Severe Mental Illness: On The Frontier Of Translational Neuroscience

Save the date for the next Stanley Symposium!
September 19-20, 2023

This two-day virtual symposium, chaired by Dr. Steve Hyman, director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at ӳ��ý, Dr. Guoping Feng of McGovern Institute at MIT and director of the Neurobiology and Model Systems group of the Stanley Center, and Dr. Benjamin Neale of Massachusetts General Hospital and director of Genetics at the Stanley Center, brought together scientists working on the frontiers of genetics, neurobiology, computational psychiatry, and therapeutic development for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and related neuropsychiatric disorders.

The central theme in 2021 addressed the challenges of turning biological insights from the developing brain into translational hypotheses that could help patients. Our speakers presented progress in analytic approaches, technologies, and model systems that will help translate results from large-scale genetic studies into new understandings of pathophysiology, biomarker development, and much-needed new treatments.

The illnesses highlighted in this symposium cause lifelong disability to millions of persons — combined, more than 3 percent of the global population is affected by these severe disorders. Graduate students and postdoctoral associates were especially welcomed to this symposium in order to build this interdisciplinary field and address the unmet medical needs of patients and their families at a time of great opportunity and urgency.

All sessions were held virtually, recordings of the talks are available .

Agenda Day 1 Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Keynote
12:00 – 12:45 KEYNOTE: Adolescent Brain Development and Risk for Psychosis: Understanding pathways and potential mechanisms Washington University in St Louis 12:45 – 1:00 Coffee Break
Session 1: Genes, Circuits and Behavior Chair: Guoping Feng
1:00 – 1:15 Stevens Lab, Boston Children's Hospital 1:15 – 1:30 Stanford University 1:30 – 1:45 Feng Lab, ӳ��ý 1:45 – 2:00 Stanford University 2:00 – 2:15 Mt. Sinai 2:15 – 2:45 Spotlight: Bridging the Gap Between Innate and Learned: A Parent’s Role in Promoting Survival Columbia University 2:45 – 3:00 Coffee Break
Session 2: Genetics of mental illness Chair: Ben Neale
3:00 – 3:15 Stanford University 3:15 – 3:30 Daly Lab, ӳ��ý/MGH 3:30 – 3:45 Mt. Sinai 3:45 – 4:00 Lerato Majara Martin Lab, ӳ��ý/University of Cape Town 4:00 – 4:30 Panel Discussion

Day 2 Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Keynote
9:00 – 9:45 KEYNOTE: Neuronal Protein Supply and Demand Max-Planck-Gesellschaft 9:45 – 10:00 Coffee Break
Session 3: Therapeutic Mechanisms and Disease Biomarkers Chair: Morgan Sheng
10:00 – 10:15 University of Helsinki 10:15 – 10:30 Jones Lab, University of Michigan 10:30 – 10:45 Cornell University 10:45 – 11:00 & Worley Lab, John Hopkins University 11:15 – 11:45 Panel discussion 11:45 – 12:00 Coffee Break
Session 4: Computational Psychiatry & Big Data Approaches Chair: Evan Macosko
12:00 – 12:15 Mt. Sinai 12:15 – 12:30 University of Michigan 12:30 – 12:45 Oregon Health & Science University 12:45 – 1:00 Columbia University 1:00 – 1:45 Fireside chat Steve Hyman, ӳ��ý 1:45 – 2:00 Concluding remarks from symposium chairs