Apply for Funding

Absolutely – the scheme is open to applicants worldwide.

No – dementia targets are out of scope, however, targets to address psychiatric symptoms associated with dementia will be considered. A full list of mental health conditions that we are interested in funding can be found in our Terms and Conditions, section 1b.

Proposals must be supported by robust evidence linking the molecular target to human disease and of the target modulation having a therapeutic effect, which can be further developed or validated. For example, evidence could include;

• Robust genetic association with risk for diseases of interest (e.g. from GWAS or rare variant association)
• Robust human data, generated either clinically or preclinically (e.g. human IPSC cell models), showing the target of interest is expressed in the human brain and specifically located in a circuit/pathway known to mediate a phenotype that is relevant to mental health disorders (e.g. the orexin system in which the orexin receptors, OX1 and OX2, mediate arousal and humans with loss of function of OX2 exhibit a pronounced lack of arousal phenotype- narcolepsy)
• Evidence from animal models may be accepted if that evidence suggests modulation of a well-known pathway or circuit in the human condition

We are primarily looking to fund studies on targets that are either new or not ‘well studied’, i.e. new molecular targets that have not been taken through translational drug discovery programmes and exploited in the clinic. Targets with initial studies linking the molecular target to a human disease*, and evidence of potential translation would be welcome, with the intention that this scheme would support the development or validation of this early evidence.

*Note this evidence must be sourced from human studies and cannot be from animal/cellular models alone.

We will not fund studies that look to repurpose existing drugs, however, we will consider studies that use existing drugs as a tool for validating new molecular targets.

Target identification studies are in scope, providing there is a clear link to a human psychiatric condition. Proposals should include a clear plan for prioritisation of targets identified. Early target identification studies without a proposed target (i.e. projects that are mostly characterization and/or hypothesis-generating studies) will not be considered.

No. The Psychiatry Consortium will not fund clinical trials, or human studies intended to generate samples for further testing. The analysis of biomarkers, derived from a patient study, would be in scope, providing it was intended to lead to the identification of novel targets. It would be expected however that the patient samples would be a resource that the PI would bring to the project, as the Psychiatry Consortium will not fund clinical studies in order to prospectively collect any samples.

Visit our ‘Portfolio’ page to view live projects.

We are particularly interested in targets that are supported by robust evidence linking them to psychiatric disorders in humans.