Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Of mice, molecules and mental health: establishment of the consortium for preclinical psychiatric research to find solutions to the translational gap

Molecular Psychiatry volume 31, pages 1167–1170 (2026)Cite this article

Subjects

The Consortium for Preclinical Psychiatric Research (CPPR) recognises the current and ongoing major unmet translational needs in mental disorders and that to address this requires a collaborative multi-disciplinary approach uniting preclinical and clinical research and lived experience. Extending from schizophrenia to all major mental disorders the idea contained within Nani et al. (2025) [1] highlighting the value in integrating and synthesizing information from diverse preclinical models, we propose that building data infrastructure integrating both preclinical and clinical data sets will accelerate understanding of the causal pathways leading to mental illness and identification of biomarkers and novel treatment targets. As a first step, towards this, the CPPR has created a freely available open access knowledge databank of preclinical models relevant to mental illness [2] and advocates for further development of such resources incorporating diverse data sets supported by advanced human-guided AI interrogation capabilities. The intent of the concept is to leverage the molecular basis of defined behavioural, genetic and environmental features from post-mortem human, animal and cellular models to probe analogous features in clinical populations. This mapping can identify points of molecular convergence between clinical features and preclinical models highlighting potential biological pathways to target for novel drug and biomarker development.

There is a central and critical need to change the treatment paradigm for mental disorders by developing interventions that: target specific clinical components; and alter the disease course, and are not merely palliative in intent. Indeed, direct insight from one lived experience advisor (HC) noted “I trialled a dozen different medications over five years before I found the drug regimen that works for me, which has horrid metabolic side effects and does not completely abolish my mixed and depressive symptoms”. A key strategy recommended in a Lancet Psychiatry report is a research focus on causal pathways in mental disorders [3]. However, despite considerable recent insights [4,5,6], connecting associational findings with causal pathways seems tantalisingly close but elusive. This is largely attributable to the absence of any robust biomarkers and/or definable structural pathology and direct investigation of putative pathologies in the human brain remains ethically and technically unfeasible. Moreover, the heterogeneity of these disorders with considerable inter- and intra-individual variation of symptom profile across the disease course suggests distinct and varying pathologies.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Nani JV, Muotri AR, Hayashi MAF. Peering into the mind: unraveling schizophrenia’s secrets using models. Molecular psychiatry. 2025;30:659–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Hill RA, Sundram S. Consortium for Preclinical Psychiatric Research - Knowledge databank. vol. Online resource: figshare, 2024, pp https://figshare.com/articles/online_resource/Australian_Consortium_for_Preclinical_Psychiatric_Research_-_Knowledge_databank/25114685?file=49200790.

  3. Collaborators GBDMD. Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet Psychiatry. 2022;9:137–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Zanos P, Moaddel R, Morris PJ, Georgiou P, Fischell J, Elmer GI, et al. NMDAR inhibition-independent antidepressant actions of ketamine metabolites. Nature. 2016;533:481–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kaul I, Sawchak S, Correll CU, Kakar R, Breier A, Zhu H, et al. Efficacy and safety of the muscarinic receptor agonist KarXT (xanomeline-trospium) in schizophrenia (EMERGENT-2) in the USA: results from a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, flexible-dose phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2024;403:160–70.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Balan I, Patterson R, Boero G, Krohn H, O’Buckley TK, Meltzer-Brody S, et al. Brexanolone therapeutics in post-partum depression involves inhibition of systemic inflammatory pathways. EBioMedicine. 2023;89:104473.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Trubetskoy V, Pardinas AF, Qi T, Panagiotaropoulou G, Awasthi S, Bigdeli TB, et al. Mapping genomic loci implicates genes and synaptic biology in schizophrenia. Nature. 2022;604:502–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Electronic address ameau, Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics C. Trans-ancestry genome-wide study of depression identifies 697 associations implicating cell types and pharmacotherapies. Cell. 2025;188:640–652.e9.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Davies C, Segre G, Estrade A, Radua J, De Micheli A, Provenzani U, et al. Prenatal and perinatal risk and protective factors for psychosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7:399–410.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Gu X, Moran R, Srivastava D, Walton M Harnessing the potential of cellular, animal and computational neuroscience models for mental health. Wellcome Trust. Online resource https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24321751.v12023.

  11. Spierling SR, Zorrilla EP. Don’t stress about CRF: assessing the translational failures of CRF(1)antagonists. Psychopharmacology. 2017;234:1467–81.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Purdy RH, Morrow AL, Moore PH Jr., Paul SM. Stress-induced elevations of gamma-aminobutyric acid type a receptor-active steroids in the rat brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1991;88:4553–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Majewska MD, Harrison NL, Schwartz RD, Barker JL, Paul SM. Steroid hormone metabolites are barbiturate-like modulators of the GABA receptor. Science. 1986;232:1004–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Concas A, Mostallino MC, Porcu P, Follesa P, Barbaccia ML, Trabucchi M, et al. Role of brain allopregnanolone in the plasticity of gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor in rat brain during pregnancy and after delivery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1998;95:13284–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Luisi S, Petraglia F, Benedetto C, Nappi RE, Bernardi F, Fadalti M, et al. Serum allopregnanolone levels in pregnant women: changes during pregnancy, at delivery, and in hypertensive patients. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. 2000;85:2429–33.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Dalmau J, Armangue T, Planaguma J, Radosevic M, Mannara F, Leypoldt F, et al. An update on anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis for neurologists and psychiatrists: mechanisms and models. Lancet Neurol. 2019;18:1045–57.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Vitaliani R, Mason W, Ances B, Zwerdling T, Jiang Z, Dalmau J. Paraneoplastic encephalitis, psychiatric symptoms, and hypoventilation in ovarian teratoma. Ann Neurol. 2005;58:594–604.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

RAH is supported by an Alan and Kate Gibson Foundation Fellowship. MB is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership 3 Investigator grant (GNT2017131). EH-Y is supported by Axial Therapeutics, Boston, MA, USA.; NHMRC Ideas grant APP2003848. EM is supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discover projects DP230102566 and DP220102567 and NHMRC Ideas grants APP2020762 and APP2020768. JN is supported by One in Five McIver Research Fellowship. CPa was supported by a NHMRC L3 Investigator Grant (1196508). JHK is supported by the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT220100351). TR is supported by a Ronald Philip Griffiths Fellowship from the University of Melbourne. TP-T is supported by a NSW Health Schizophrenia Research Grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Sub-faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia

    Rachel A. Hill, Ariel L. Dunn, Emily J. Jaehne & Suresh Sundram

  2. The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Rachel A. Hill, Michael Berk, Robyn M. Brown, Dhamidhu Eratne, Carolina Gubert, Anthony J. Hannan, Jee Hyun Kim, Andrew J. Lawrence, Jess Nithianantharajah, Christos Pantelis, Thibault Renoir & Daisy L. Spark

  3. Deakin University, IMPACT, The Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, P.O. Box 281, Geelong, 3220, Australia

    Eslam M. Bastawy, Michael Berk, Jee Hyun Kim & Ken Walder

  4. Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Robyn M. Brown

  5. Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Thomas H. Burne, Xiaoying Cui, James P. Kesby, Heather Cruickshank, Alice Shaam al abed & Susannah J. Tye

  6. Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, QLD, 4076, Australia

    Thomas H. Burne, Xiaoying Cui & James P. Kesby

  7. School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, 2560, Australia

    Rose Chesworth & Tim Karl

  8. Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

    Scott R. Clark, Magdalene C. Jawahar & Catherine Toben

  9. School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Kelly J. Clemens, Justine M. Gatt & Alice E. Petty

  10. Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia

    Dhamidhu Eratne, Matthew JY Kang & Christos Pantelis

  11. Neuropsychiatry Centre, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia

    Dhamidhu Eratne & Matthew JY Kang

  12. Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Claire J. Foldi

  13. Centre for Wellbeing, Resilience and Recovery, Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Justine M. Gatt

  14. Department of Psychiatry, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Caroline Gurvich

  15. The Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3052, Australia

    Anthony J. Hannan, Andrew J. Lawrence & Jess Nithianantharajah

  16. School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Lauren Harms & Elizabeth E. Manning

  17. School of Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Elisa L. Hill-Yardin

  18. Department of Physiology and Anatomy, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Elisa L. Hill-Yardin

  19. Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia

    Emily J. Jaehne

  20. Department of Neuroscience, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Nigel C. Jones

  21. Department of Neurology, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Nigel C. Jones

  22. The University of Sydney, School of Medical Sciences, Sydney, NSW, 2050, Australia

    Natalie Matosin

  23. The University of Sydney, Charles Perkins Centre, Sydney, NSW, 2050, Australia

    Natalie Matosin

  24. Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, VIC, Australia

    Atefeh Namipashaki

  25. Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), Monash University, Royal Parade, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Christos Pantelis

  26. School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2113, Australia

    Christina J. Perry

  27. Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Alice E. Petty & Tertia D. Purves-Tyson

  28. Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, UNSW, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Tertia D. Purves-Tyson

  29. Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia

    Thibault Renoir

  30. Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine; Margaret Roderick Centre for Mental Health Research, James Cook University, Douglas, QLD, 4814, Australia

    Zoltan Sarnyai

  31. Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia

    Alice Shaam al abed

  32. School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Juanita Todd

  33. Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Susannah J. Tye

  34. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Susannah J. Tye

  35. School of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences and Molecular Horizons, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Katrina Weston-Green

  36. Mental Health Program, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia

    Suresh Sundram

Consortia

Consortium for Preclinical Psychiatric Research

  • Rachel A. Hill
  • , Eslam M. Bastawy
  • , Michael Berk
  • , Robyn M. Brown
  • , Thomas H. Burne
  • , Rose Chesworth
  • , Scott R. Clark
  • , Kelly J. Clemens
  • , Xiaoying Cui
  • , Ariel L. Dunn
  • , Dhamidhu Eratne
  • , Claire J. Foldi
  • , Justine M. Gatt
  • , Carolina Gubert
  • , Caroline Gurvich
  • , Anthony J. Hannan
  • , Lauren Harms
  • , Elisa L. Hill-Yardin
  • , Emily J. Jaehne
  • , Magdalene C. Jawahar
  • , Nigel C. Jones
  • , Matthew JY Kang
  • , Tim Karl
  • , James P. Kesby
  • , Jee Hyun Kim
  • , Andrew J. Lawrence
  • , Heather Cruickshank
  • , Elizabeth E. Manning
  • , Natalie Matosin
  • , Atefeh Namipashaki
  • , Jess Nithianantharajah
  • , Christos Pantelis
  • , Christina J. Perry
  • , Alice E. Petty
  • , Tertia D. Purves-Tyson
  • , Thibault Renoir
  • , Zoltan Sarnyai
  • , Alice Shaam al abed
  • , Daisy L. Spark
  • , Catherine Toben
  • , Juanita Todd
  • , Susannah J. Tye
  • , Ken Walder
  • , Katrina Weston-Green
  •  & Suresh Sundram

Contributions

RAH conceptualised and wrote the manuscript, MB, RMB, THB, XC, ALD, DE, CJF, ELHY, MJYK, TK, JPK, JHK, HC, TDPT, SJT, KW, KWG, SS contributed to the concept and edited the manuscript. EMB, RC, SC, KJC, JMG, CG, CG, AJH, LH, EJ, MCJ, NCJ, AJL, EEM, NM, AM, JN, CP, CJP, AEP, TR, ZS, AS, DLS, CT, and JT edited the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Rachel A. Hill or Suresh Sundram.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

EH-Y is a scientific advisor for Adepa; JN is a co-founder of Phrenix Therapeutics Pty Ltd. No other authors declared a competing interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Consortium for Preclinical Psychiatric Research. Of mice, molecules and mental health: establishment of the consortium for preclinical psychiatric research to find solutions to the translational gap. Mol Psychiatry 31, 1167–1170 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-025-03361-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-025-03361-x

Search

Advanced search

Quick links