{"id":3810,"date":"2026-05-07T10:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vbhi-institute.org\/?p=3810"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:37:23","slug":"prix-precision-mind-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vbhi-institute.org\/en\/prix-precision-mind-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Prix Precision Mind 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”” el_class=”intro”]Dr Laurent Groc<\/a>, member of the Executive Committee at the VBHI Institute and affiliated with the \u201cVBHI \u2013 Interdisciplinary Catalyser\u201d flagship programme<\/a>, Director of the Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience (IINS), and Research Director at UMR 5297 \u2013 CNRS\/University of Bordeaux, has been named the top laureate of the 2026 Precision Mind Award for his research project AUTOSCREEN \u2013 \u201cWhen the Immune System Attacks the Brain: Detecting Autoimmune Psychoses.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\n

A Promising Project\u2026<\/h2>\n

Co-led with Belinda Lennox and Adam Al-Diwani (University of Oxford, UK), Laurent Groc\u2019s project aims to identify characteristic biological signatures in patients<\/strong> whose psychosis has an immune origin<\/strong>, in order to offer targeted immunological therapies<\/strong> alongside standard psychiatric medications.<\/p>\n

The project explores a promising avenue: what if certain forms of psychosis that appear suddenly<\/strong> (resistant to conventional treatments, with atypical symptoms) are caused by immune system dysfunction?<\/strong> In some cases, the body may produce autoantibodies that mistakenly attack brain cells, disrupting their function and triggering autoimmune psychoses<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u2026and a Collaborative Effort between France and the UK<\/h2>\n

To achieve this, human neurons are cultured in laboratories in the UK<\/strong> from stem cells, allowing researchers to observe directly whether antibodies present in patients\u2019 blood attack brain cells.<\/p>\n

In Bordeaux, \u201csuper-resolution\u201d microscopy<\/strong> will then be used to detect and study autoantibodies at the nanometre scale<\/strong>, offering an unprecedented view of the biological mechanisms involved.<\/p>\n

The Precision Mind Award<\/h2>\n

Mental health disorders<\/strong> affect more than one billion people<\/strong> worldwide according to the WHO and rank among the leading causes of disability<\/strong>. In the absence of objective and quantifiable biomarkers, diagnosing these conditions is slow, and treatments are often insufficiently tailored or personalised<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To accelerate the transformation of mental health care, the Precision Mind Award was launched in November 2025.<\/p>\n

Supported by Wakam<\/strong>, the UK NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Network<\/strong>, and the FondaMental Foundation<\/strong>, the Precision Mind Award<\/strong> celebrates and rewards collaborative research projects between France and the UK<\/strong> focused on the identification<\/strong> and validation of biomarkers associated with mental health disorders<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n