Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) held an expert meeting titled “Innovations Required to Achieve Precision Psychiatry” on January 22, 2025.
The reality and challenges of mental disorders have a significant impact on our contemporary society, regardless of the country or region. In Japan, the number of patients with mental disorders reached approximately 6,148,000 in 2020, the highest among the five major diseases (cancer, stroke, acute myocardial infarction, diabetes and mental illness). Furthermore, in the field of psychiatry, there are many challenges regarding the diagnosis, appropriate treatment and post-diagnosis support for mental disorders. Particularly, issues such as the lack of objective evaluation indicators such as biomarkers and the fact that existing therapeutic medication are only partially effective due to patients’ individual differences.
In response to these challenges, a paradigm shift is warranted from the classical categorical diagnostic approach to a ‘dimensional approach’, in which patients and their symptoms are defined from different continuums from different perspectives rather than just assigning them to categories. At the same time, the need for ‘Precision Psychiatry’, which provides treatment and support tailored to individual genes, medical conditions, environment and backgrounds, has been recognized internationally. The development of new personalized psychiatric care for patients with mental disorders and related cognitive dysfunctions is already underway in many countries around the world, including Japan, and promoting and encouraging its development will require the collaboration of diverse stakeholders, that are not restricted to academia, but also companies, parties, their families, and supporters.

At this meeting, speakers introduced case studies of past and current initiatives to achieve personalized psychiatry in Japan and abroad, as well as their past and current challenges and future prospects. Based on speakers’ presentations, representatives from industry, government and academia, as well as patients, engaged in lively discussions on the innovations and initiatives regarding mental healthcare that need to be established in Japan in the near future.

[Event Overview]

• Date & Time: Wednesday, January 22, 2025; 13:00-15:00 JST
• Format: Hybrid (In-Person and Online (Zoom Webinar))
• Venue: Grand Cube 3F, Otemachi Financial City, Global Business Hub Tokyo
  1-9-2, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
• Language: Japanese
• Participation Fee: Free
• Host: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)
• Sponsor: Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim Co., Ltd., Google Japan G.K

[Program] (Titles omitted, no particular order)

13:00-13:05	Opening Remarks
	Hanako Jimi (Member, House of Councillors)
13:05-13:30	Keynote Lecture ‘Global Trends in Precision Psychiatry and its Application in Clinical Practice’
	Akira Sawa (The Johns Hopkins University & Hospital)
13:30-13:55	Keynote Lecture 2 ’Establishment of a Mental Illness Registry for the realization of Precision Psychiatry’
	Kazuyuki Nakagome (President, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry)
13:55-14:00	Break
14:00-14:55	Panel Discussion ‘Multi-stakeholder collaboration for Precision Psychiatry’
	Panelists: Yasuhiro Obata (Secretary-general, The National Federation of Associations of Families with The Mental Illness in Japan (Common name:Minna-net)) Shigenobu Kanba (Honorary Professor, Kyushu University; Honorary Chairman, Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology) Toshiaki Kikuchi (Associate Professor, Keio University School of Medicine) Keigo Kobayashi (Person Living With a Mental Disorder) Akira Sawa (The Johns Hopkins University & Hospital) Hidetaka Tamune (Associate Professor, The Department of Psychiatry at Juntendo University) Kazuyuki Nakagome (President, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry) Moderator: Shu Suzuki (Senior Associate, HGPI)
14:55-15:00	Closing Remarks
	Ryoji Noritake (Chair, HGPI)

(Photo : Kazunori Izawa)