Previewing ACNP Annual Meeting

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CONFERENCE REPORTER

This year’s Annual Meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) will be held December 8 – 11, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona, bringing together leading researchers and sciences in the field.

Helen S. Mayberg, MD, founding Director of Mount Sinai Health System's The Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, professor emeritus at Emory University, and president of the ACNP, will start the meeting with The President’s Plenary, “The Future is Now: Transformative Research Enters the Clinic.” The session will highlight work by Michelle Monje, MD, PhD; Sergiu Pasca, MD; and Botond Roska, MD, PhD, on glial plasticity and its role in brain pathology, applied neural organoid and assembloid technologies for developing gene based therapies, and multimodal approach to the development of an optogenetic treatment for vision loss, respectively. David McMullen, MD, Director of the Office of Neurological and Physical Medicine Devices at the US Food and Drug Administration, will lead a discussion with the panel and the audience to explore the implications, challenges, and opportunities.

In the following days, the meeting continues with featured panels, Q&A forums, study groups, and poster sessions, all highlighting advances and research across the field of psychiatry. Invited guests also have ample opportunities to network through special events. Both in-person and virtual attendees are eligible for continuing medical education credits.

Of special note, the ACNP has a number of diversity and inclusion events, sponsored by the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Gender Equity and Inclusion Committee, the BIPOC Sub-Committee, LGBTQIA2S+ Sub-Committee, Hispanic/Latin-American Sub-Committee, and the Global Outreach Task Force. From posters to symposium to networking receptions, the ACNP has shown its dedication in this area.

The ACNP also has 2 offsetting opportunities. The ACNP Council will be donating to One Tree Planted and Charity: Water for each in-person attendee to help offset the carbon footprint for the annual meeting. ACNP is also working with SocialOffset, to help interested attendees to make contributions to local organizations that have been vetted by the ACNP. The charities chosen support reproductive freedom, racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, hunger relief, indigenous support, and housing security. The program is an opportunity for individuals to take meaningful action as part of their attendance.

This is the second year in a row that Psychiatric Times has been invited to attend and cover the conference, allowing readers the opportunity to learn about the important research and discussions happening at the 63rd Annual Meeting. Similar to last year’s coverage, readers can expect highlights via articles, videos, and our conference e-newsletters.

Founded in 1961, the ACNP’s main functions include research and education, fostering cross-disciplinary communication across the neurosciences to study all forms of mental illness. ACNP is an international organization of brain science professionals. The board is filled with some of the most important researchers in the area, including Mayberg. In addition to the annual meeting, ACNP shares other resources, including podcasts, ACNP Bulletins, and journals, such as the newly launched open access NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience.

Are you attending this year’s annual meeting? We would love to hear your thoughts! Reach out to us on social media or via email to PTEditor@mmhgroup.com.