Cottesloe, Western Australia

The spark was lit when Susie and I reconnected, and , the idea for a Fundraising Ball for Mental Health began to take shape. Keith joined us and while he admired our fresh ideas and energy, he admitted he wasn’t a big fan of formal balls. It was the start of something special, we called “Meeting for Minds”.

Fremantle, Western Australia

Inspired by Susie's powerful words, "Research is Hope," we set out to create something brave and innovative. With the support of Ian Hickie, Sebastian Rosenberg, and Keith Wilson, we held a groundbreaking forum. Instead of the usual presentations, we invited brilliant minds to share their insights and perspectives on key questions, blending their expertise in an open, dynamic setting. For two and a half days, people from all walks of life, expertise  – those living with mental illness, clinicians, researchers of basic science, nurses, and politicians – came together, contributing fully to every workshop. Many said they wished it could have lasted longer, as the connections and exchanges were profoundly inspiring, breaking down barriers that often keep these groups apart.

After this initial conference, we realized just how valuable the insights from lived experience are for researchers and that these two groups needed more opportunities to connect. This led us on a journey of learning, traveling, and exchanging ideas on how best to bring them together.

Fremantle, Western Australia

The result was our next forum, "SYNERGIES," where we explored the powerful connections between people with lived experience of mental illness and researchers. We invited global leaders who were already integrating lived experience in innovative ways, including researchers who themselves had personal experience with mental illness.

This gathering confirmed what we felt was missing – a genuine, equal platform for dialogue. Working alongside People with Lived Experience of mental illness (PLEX), we discussed and explored this in multiple countries, eventually agreeing on the acronym as a title  "PLEX meets Professor." It beautifully captured the essence of these encounters, where lived experience and academic knowledge truly meet as equals.

Switzerland

We launched the SYNERGIES program (insert link here), where three pioneering researchers and a group of PLEX (People with Lived Experience) embraced this groundbreaking collaboration. During the launch event, the three researchers presented their projects alongside their PLEX Research Partners to a captivated audience of medical and neuroscience students and curious observers. Every six weeks thereafter, the self-designated PLEX would visit the research centres for regular meetings with the researchers, guided by our SYNERGIES coordinator.

As these SYNERGIES meetings continued and as the films documenting them began to emerge, excitement and interest stirred. Both PLEX and researchers were equally intrigued and occasionally challenged, but trust and curiosity flourished, leading to many novel insights.

While the world paused, SYNERGIES adapted by moving online. There were unforgettable moments, like when Isabelle Mansuy shared the groundbreaking results from the trials on third-generation traumatized mice. This remarkable moment was captured live during a SYNERGIES Zoom meeting, bypassing the traditional lengthy path of writing and publishing research findings. Usually, such discoveries take months to reach the public – if at all. Thanks to the collaboration, researchers quickly learned to use clear, simple language, making these findings accessible to everyone through the films.

The most important lesson learned: While online meetings are practical and useful, nothing compares to the powerful energy shared when everyone is together in the same room. It wasn't long before the PLEX involved in SYNERGIES requested that we return to in-person gatherings.

Fremantle, Western Australia

After years of gaining insights from countless brilliant minds, we felt a strong need to share these learnings. We wanted to reveal how the fundamental science happening behind closed doors profoundly impacts our everyday lives. To ignite curiosity and show the relevance of these discoveries, we launched the WORLD IN A BRAINSTORM Forum.

Founder - Meeting for Minds

Founder of Meeting for Minds / Philanthropist whose friendship with Susie Hincks and witnessing her trauma with undiagnosed Schizophrenia inspired her to create Meeting for Minds to help Others

Person with Lived Experience (PLEX)

Person with Lived Experience (PLEX)
At 28, she was finally diagnosed with schizophrenia and fortuntely responded well to a small amount of medication, moving on to become a mental health advocate.

Director of Meeting for Minds,
former Western Australian Minister of Health and former Chair of the Mental Health Council of Australia.

CEO Youth Focus, Board Member of Ministerial Council on Suicide Prevention, Youth Focus

Professor of Neuroscience and Scientific Director, Brain & Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney

Retired AFL footballer with Bipolar Disorder, community educator in suicide prevention, Lived Experience

CEO, Australian Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health

Associate Professor Tom Calma | Adjunct Associate Professor

Associate Professor, University of Sydney

Executive Director. Black Dog Institute , University of NSW

Former Victorian Parliamentarian, Playwright who publicly revealed his bipolar mood disorder and now Associate Professor, Victorian Mental Health Research Institute

Caregiver of Person with Lived Experience of Mental Illness | Founder & Chairperson of Mental Health Matters 2

Co-Leader, Social and Affective
Neuroscience Team at the ICM, Paris and Professor of Psychiatry

Director of the School of Government and former Premier of Western Australia from which position he resigned following the onset of major depression, School of Government, University of Sydney

Associate Professor in the Disciplines of Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, University of Sydney

Director of the Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University

Clinical Psychologist and Principal Research Fellow, Brain and Mind Research Institute

Caregiver for her husband with paranoid schizophrenia and Board Member, Richmond Fellowship WA

Director, Brain & Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney

Brain System Organisation & Neurodegeneration, Technion University , Israel

Deputy Director, Translational Medicine and Head Mind and Brain Theme, South Australian Medical Research Institute

trategic Recovery Advisor and Manager, Hearing Voices Network Australia, Richmond Fellowship of WA

Professor, Monash University Central Clinical School and The Alfred

Research Director & Professor of Psychiatry, Orygen Youth Health

Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre, YAWCRC

Head of the Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Research Unit, University of Western Australia's School of Psychiatry and NeurosciencesDescription goes here

Assistant Professor, Rappaport School of Medicine at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology

Deputy Director (Research) and Founding Member, Queensland Brain Institute

President, and former Director of the WHO Division of Mental Health, Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programs , Geneva

Professor of Neuro-immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israe

Professor Fiona Stanley AC FAA FASSA, Patron and Founding Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

Head of the Health Report on ABC Radio National, multi-award winning broadcaster and journalist, ABC Radio NationalDescription goes here

Chairman, Council of General Practise at Australian Medical Association

DescriptiMacquarie Group Foundation Chair of Schizophrenia Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of NSWon goes here

Commissioner, National Mental Health Commission, Australiaescription goes here

Senior Physician in Brain Injury Rehabilitation, Meeting for Minds Medical Leader and Advisor in Sweden

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) National Director for Patients and the Public in Research and Chair, INVOLVE, UK

Director of Mazor (Mazra) Mental Health Center and the Technion Haifa, Israel

Director of Research at Lundbeck Foundation, Denmark

Research Fellow, ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Australia

General Manager of BNJ Catalano Pty Ltd Austra

Patron

Head of CCIProgram, Western Australian Health Translation Network

Clinically-trained Psychologist | Drugs | Research | Psychedelics | Harm Reduction | Media

Psychiatrist / Co-Director Royal Perth & Bentley Group of Hospitals

Principal, Western Australian Recovery College at HelpingMinds

Research Fellow, Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, School of Indigenous Studies, UWA

Principal Research Fellow and Academic Lead BMC Youth Model, Faculty of Medicine &
Health, Translational Research Collective Brain and Mind Centre, Youth Mental Health &
Technology - University of Sydney

Chief Scientific Officer at Black Swan Pharmaceuticals

Head, Division of Psychiatry, UWA Medical School, The University of Western Australia

Assistant Prof. at Weizmann Inst. of Science, Israel

Commander at Western Australia Police

Professor of psychiatry at The University of Western Australia

Advancing the Brain Economy 🌎🧠 Lead of Neuro-Policy & Senior Fellow @ Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy | Adjunct @ UCSF

Immunopathologist/Immunologist at Health Department Western Australia

MLC, Legalise Cannabis WA

Body Percussion expert

Digital Crisis Responder at Lifeline WA with expertise in Trauma Informed Care

Head of Public Involvement in Research, McPin Foundation, UK, Senior Researcher at the University of Oxford

Emeritus Professor at The University of Western Australia

Associate professor at the University of Lausanne and Director of the Neurophysiological Investigations Laboratory (LINE), Department of Radiology, Vaud University Hospital and University of Lausanne

Professor of Psychiatry, Fribourg University, Switzerland

Isabelle M Mansuy currently works at the University and ETH Zurich. Isabelle does research in Neuroepigenetics and studies the mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance in mammal

Certified psychotherapist and post-doc researcher. Head of a psychiatric outpatient unit; as a researcher, affiliated to the University of Bern.