Co-leadership with lived experience experts
Knowledge, insights and perspectives of people with lived experience of mental health problems are at the heart of research.
Mental Health
Our mission is to enable a step change in early interventions for anxiety, depression and psychosis.
We fund, commission and work with researchers and decision-makers to achieve this.
The problem
Millions of people are held back by mental health problems. Interventions aren't working well enough for everyone, have trade-offs and there are challenges with scaling globally. Barriers to collaboration are preventing progress.
There are promising tools, approaches and methodologies ready to break through. Our research funding and advocacy work is fostering collaboration that will lead to new ways to intervene early in anxiety, depression and psychosis.
Our goals
A collaborative and thriving field of mental health science
Researchers from different backgrounds, geographies and disciplines are brought together.
Improved understanding
New discoveries on how anxiety, depression and psychosis develop, persist and resolve.
New effective early interventions
Better ways to intervene early in anxiety, depression and psychosis, spanning pharmacological, non-pharmacological and digital.
Increased commitment by decision-makers to use mental health science
Decision-makers enable uptake and scaling of new and improved interventions.
A world where no one is held back: our vision for Mental Health
To create a world where no one is held back by mental health problems, Wellcome is committed to driving transformation in early intervention for anxiety, depression and psychosis. Miranda Wolpert, Wellcome’s Director of Mental Health, explains.
Our approach
Funding research
We're funding research to better understand anxiety, depression and psychosis so we can find ways to intervene earlier. Embedding lived experience expertise is central to our mission.
Our independence means we're prepared to take risks with our research funding. If none of our funded projects fail, then we're not being brave enough.
Fostering collaboration
We bring together groups of researchers from different disciplines to find solutions to complex questions.
By breaking down silos we empower a more coherent and collaborative field where researchers have a common understanding of measures, approaches and concepts.
Advocating for policy change
We advocate for evidence-based approaches that improve global mental health. We do this by working with the private sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), charities, governments and affected communities.
Funding opportunities
Our Mental Health programme funds research to improve early intervention in anxiety, depression and psychosis. You may also be interested in our Discovery Research programme, which funds fields and disciplines seeking new knowledge on life, health and wellbeing, including all aspects of mental health.
Find out what we will and won't fund in our Mental Health programme.
Contract opportunities
We invite organisations to apply for contract opportunities that support our mission to enable a step change in early interventions for anxiety, depression and psychosis.
Help create a step-change in early intervention for anxiety, depression and psychosis by sharing your ideas for where we could focus in the future.
Please note: We will read submissions each week. This is not an application for funding. No information can or will be treated as confidential.
Our work in action
Our team
Alice Barney
Executive Assistant
Wellcome
Matthew Brown
Head of Digital Technology, Discovery Research and Mental Health
Wellcome
Connect with Kate:
Paul Spencer
Head of Policy, Mental Health
Wellcome
Latest report
Bridging the gap: building trust between researchers and participants collecting mental health data
This report is a thorough investigation of digital tools and features that support the meaningful interaction of researchers and participants throughout the research lifecycle in large-scale remote or distributed mental health research projects.