Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon | Madrid | Spain |
| Brian Murphy | Cumulus Neuroscience | Belfast | United Kingdom |
| David Nutt | Imperial College London | London | United Kingdom |
| Georgios Papazisis | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki | Greece |
| Brenda Penninx | VU University Amsterdam | Amsterdam | The Netherlands |
| Andreas Reif | University Hospital Frankfurt | Frankfurt | Germany |
| Alessandro Serretti | University of Bologna | Bologna | Italy |
| Paul Stokes | IoPPN - King's College London | London | United Kingdom |
| Elizabeth Tunbridge | Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH | Biberach an der Riß | Germany |
| Daniel Umbricht | Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals | NY | USA |
| Nic van der Wee | Leiden University Medical Center | Leiden | The Netherlands |