Researchers at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge are to lead on a project to create a “publicly accessible platform for exploring how genes and molecules influence mental health”.
The Open Psychiatry Project, has been provided with £2.3 million funding from the UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The project aims to deliver a platform to offer data-driven support to researchers, clinicians, health partners and patients when it comes to understanding mental health conditions and how best to treat them.
Areas of focus include enhancing the global Open Targets Platform, a major global resource for drug and treatment target discovery, by integrating “a wide range of molecular datasets relevant to mental health” and creating an interactive website that provides accessible summaries of potential biomarkers, drug targets and treatments.
The project is being led by Dr Mary-Ellen Lynall, CPFT psychiatrist and neuroimmunologist at the University of Cambridge and Dr Ellen McDonagh from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory European Bioinformatics Institute.
“We’re building a platform that accelerates scientific discovery and puts people with lived experience at the heart of research,” Mary-Ellen said. “By connecting data safely and transparently, we can better understand mechanisms at the molecular level and move closer to truly personalised treatments for mental health conditions.”
The project will also develop a new interface using data federation technology to protect privacy and confidentiality when connecting biomarker and health data from across the UK, to enable sensitive datasets held in different trusted locations to be analysed together without ever leaving secure locations.
The wider trend: the role of data in health and care settings
For a recent HTN Now webinar on the role of data and digital in supporting population health management (PHM), we were joined by a panel including Victoria Townshend, portfolio director (associate) with the GIRFT Elective Team; Mayur Vibhuti, CCIO and GP clinical lead for digital at Kent and Medway ICB; and Harry Thirkettle, director of health and innovation from Aire Logic. Our panellists explored and discussed approaches to PHM, successes, challenges, what works and what doesn’t, through to measuring the impact of PHM interventions.
In November, Somerset ICB launched a survey in collaboration with Healthwatch Somerset, aiming to collect feedback from local residents on the use of their health data to inform the development of the Somerset Linked Data Platform. Submissions will support the ICB in the Linked Data Platform’s development, with the aim of anonymously linking health and social care data to improve understandings of local needs, tailor services, and enable earlier intervention.
Barts Health shared how a real-time data dashboard, linked to its EPR, has made an impact on patient safety, patient flow, and delivery of care. The M-BRACE project, presents key information in a single place, including data relating to risk of falls, low blood sugar, and delays in assessment or transport, to support structured check-ins through the day.
