Mental Health Mission and Mental Health Goals

The Mental Health Mission (MHM), announced in May 2023, develops innovative new treatments and technologies. The Mission works with patients, NHS staff and clinicians and innovators to make the UK a leading location in which to test and trial new products. 

The Mental Health Mission is delivered via the NIHR’s Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC). 

Of the total investment, more than £20 million goes towards establishing demonstrator sites in Birmingham and Liverpool (£9.9m and £10.5m over five years respectively). 

 The remainder of the £42.7m funds UK-wide work focussed on conditions such as depression and early psychosis. It also helps to build mental health research capacity in the NHS, and embedding research findings into practice. 

The establishment of sites in the Midlands and the North further demonstrates the Government’s commitment to Levelling Up. It will ensure communities across the UK get to take part in, and benefit from research. 

The Mental Health Mission is one of the healthcare research priorities announced by the government as part of its Life Sciences Vision. It will take a Vaccine Taskforce style approach to tackling some of the biggest public health challenges facing the UK. 

The Mental Health Mission is part of the Mental Health Goals programme. 

The Mental Health Goals (MHG) programme is a UK-wide initiative that supports leading experts to transform mental health research infrastructure and deliver real improvements for people affected by mental health conditions. It involves combining mental health and biological data, lived experience, industry partnerships and clinical trial methodology. 

The MHG programme is investing £50 million over five years to put people with lived experience at the heart of mental health research and innovation. Funded by the Office for Life Sciences and delivered by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the MHG supports  leading experts in mental health data, digital technology, genomics and multiomics, lived experience, industry partnerships, and trials methodology to build sustainable infrastructure that transforms mental health research  and delivers real improvements for people affected by mental health problems.

King’s researchers will co-lead two of the four programme workstreams with Cardiff University, Health Innovation Oxford & Thames Valley and University of Oxford – read more below.