RESPOND

Partners

• Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health (INSERM)

  The general objectives of the Department of Social Epidemiology at the Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health (INSERM/Sorbonne University) are to: a) improve knowledge of social determinants of health; b) assess interventions and policies dedicated to reducing social inequalities in health and health care access. The results produced help health professionals and public health decision makers adapt their practice in a context where social inequalities in health have widened in recent years across industrialized countries, despite continued increases in longevity. In particular, the Department conducts observational as well as interventional research aiming to gain better understanding of social inequalities with regard to mental health and provide tools to decrease them.

  Team

  • Maria Melchior - Leader of WP2, Principal Investigator INSERM
  • Judith van der Waerden - Researcher
  • Irwin Hecker - Researcher
  • Andrea Tortelli - Researcher
  • Murielle Mary-Krause - Researcher
  • Dr. Eric Bui - Researcher

• London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

  The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a specialist university with an international intake and global reach. Its research and teaching span the full breadth of the social sciences, from economics to sociology. Founded in 1895, the School has an outstanding reputation for academic excellence. LSE has 16 Nobel Prize winners and 34 past or present world leaders have studied or taught at LSE. In 2014 LSE’s outstanding success in the national Research Excellence Framework Exercise confirmed it as a world leading research university, where LSE ranked first in the UK for its research in the social policy field. Based within LSE, the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC) is the foremost social care and mental health economics research centre in the UK and one of the leading such groups internationally. Its mission is to conduct high-quality policy analysis, evaluation and research to inform policy, practice and theory, and is regularly commended for its ‘exceptional track record in adult social care research’ and ‘significant contribution to strengthening the evidence-base for policymaking in key areas’. Since 2004 alone, CPEC has had number of research awards totalling over £51 million, and produced over 800 peer-review journal papers, books and reports. CPEC has particular expertise in economic evaluations in social care and mental health (and increasingly also in other public health and healthcare areas). CPEC research has provided evidence to underpin developments in policy and practice discussions, feeding into various national and international government bodies. CPEC also hosts the International Long-term Care Policy Network which aims to promote the global exchange of evidence and knowledge on long-term care policy.

• Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)

  The UAM constitutes an outstanding public high education institution with 63 departments and eight research institutes. UAM was awarded as the first Spanish institution and the third European university according to the QS Ranking of the World’s Top 50 Universities under 50 years old. The UAM maintains and office in Brussels aimed at increasing internationalization activities at the European level. The Department of Psychiatry is located at the medical School and it has 4 affiliated Hospitals in Madrid. The core clinical facilities for Psychiatry include the following hospitals: Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Hospital Universitario Majadahonda/Puerta de Hierro and the Fundacion Jimenez Diaz. UAM Department of psychiatry is part of the National network for mental health research (CIBERSAM). In 2012 the Department was designated as a World Health Organization Collaborative Center for Mental Health Services Research and Training and its designation has been renewed since. Hospital Universitario La Paz is a 1200-bed quaternary care hospital. By the end of May 2020, roughly 5000 people had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Hospital Universitario La Paz’s Emergency Department, around 2,500 of whom had been admitted as inpatients, including more than 300 intensive care patients. At the peak of the pandemic, the number of ICU beds went from 33 to 148.

  Team

  • Prof. José Luis Ayuso Mateos - WP4 Leader
  • Dr Kerry Rodriguez-McGreevy - Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr Roberto Mediavilla Torres - Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr Maria-Fe Bravo Ortiz - Attending Psychiatrist and Adjunct Professor
  • Dr Gonzalo Martinez Ales - Psychiatrist and epidemiologist
  • Dr Marta Miret - Associate Professor of Psychiatry (tenure track)
  • Dr Elvira Lara Pérez - Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr Beatriz Rodriguez Vega - Attending Psychiatrist and Adjunct Professor
  • Dr Maria Cabello - Assistant Professor
  • Dr Carmen Bayon - Attending Psychiatrist and Adjunct Professor
  • Eduardo Delgado - Attending Psychiatrist and Geriatrician
  • Dr Itziar Leal - Attending Psychiatrist and Adjunct Professor
  • Dr Pilar Lopez - Associate Professor of Psychiatry

• University of Verona (UNIVR)

  The Section of Psychiatry of UNIVR was designated by WHO as Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation on 23 February 1987. It provides care, education and research. Clinical activity takes place in the Psychiatric University Clinic, in the Mental Health Centre, in the staffed residential facilities and apartments for long-term patients, in the Outpatient Departments, and in other community-based facilities, which constitute an integrated system of mental health care, dedicated to the residents in the South-Verona area (100.000 inhabitants) and run by the University of Verona in collaboration with the Hospital Trust and the Local Health Trust No.20. Education and training is provided for undergraduate students in medicine, in psychosocial rehabilitation and in other health professions, post-graduate residents and post-graduate Ph.D. students. The main research activities focus on epidemiological and social psychiatry (including economics and geography of mental health studies), genetics and neuroimaging of schizophrenic and bipolar disorders, clinical psychopharmacology, communication in medicine and evaluation of mental health services. The staff (more than 50 persons) includes psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, computer scientists, physicists, geographers and social scientists, statisticians, technicians and secretaries.

  Team

  • Prof. Dr. Corrado Barbui - Principal Investigator
  • Dr Marianna Purgato - WP5 Leader
  • Giulia Turrini - Researcher
  • Michela Nosé - Researcher
  • Claudia Lotito - Researcher
  • Beatrice Compri - Researcher

• Amsterdam University Medical Center, location VUmc (VUMC)

  VUMC represents one of the 8 University Medical Centers in the Netherlands, where teaching, research and patient care are fully integrated in one organization. Annually VUMC hosts approximately 2300 students and approximately 700 fte scientific staff. The research priorities of VUMC are organized in 8 large and world-class interfaculty research institutes. In these institutes, researchers from different disciplines, including (para)medical sciences, biology, psychology, movement sciences, social sciences, physics, chemistry, and pharmacology closely collaborate in order to establish a truly applied, translational research programme that addresses current challenges in society. Prime research institutes of VUMC are the Amsterdam Neuroscience (AN) and Amsterdam Public Health (APH). APH applies multidisciplinary research in primary care and public health, focusing on mental health, chronic diseases and ageing. At AN professional of all generations collaborate in the field of Translational Neuroscience to an extent that is unique in the Netherlands. All research activities are essentially interdisciplinary and incorporate the newest theoretical, methodological and application paradigms currently available. Both research institutes have an extensive international group of affiliated researchers (>400 research staff members) that guarantees access to diverse, multidisciplinary expertise and hands-on genomics, neuro-imaging and biology labs.

  Team

  • Prof. Dr. Brenda Penninx - Princiipal Investigator
  • Dr. Almar Kok - Assistant Professor

• Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin (CHAR)

  The Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin is Europe’s largest University Clinic and has been ranked in February 2021 in Newsweek’s list of “World’s Best Hospitals” number 5. It hosts almost 100 clinics and institutes organized into 17 CharitéCenters at four campi and has a total revenue of 2.0 billion Euro. It has 15,500 employees, of these 4,454 scientists and doctors and 290 professors, and there are 8,077 enrolled students. The Charité is very strong in research with 179,1 million Euros in third-party funding with currently 6 Excellence Projects, 3 led by Charité, 21 DFG-Collaborative Research Centers, 4 led by Charité, 10 DFG-Graduate Schools, 1 DFG-Clinical Study Center and 19 EU Projects/10 ERC Grantees.

  Team

  • Prof. Dr. Henrik Walter

• Karolinska Institutet (KI)

  The legal entity is Karolinska Institutet, the medical university in Stockholm, Sweden. The PI is within the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, which consists of five divisions (Psychiatry, Psychology, Neurology, Ophthalmology and Insurance Medicine). The PI is head of the division of Insurance medicine, which provides teaching and research in this area. The PI is also leader of a research group dealing with studies in the intersection between psychiatric epidemiology and insurance medicine. The focus is on research related to the aetiology, prognosis, intervention and treatment of mental disorders. The work is interdisciplinary and carried out in strong collaboration with researchers from several national and international leading universities, clinicians and representatives of stakeholders. Studies build mainly on nationwide register data and apply cutting-edge statistical modelling, including methods for pharmacoepidemiology. More information can be found here: https://ki.se/en/cns/ellenor-mittendorfer-rutz-research-group.

  Team

  • Prof. Dr. Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz - Principal Investigator
  • Dr Magnus Helgesson - Researcher
  • Dr Heidi Taipale - Researcher

• Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR)

  The Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR) is a publicly funded extra-university research institute in the Leibniz Association whose mission is to investigate resilience – the maintenance or quick recovery of mental health during or following adversity. The main objectives of the LIR are to understand resilience mechanisms from a neuroscientific and psychosocial point of view, to develop appropriate interventions to promote resilience, and to work towards generating resilience-friendly living and working environments. The LIR is interdisciplinary, bringing together biologists, human neuroscientists, psychologists, and clinicians. It is the first centre of its kind in Europe.

  Team

  • Dr. Raffael Kalisch - Principal Investigator
  • Papoula Petri-Romao - PhD Researcher
  • Jutta Stoffers-Winterling - PhD Researcher
  • Prof. Dr. Klaus Lieb - Researcher
  • Prof. Dr. Thomas Rigotti - Researcher
  • Prof. Dr. Oliver Tuescher - Researcher

• Lombardy Region (RL)

  Lombardy Region and specifically the DG Welfare plans and organizes the regional Health Service. The Department Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Disability and Health in the Criminal Justice System of the Region plans, organizes the mental health and substance abuse services in the Region, furthermore it collects and evaluates information on patients cared in regional mental health services and on service delivery.

  Team

  • Dr Antonio Lora, MD - Principal Investigator
  • Dr. Paola Sacchi, MD - Researcher
  • Pietro Borelli - Role

• Sant Joan de Déu Research Foundation (FSJD)

  Fundació Sant Joan de Déu (FSJD) is a private non-profit research organization founded in 2002. Its mission is to contribute to the improvement of the health and wellbeing of people by fostering, supporting and managing the research and innovation activities of Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu (PSSJD) amongst other linked organisations. FSJD offers specialised services and support to the Hospital’s Investigators and their research activities. FSJD’s structure includes a Clinical Trial Unit, Research Support Office, Administration and Human Resources Department, Clinical Research Ethics Committee, Management of Knowledge and Communication, Department of Patient Engagement on Research among other facilities and services. To strengthen translational research and innovation, FSJD launched in February 2015 the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute together with PSSJD, Barcelona Children’s Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Institute of Biomedicine and the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Barcelona and the Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. FSJD team has successful experience in supporting projects which spearhead the organisational innovation in healthcare systems. Its linked third party Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu (PSSJD) is a private non-profit institution and a reference center in integrative and continuous healthcare. Its network includes healthcare, teaching and research facilities integrated in two areas of specialisation: Mental Health services and the General Hospital. Its served area approximately includes one million people. It also focuses on bringing together basic research scientists and research clinicians in the areas of public health, mental disorders and disability.

  Team

  • Josep Maria Haro, PhD - Josep Maria Haro, PhD. Principal investigator.
  • Mireia Félez Nobrega, PhD - Project coordinator
  • Anna Monistrol-Mula, MSc. - PhD Researcher
  • Beatriz Olaya, PhD
  • Paula Cristóbal-Narváez, PhD
  • Albert Sanchez-Niubo, PhD
  • Salvatore Aguilar-Ortiz - Clinician
  • Laia Martín-Iñigo - Clinician
  • Bernat Carreras Marcos - Clinician

• Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)

  Building on almost 600 years’ experience, the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain, University of Louvain) is today a multisite university in Belgium (Louvain-la-Neuve, Brussels Woluwe, Brussels Saint-Gilles, Mons, Tournai, and Charleroi) at the forefront of innovation and excellence in education and research. The university involves more than 30,000 students of 123 different nationalities and a staff of about 5,800 teachers, researchers and administrative and technical collaborators. UCLouvain is responsible for the education of nearly one out of two French-speaking academics in Belgium and proposes courses in all possible disciplines. It is ranked first among Belgian francophone universities. Research is one of UCLouvain’s main activities with €242M in annual research and development investment. More than 1000 research contracts are signed every year with universities, public institutions and private companies. UCLouvain actively participates in the R&I programmes of the European Union. It is notably involved in 176 projects within FP7 and in already 120 Horizon 2020 projects. Among Horizon 2020 projects, UCLouvain hosts more than 35 MSCA and 25 ERC. UCLouvain proposes a variety of services to society and the academic community: 3 science parks (Louvain-la-Neuve, Brussels, Seneffe), 3 university hospitals (Saint-Luc Brussels, Mont-Godinne, Sainte-Elisabeth Namur), 2 museums and 8 main libraries. Research is organised via distinct yet complementary research entities: 22 research institutes, research centres, technology platforms.

  Team

  • Prof. Dr. Vincent Lorant - Principal Investigator
  • Pablo Nicaise, PhD - Project Manager
  • Pierre Smith. MSc - PhD Researcher
  • Katharina Seeber, MSc - PhD Researcher
  • Audrey Delaire

• University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB)

  The University of Milano Bicocca is one of the most dynamic, research- and innovation-oriented Italian universities, inserted in relevant networks with top universities, research centers and corporations. In terms of projects, UNIMIB is currently involved in more than 100 ongoing European granted projects (within the H2020 programme, COST Actions, Justice, EIT-KIC Raw Materials among others); for 26 of those, UNIMIB acts also as the coordinator. Just to mention the H2020-MSCA program, UNIMIB is coordinator of 7 MSCA-ITN, 2 MSCA-RISE, 2 MSCA-NIGHT, 5 MSCA-IF and it is beneficiary of 9 additional MSCA-ITN and 2 MSCA-RISE. Furthermore, UNIMIB hosts 11 ERC projects: 4 starting grant, 5 consolidator grants, 1 proof of concept and 1 synergy grant.

  Team

  • Prof. Giovanni Corrao - Principal Investigator, full professor of Medical Statistics.
  • Dr. Matteo Monzio-Compagnoni, Post-doc Researcher - Medical statistician
  • Dr. Matteo Franchi, Assistant Professor in Medical Statistics - Medical Statistician
  • Claudia Conflitti - Researcher in Biostatistics
  • Giulia Caggiu - Researcher in Biostatistics

• University of New South Wales (UNSW)

  UNSW Sydney is one of the leading universities in Australia, is ranked 48 in the world on the QS ranking. UNSW Sydney has more than 59,000 students and 7,000 faculty and research staff. UNSW has established major priorities towards global research initiatives, and undertakes pioneering research and sustained innovation are addressing some of the most important issues of today – from climate change and renewable energies to lifesaving medical treatments and breakthrough technologies in the social sciences. UNSW Sydney has devoted considerable efforts towards COVID-19 recovery, including focused research efforts on the vaccine development, treatments, public health initiatives, and mental health augmentation strategies.

  The UNSW School of Psychology is ranked 18th internationally on the QS rankings. The School of Psychology and its affiliated institutes boasts some of the world’s leading research expertise in traumatic stress, digital platforms for mental health conditions, workplace mental health, and health worker mental health. The School of Psychology partnered with the World Health Organization in development of the Self-Help Plus and Problem Management Plus psychosocial programs, and actively participated in the initial trials of these programs.

  Team

  • Prof. Dr. Richard Bryant - Principal Investigator