Mental health conditions are among the leading causes of illness worldwide, yet there is a major gap in our understanding of these disorders, which limits the development of better treatments and care. Despite the urgent need for new solutions, the development of medications for mental health conditions is much slower compared to other medical fields. This delay is partly due to the challenges the pharmaceutical industry faces in identifying new drug targets that are specific to mental health, which makes it difficult to create innovative treatments. Furthermore, most current treatments focus mainly on relieving symptoms rather than addressing the underlying biological causes, which vary greatly from person to person.

Our goal is to find existing medications that could be repurposed to treat mental health disorders. We plan to achieve this by using advanced computer-based methods to analyze real-world data from large health registers and biobanks in the Nordic countries. To make treatments more tailored to each individual, we will incorporate biomarkers—biological indicators that can help distinguish different patient profiles. By understanding how these profiles affect responses to treatments, we can offer more precise therapies based on a person’s unique genetic and biological makeup. This approach, which combines neuropharmacology with patient-centered care, aims to improve outcomes by ensuring that people receive treatments best suited to their individual needs. In doing so, we hope to address the current gap in mental health care and move closer to precision medicine in this field.