Mental Health GoalsUK-wide Programme

Industry Engagement Forum launch meeting

A strategic dialogue between MHG and global CROs, pharmaceutical and digital industry partners, biotech organisations, ABPI and ABHI. The Forum launches with this one-day meeting on 8 October 2026 at the SGDP Centre, Denmark Hill Campus, King’s College London.

The Mental Health Goals ridge drawn in amber — contour lines rising to a twin summit on a deep petrol ground

Getting there

The Industry Engagement Forum (IEF) is established to promote impactful collaboration between industry partners and the programmes, initiatives and workstreams of the Mental Health Goals Programme (MHG) — alongside trade associations ABPI and ABHI. This launch meeting will establish a strategic dialogue with industry, demonstrate the strengths of the UK mental health research ecosystem, identify barriers to collaboration, and provide input for a roadmap for accelerating novel therapeutics in severe mental illness (SMI) and neurodegeneration.

Applications to join the ongoing Industry Engagement Forum will open in mid-October 2026. The 8 October launch meeting has a separate registration process.

The forum is convened by DIGIT, the Data and Digital Industry Alliance Team, which delivers three of the programme’s six workstreams.

Getting there

The SGDP Centre is on King’s College London’s Denmark Hill Campus (SE5 8AF). The fastest route is a direct train to Denmark Hill from Victoria or Blackfriars (under 15 minutes). Buses 40, 68, 468, 176 and 185 also serve the campus, and a taxi from central London is about 30 minutes. See the Denmark Hill campus map.

Date
8 October 2026
Venue
SGDP Centre, Denmark Hill Campus, King’s College London, SE5 8AF
Audience
Global CROs, pharmaceutical and digital industry partners, biotech organisations, ABPI and ABHI
Timing
10:00–16:00 (business breakfast from 09:30)

Agenda

  1. 09:30Business breakfast
  2. 10:00Session 1: Introductions and UK Landscape — Prof. Mitul Mehta on introductions and objectives; Prof. Husseini Manji on the UK landscape (strengths and challenges); then Q&A
  3. 10:50Coffee / tea break
  4. 11:10Session 2: MHG Programme Overview — the new UK opportunity (Chair: Prof. Kathryn Abel). Workstream leads introduce their areas:
  5. Industry Alliance Management Team — Prof. Mitul Mehta
  6. Innovative Clinical Trials Hub — Prof. Richard Emsley
  7. Lived Experience Industry Partnership — Dr Siân Rees
  8. Cohorts and -omics — Prof. James Walters / Gerome Breen
  9. Digital Innovations — Dr Pauline Whelan
  10. Data and SDEs — Prof. Ann John
  11. Data Observatory — Dr Matthias Pierce
  12. 12:20Symbiotic partnering with industry — exploring how UK mental health research and industry can build genuinely symbiotic partnerships to accelerate progress (speaker TBC)
  13. 12:40Lunch
  14. 13:20Session 3: Industry roundtable (Chair: Prof. Vaibhav Narayan) — strengths and weaknesses of conducting Phase I–III studies in SMI and neurodegeneration, and the opportunity for the UK to strengthen its position globally
  15. 14:10Session 4: Building earlier strategic partnerships (Chairs: Prof. Richard Emsley and Dr Siân Rees) — navigating from service provider to strategic partnership with global pharma and digital health
  16. 15:00Industry Engagement Forum launch — Profs. Vaibhav Narayan and Mitul Mehta: review of objectives, initial next steps and priority actions
  17. 15:30Next steps
  18. 15:45Closing remarks and reflections — Trevor Jones

Outputs from this meeting

  • An agreed SWOT analysis

    A shared view of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of conducting Phase I–III studies in SMI and neurodegeneration in the UK.

  • Top 10 industry barriers and solutions

    A prioritised list of what blocks collaboration — and how to fix it.

  • Agreed priority actions and next steps

    Immediate actions, ownership and follow-up working groups, refined with live input from attendees.

Looking ahead

Looking ahead

Later forum meetings will build on this launch day to develop a one-page UK mental health value proposition, an industry engagement strategy for 2027–2029, a communication and stakeholder engagement plan, named leads for CRO, pharma and biotech engagement, and a 90-day action plan with owners.

Register your interest

Places at the launch meeting are limited and allocated by the Alliance Management Team. Tell us who you are and we will confirm your place and send joining details.

Questions about the Forum?

The Alliance Management Team can talk through the agenda, the audience or how your organisation might take part.

Contact us

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