Mental and brain health

Priority setting for research on mental health and brain health

The WHO's Mental health and Substance use Department (MSD) is  actively engaged in research prioritization related to mental and brain health. The first major priority setting exercise in global mental health was conducted in 2007 as part of the first Lancet Series on Global Mental Health. The second major priority setting exercise was conducted in 2011, when the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health  initiative identified research priorities for the following 10 years. The main priority was given to research questions that:

  • identify root causes, risks, and protective factors
  • advance prevention and implementation of early interventions
  • improve treatments and expand access to care
  • raise awareness of the global burden
  • transform health system and policy responses. 

Broader themes were also identified as important in the research agenda. These include the need for research that: 

  • uses a life-course approach
  • uses system-wide approaches to address suffering
  • uses evidence-based interventions
  • helps understand environmental influences. 

The Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development built on this priority setting exercise; in 2018 it proposed directions for future research that would help achieve the SDG target. In addition to the priorities listed above, the Lancet Commission stressed: 

  • the importance of having innovation and implementation guided by research
  • the opportunity for mental health science to converge knowledge from diverse disciplines. 

Together, these priorities will create new understanding of the nature and development of mental disorders, more effective psychosocial and pharmacological interventions, and better understanding of implementation and scaling-up of interventions. The commission also advised novel approaches from diverse disciplines for research on implementation, effective interventions and understanding causes and mechanisms of mental health conditions. 

Research priority settings exercises have also been conducted on more specific topics

  • As part of the First WHO Ministerial Conference on Global Action Against Dementia, held in March 2015, a prioritization exercise was conducted for dementia. Six of the top ten research priorities to emerge from this focused on prevention, identification, and reduction of dementia risk, and on delivery and quality of care for people with dementia and their carers. Other research priorities related to diagnosis, biomarkers, treatment development, basic research into disease mechanisms, and public awareness and understanding of dementia.
  • In October 2022, WHO launched  a blueprint for dementia research, the first of its kind in the context of non-infectious disease with the aim of supporting the global prioritisation of dementia research and providing a coordination mechanism among stakeholders. The blueprint identifies knowledge gaps and defines actions and milestones to achieve strategic research goals. It is designed to provide guidance to policy makers, funders, and the research community on dementia research, making it more efficient, equitable, and impactful.
  • A research prioritization exercise conducted for developmental disabilities in 2014 identified the need for research to focus on developing effective and efficient approaches to early intervention and empowerment and supporting the families of people with developmental disability. It also identified the need for research to address preventable causes of poor health in people with intellectual disabilities and autism.
  • In 2011, a research agenda to strengthen mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in humanitarian settings was developed. This MHPSS research agenda was updated in 2021 for the period 2021-2030. The updated MHPSS research agenda led to 20 prioritized research questions, among which questions such as: 
    • What is the impact of MHPSS interventions in humanitarian settings?
    • How can we ensure the sustainability of MHPSS services in various settings and sectors?
    • What are the comparatively most optimal (e.g., effective, efficient, cost-effective, safe) MHPSS interventions/responses to address issues in humanitarian settings?
    • What are the appropriate methods to assess the outcomes and impact (short-term and long-term benefits) of MHPSS interventions and approaches?
    • How do mental health and psychosocial concerns influence social and economic functioning (e.g., economic outcomes, family functioning, social relations)?


Mental and brain health has also been identified as a priority topic for other public health fields and the integration of mental and brain health research within the overall health research agendas is relevant. Examples of this are the research priority setting exercises for adolescent health and early child development, both conducted in 2015. Interventions to target mental health problems were emphasized for both groups. 

An increasing number of funding organizations have acknowledged the need for mental health research by creating funding opportunities for this. For example, the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases consortium of funding agencies selected global mental health for its annual call in 2017. A total of US$ 60 million of funding was made available through various participating funding agencies (such as the European Commission, EC; Medical Research Council, MRC; and National Institutes of Health, NIH) with a focus on implementation research.