6:00 - 7:00 pm
Reception to follow
415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA
It's been decades since the last major therapeutic breakthroughs in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other psychiatric conditions. These conditions are incredibly personal and incredibly complex — biologically, medically, societally — and progress toward accurate diagnosis and precision treatment has been devastatingly slow. But new hope may be appearing on the horizon. Scientists from the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research will join peers and family members from the community to discuss how genetics and biology are shaping an improved understanding of psychiatric conditions, how that might address community concerns, and what it could mean for diagnosis and care now and in the future.
Panelists
Francis Burnett
Francis Burnett is the sole caregiver for his 26-year-old daughter Sarah, who lives with schizoaffective disorder and psychosis. After many challenging times, in 2017 Francis was introduced to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), where he enrolled in the Family-to-Family Education Program. In 2018, Francis became a Family-to-Family facilitator and, in 2021, a Family Support Group facilitator for NAMI Cambridge-Middlesex, where he continues to give and receive support with other caregivers and family members. Together with partners in NAMI Cambridge-Middlesex, in 2023 he established a Black family support as a resource for Black families in the community.
Aidan McKee
Aidan McKee has lived with bipolar II disorder for more than a decade. This experience fuels his commitment to using technology to improve access to mental healthcare, and he will soon pursue a Masters of Product Innovation with a concentration in Healthcare Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has also worked as an Education and Employment Day Program Counselor for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Aidan further strengthens his advocacy efforts through his involvement on the advisory boards of NAMI Greater Boston and the DBSA Associate Board.
Susanne Jakob
Susanne Jakob is the consortium and outreach manager in the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute and a member of the leadership team in the Schizophrenia Spectrum Biomarker Consortium (SSBC). Through her work in the Stanley Center and the SSBC, and through national-level partnerships with NAMI, Susanne works to bring diverse sets of stakeholders together to push toward a common goal: better understanding schizophrenia, bipolar disease, and related conditions. She holds a masters degree in molecular biology and a doctorate in developmental genetics.
Benjamin Neale
Benjamin Neale is the co-director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, an associate director in the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Genomic Mechanisms of Disease, and an institute member at the Broad Institute. He is also the director of the Genomics of Public Health Initiative in Massachusetts General Hospital's Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, and an associate professor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has led numerous large-scale international genetic studies of patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, ADHD, autism, age-related macular degeneration, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic disorders.
Moderator
Monica Luke
Monica Luke is an independent mental health advocate focusing on financial barriers to accessing mental health care. She is on the Steering Committee for CORE Mental Health, a non-profit focused on racial equity and mental health, and is a consultant with the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health and co-chair of the Massachusetts Mental Health Coalition. She recently concluded six years of service on the NAMI Massachusetts Board of Directors. Monica worked in the technology sector for more than twenty years, including as a technology executive at IBM. Leveraging her experience, she routinely mentors and supports entrepreneurs building mental health apps. Monica has a degree in computer science from Wellesley College and is a graduate of UMASS Boston's Gender, Leadership, and Public Policy program.
The Broad Discovery Series (formerly known as Science For All Seasons) brings researchers to the stage to discuss and answer questions about some of the most pressing topics in science and medicine today. Held in-person and virtually at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, these free public events explore the genetic and biological roots of human health and disease, the mechanisms that govern how our cells and bodies function, new technologies that are changing what's possible in science, and the progress being made to translate these findings into treatments for common and rare diseases.
Please visit broad.io/discoverylive to access the event live stream