As the global population continues to age, the prevalence of conditions associated with old age has also risen. For Alzheimer’s disease, this means that there is an expected tripling of the burden of disease worldwide, and currently, there is no way to delay the disease’s progression. So while we live in the golden age of neuroscience – knowing more about the neurological system than ever before, there is more to be done, which is why I chose to make the development of new approaches in this area my first priority as the head of the Neuroscience Therapeutic Area at Janssen.

Alzheimer’s begins, on average, 20 years before a diagnosis is made. This means that its slow and steady progression begins much earlier in life than we previously thought. Also, severe mental illnesses are the leading non-communicable cause of disability worldwide and, tragically, they are associated with 60,000 deaths per year from suicide in Europe, many of them among young people. It’s clear - the impact of mental illness is high both at the human and economic levels.

Even at a time when some companies are limiting their mental health research due to the complexity of this field, I believe that we can create a truly sustainable pipeline of transformational treatments. It’s why I’m proud of Janssen for reenergising its neuroscience R&D programs and solidifying our deep commitment to reduce the enormous burden on patients suffering from neuropsychiatric diseases. Our efforts in R&D have led to research with exciting new treatments, including one now in development that could help patients quickly tame severe depression that could lead to suicide, and another that is available now, helping to delay relapses in schizophrenia.

As for Alzheimer’s disease, we know that it is critical to try to intervene in the course of the illness prior the diagnosis. With this vision, we are conducting studies to stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear, when the decline is slow. We can identify people who are at risk for Alzheimer’s dementia, but who don’t yet have symptoms and begin to treat them to hopefully prevent progression of illness, a major insight that gives us hope for one day preventing dementia.

Yet, there are more challenges ahead. For instance, it takes up to five years to show results, making the research very complicated and costly. Nevertheless, we can’t give up. 

Janssen is taking part in several public and private partnerships, which I strongly believe help to advance our knowledge and science for the benefit of society. We are working to foster diverse collaborations to harness the best science in the world to improve the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses. One example is my work as co-chair of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Biomarkers Consortium for Neuroscience.

I also firmly believe in the need for supporting people with mental illness to reduce the associated stigma. Our work in this area is done with organisation such as the Dr. Guislain Museum in Ghent, Belgium, and in the US, One Mind, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, JED Foundation, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). We are working to create a paradigm shift in mental health from a diagnose-and-treat model to a predict and pre-empt approach. Together, we can inspire change throughout the world in the way people with mental illness are viewed and treated.

For all these reasons, I won’t rest until we have cured Alzheimer’s disease and severe mental illnesses.