Neuromedicines Innovation Australia (NIA, the Initiative) is a collaborative effort consisting of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health (the leading brain research centre in the southern hemisphere), and Australia’s two highest ranking universities, Monash University and The University of Melbourne (The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024). These institutions are uniquely placed to offer the end-to-end capability needed to develop different treatment options for mental health conditions.
As of December 2023, mental and behavioural conditions were reported to impact over 1 in 4 Australians[1]. Current mental health treatments fail to help one-third of people with these conditions[2], resulting in far-reaching implications, including for individuals living with the condition/s, their families, carers, our society, and the economy. Examples of these implications include side effects from medications, including additional health issues (e.g., diabetes), reduced productivity and incarcerations.
To address the increasing incidence of mental health conditions (and their corresponding implications) in Australia, NIA focuses on neuromedicines which include consciousness-alerting medicines (e.g., psilocybin, ketamine and MDMA[3]), as well as next generation, precision neuromedicines. These neuromedicines show promising signs of working faster, with enhanced efficacy and improved tolerability for mental health conditions compared to existing medicines. Neuromedicines may enhance psychotherapy and target multiple mental health conditions.
The NIA exists to:
conduct drug discovery and development to advance different neuromedicines-based treatment options (known as the Better medicines focus area),
study the effectiveness, duration, suitability and value of neuromedicines-based treatment options (known as the Better minds focus area),
focus on stakeholder awareness and education regarding the benefits, value and availability of neuromedicines-based treatment options (known as the Better futures focus area).
Together for good – the client challenge
NIA sought external expertise to clearly articulate the joint capabilities across the Initiative, help set immediate-term priorities, and develop collateral that could be utilised for future funding requests.
Whilst collaborative parties were working together on discrete projects and significant effort was underway towards progressing the three focus areas of the Initiative, they hadn’t yet come together to agree on a joint vision to unite and focus their work.
Furthermore, the recent decision by the Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) to allow authorised psychiatrists to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin, as well as ongoing mental health system reforms, made it essential for the NIA to come together to effectively communicate the value of investing in the Initiative.
Bringing the right thinking and people to the table
Cube sought to pull together the threads of thinking that had been developed to date and to translate this into clear challenges that NIA was seeking to help solve. We supported a series of engagement sessions including interviews, roundtables and a strategy workshop, that built relationships across the Initiative’s members. Sharing living and lived experience stories helped the NIA articulate a clear ‘why’ behind this collaboration.
Each engagement session was designed to build relationships, reinforce collaborative principles and facilitate shared decisions on both the NIA’s guiding principles and the mental health conditions and challenges they focus on. Each collaborative member took turns in hosting engagement sessions, virtual survey tools were utilised so people could anonymously share their perspectives, and a living experience representative sat in on project governance meetings.
Cube also supplemented extensive research to capture the evidence, trends and urgency driving the Initiative’s work.
The positive change we delivered
We focused NIA on clear challenge statements and captured the unique, world-leading capabilities the collaboration brings to these challenges, helping achieve the vision to ‘transform the lives of people living with a mental health condition’.
Cube also helped the Initiative get a head start on raising awareness of, and funding towards, the Initiative through a visual capability statement and investment case components that could be utilised towards funding submissions. We also captured immediate priorities through a clear plan, with objectives and success measures to keep collaborative members focused on the agreed NIA vision and outcomes.
Collaborative momentum has been building since our work with NIA and funding submissions are well underway. Research is also gathering pace, meaning Australia is a step closer to different mental health treatment options which utilise neuromedicines that are effective, reduce side effects and are accessible to those who need them.
This momentum means NIA is emerging as a world-leading mental health innovation hub, the impacts of which will benefit people living with a mental health condition, their families and carers, our society, and the economy.
Insights for inquisitive minds
Listen to living and lived experiences – Whilst research and expertise can bring awareness to a problem, a person’s experience grounds stats and figures in reality. Recognising and embracing living and lived experience stories swiftly created common ground, fostered collaboration and helped bring to life the very real challenges people living with mental health conditions face every day.
Refocus on the ‘why’ behind the collaboration – Bringing together a diverse group of enthusiastic academics, clinicians, and scientists within the NIA required skilled facilitation. Starting and ending each engagement session with the ‘why’ behind the Initiative maintained buy-in and momentum.
Keep your audience front of mind – Stakeholders and potential funders bring different perspectives on challenges you are seeking to solve – this means they often need different information. Some require the detail, whilst others just want the key messages. Ground your work in robust research and evidence, then translate this into accessible talking points that are instantly ‘gettable’.
