Precision psychiatry roadmap: towards a biology-informed framework for mental disorders

The current classification systems for mental disorders provide a uniform symptom-based language to describe and diagnose mental disorders. Clinicians use these classifications to communicate with their patients and colleagues, to treat patients, and when applicable, to request reimbursement from payers. In clinical research and drug development, diagnostic categories are used as enrollment criteria for clinical trials and to inform prescribing information for the appropriate use of therapeutic interventions. However, like other neuropsychiatric diseases, mental disorders arise from the biology of the brain and its bidirectional interaction with the environment. Current classification systems do not reflect this knowledge. With scientific progress in neuroscience, the time has come for global stakeholders to align research efforts to work toward integrating symptomatic, biological, and behavioral information into the definition of mental disorders to advance the development of effective treatments. The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), following the 2024 New Frontiers Meeting, is coordinating a global initiative to design and implement a Precision Psychiatry Roadmap. By mobilizing resources and harmonizing translational methodologies and datasets, the aim is to discuss, design, and implement an iterative framework that incorporates biology-informed evidence into symptom-based syndromes, allowing for more discovery and implementation of mechanism-based effective treatments for mental disorders.