Interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary research are buzzwords in mental health research right now. And with good reason. We’re not going to find the next mental health breakthrough by working in silos. Through pooling our various expertise and working with specialists beyond psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience, we will have the diversity of thought that will help find answers in mental health.

Not only is interdisciplinary working a great way of researching mental health, but it’s also becoming a necessity. More and more funders are requiring researchers to work in a more multidisciplinary way as essential funding criteria. As researchers, we know we have to do it. But, how do we do it well?

Kamaldeep Bhui hosted the event. Kam is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, and led the MARCH networks' special interest group on interdisciplinary mental health research.

Speakers included:
Eiman Kanjo, Computer science - eNurture
Fred Cooper, History - Loneliness and Social Isolation MHRN (LSIMHRN)
Laura Vaughan, Architecture - LSIMHRN
Arif Mahmud - MHRM steering group
Rosie Perkins Music (video submission) - LSIMHRN

The speaker panel hosted by Kamaldeep Bhui featured:
Nicola Shaughnessy, Professor of Performance from the University of Kent
Cat Sebastian, Wellcome Trust
Sylvan Baker, Senior Lecturer Community Performance Applied Theatre CSSD London

This event was brought to you by the #MentalHealthResearchMatters team.

About Mental Health Research Matters

#MentalHealthResearchMatters is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). It is a collaboration of The McPin Foundation, Mental Elf and the University of Oxford. The campaign sparked a conversation about better mental health research while celebrating the work of the UKRI-funded mental health research networks.

Find out more: www.mentalhealthresearchmatters.org.uk

Learn more about the UKRI-funded mental health research networks: www.mentalheatlhresearchmatters.org.uk/networks

The McPin Foundation: https://mcpin.org/

Mental Elf: https://www.nationalelfservice.net/

The University of Oxford, Psychology department: https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/

The campaign might have ended, but the conversation doesn’t stop here. Use the hashtag #MentalHealthResearchMatters to continue the journey to better mental health research.