Close
Mental health & wellbeing projects highlighted in UCL's Brain Awareness Week campaign
11 March 2025
UCL's Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing takes centre stage during UCL's Brain Awareness Week campaign, running from 10 - 16 March 2025.
Brain Awareness Week is a global campaign to foster enthusiasm and support for brain science. At UCL, it is an opportunity to showcase the pace of progress in brain research. This year, one of the key themes is mental health.
Harnessing interdisciplinary expertise to address mental health challenges
In the UK alone, it’s estimated about one in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point each year. UCL’s Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing aims to become a beacon for improvements in mental health and wellbeing through transformative cross-disciplinary research, practice and partnerships for prevention and early intervention.
For Brain Awareness Week, Professor Essi Viding, Pro-Vice Provost for Mental Health & Wellbeing speaks about the importance of interdisciplinary research for advancing our understanding of mental health disorders and how to treat them.
Addressing challenges across the lifespan
At UCL, we adopt a 'lifespan' approach to mental health, and Brain Awareness Week is an opportunity to showcase the full spectrum of lifelong mental health research at UCL. This includes investigating how to protect the mental health of young people, understanding the impact of trauma on functioning in adulthood, and exploring the importance of music and movement for people with dementia.
AI’s potential to shape the future of mental health
Like many other areas of health, artificial intelligence is having a significant impact on mental health. For Brain Awareness Week, Professor Argyris Stringaris, Pro-Vice Provost Mental Health & Wellbeing shares insights on AI’s potential to shape the future of mental health diagnosis and treatment, along with some of the challenges we might face.