Orygen leads ‘document of global influence’ on youth mental health

Orygen leads ‘document of global influence’ on youth mental health

12 August 2019

Orygen leads ‘document of global influence’ on youth mental health

Orygen researchers have been commissioned to produce a Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Youth Mental Health.

Orygen Executive Director Professor Patrick McGorry has been invited to act as editor of the Commission, while Orygen’s Professor Eóin Killackey will be a co-editor along with Dr Srividya Iyer of McGill University in Montreal. Orygen researchers Professor Stephen Wood, Professor Mario Alvarez-Jimenez and Associate Professor Jo Robinson are among the co-authors.

Professor Killackey said the appointments were a powerful endorsement of Orygen.

“They really highlight Orygen’s global leadership in the field of youth mental health,” Professor Killackey said.

The world-leading journal’s commission series aims to develop expert consensus and actionable plans for tackling issues of global importance.

“This will be a document of influence, not a dense academic tome,” Professor Killackey said.

“There will be clear calls to action so that we can look back in a few years and see what’s been achieved.”

The editors have agreed an overarching draft framework and identified a global membership of leading academics, clinical researchers and young people with a range of expertise and experience in youth mental health.

A meeting of 26 commission members was held in London in early July to discuss the publication’s framework, its potential impact, ways of measuring its success and the involvement of young people.

Planning is underway to appoint a young person as a co-editor and the commission is due to be published in the first half of 2020.

News of the commission comes shortly after the release of the Lancet Psychiatry Commission co-authored by Orygen researchers, A blueprint for protecting physical health in people with mental illness. Orygen researchers are also currently involved in an upcoming special commission on depression.