Before psychedelic research, Pedram Dara built software for startups. Then a 2018 clinical trial of MDMA-assisted therapy changed his career entirely. In our newest Lived Experience Blog post, @pedramdara makes the case for why lived experience should help shape research, not just decorate it. Read the full post: onemind.org/lived-experience… 🧠 Pedram Dara is the Founder & Director of Psychedelic Lived Experiences (@psych_lived_exp) and a member of our One Mind Community Advisory Network (OMCAN). Learn more about OMCAN at onemind.org/OMCAN #LivedExperience #MentalHealthResearch #Psychedelics #OneMind

We want your feedback to help make our Flourish@Work pilot program most impactful. Please take our 10 min survey: surveymonkey.com/r/VX2N9GC and you'll be entered to win a $50 giftcard. We appreciate your thoughtful input!

"Compassion was the only medicine that consistently helped when I wanted to die every day from my brain disease." In our latest Lived Experience blog post, co-authored by his daughter Lucy, Jon Nelson shares what it was like to move through a decade-long battle with treatment-resistant depression, and how it wasn't the medications or standard interventions that carried him through, but the small, human moments of compassion along the way. Read the full post: onemind.org/lived-experience… #MentalHealth #LivedExperience #Compassion #MentalHealthAwareness #OneMind

What if better understanding mental health means looking beyond the brain? That's the question driving the work of Shriya Srinivasan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at @Harvard and recipient of the 2026 One Mind Lisa and Matt Sonsini Rising Star Award. The brain doesn't work in isolation, it's in constant communication with the rest of the body. Dr. Srinivasan is investigating the gut-brain connection to understand how signals between the gut and brain can shape anxiety and mental health. Her research could uncover new biological pathways involved in mental illness and reshape how we understand the relationship between gut and brain. Learn more about this year's 2026 Rising Star Awardee cohort: onemind.org/news/one-mind-gr… #MentalHealth #Research #Neuroscience #GutBrainConnection #Science

How does the brain turn an experience into a memory? That's the question driving the work of Kimberly Reinhold, PhD, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at @harvardmed and recipient of the 2026 One Mind Carey Michele Rising Star Award. Learning and memory shape nearly every part of our lives, yet we still know surprisingly little about the brain mechanisms that turn experience into lasting memory. Dr. Reinhold is investigating the neural processes behind learning and memory, work that could deepen our understanding of how the brain learns, remembers, and changes over time, and open new paths toward understanding and treating brain disorders. Learn more about our 2026 Rising Star Award recipients: onemind.org/news/one-mind-gr… #MentalHealth #Research #Neuroscience #Memory #Learning

Depression isn't just "feeling sad." For many people, it's losing the ability to look forward to anything at all, even things they know they'll enjoy. Known as anticipatory anhedonia, this loss of anticipation is common in major depression and schizophrenia, and it's strongly linked to treatment resistance, disability, and suicide risk. Yet science still can't fully explain why it happens or how to treat it. That's the question Kiyohito Iigaya, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at @Columbia and recipient of the 2026 One Mind Ben Langford and Nicholas Hall Rising Star Award, is working to understand. Dr. @kyo_iigaya is building computational models of how anticipation breaks down in the brain, work that could reshape our understanding of anhedonia and open the door to more effective treatments for depression. Learn more about the #RisingStarAwards and each of the 2026 recipients: onemind.org/news/one-mind-gr… #MentalHealth #Research #Depression #Neuroscience #MentalHealthResearch

The first episode of psychosis is terrifying for young people and their families, and right now, we cannot predict who will respond to treatment and who won't. Dr. Aaron Alexander-Bloch is working to change that. Aaron Alexander-Bloch, MD, PhD (@Aaron_A_B), Associate Professor of Psychiatry at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (@ChildrensPhila) and University of Pennsylvania (@Penn), is the recipient of the 2026 One Mind Dolby Family Rising Star Award. By combining genetics research with AI-powered brain imaging, Dr. Alexander-Bloch aims to identify biomarkers that can help predict treatment response, improving the process and reducing trial and error. Learn more about the Rising Star Awards and each of the 2026 recipients shaping the future of mental health research today: onemind.org/news/one-mind-gr… #MentalHealth #Research #Neuroscience #Psychosis #MentalHealthResearch #Scientists #OneMind

Introducing the 2026 One Mind Rising Star Awardees 🔬💫 These five visionary, early-career scientists, selected to receive the 2026 Rising Star Awards, are pushing the boundaries of neuroscience and psychiatry and we're very proud to support their work! Meet the 2026 awardees: 🌟 Aaron Alexander-Bloch, MD, PhD (@Aaron_A_B) 🌟 Kiyohito Iigaya, PhD (@kyo_iigaya) 🌟 Jan Kubanek, PhD 🌟 Kimberly Reinhold, PhD 🌟 Shriya Srinivasan, PhD (@ShriyaSrinivas3) Each awardee receives a $300,000 research grant over 3 years, plus leadership training through our Rising Star Leadership Program. The 2026 awardees will also present at our annual Science & Innovation Symposium, during the 32nd One Mind Music Festival this September. Read the full press release: onemind.org/news/one-mind-gr… #MentalHealthResearch #Neuroscience #OneMind #MentalHealth #Research @Columbia @WashU @harvardmed @Harvard @ChildrensPhila

⏰ The clock is ticking, voting for SXSW 2027 closes tomorrow, August 23. Last chance to vote for One Mind! If you haven't yet, take 60 seconds to vote for One Mind's two sessions: 1️⃣ Strengths AI Cannot Match: The Lived Experience Advantage 2️⃣ Mental Health at Work: The Conversation We Avoid (The Return-to-Work Question Nobody Asks Out Loud) Help bring One Mind to SXSW this March 2027. Every vote helps make the case that workplace wellness and lived experience belong on the SXSW stage. 🗳️ Vote now: bit.ly/OneMindAtSXSW #OneMind #LivedExperience #WorkplaceWellness #MentalHealth #FlourishAtWork #SXSW #SXSW2027

Music has the power to move us. Science has the power to change lives. In just one month from today, we will bring both together for the 32nd Annual One Mind Music Festival! 🧠🎶 This year's festival, presented by @BankofAmerica & Bristol Myers Squibb (@bmsnews @ScienceAtBMS), with a wine tasting reception presented by @AlmaRosaWines, will bring together scientists, leaders, & advocates for a day dedicated to advancing mental health research. Highlights include: 🎤 A headline performance by @TheFray, 🔬 The Science & Innovation Symposium, featuring a keynote from @COMPASSPathway Co-Founders Dr. Ekaterina Malievskaia & @LarsWilde 🍷 A world-class wine tasting paired with bites from EPIC STEAK & Waterbar of SF 🍽️ A four-course dinner under the stars by Chef PJ Calapa of Marea (NYC) paired with @StaglinWine Last year's festival raised over $4.1M to advance mental health research, help us build on that momentum this September. ▶︎ Read the full announcement: businesswire.com/news/home/2… 🎟️ Join us on Sept. 19 at Staglin Family Vineyard in Napa Valley. Reserve tickets: music-festival.org #OneMind #MentalHealth #OneMindMusicFestival #BrainHealth

VOTE FOR ONE MIND TO PRESENT AT SXSW 2027 🗳️ bit.ly/OneMindAtSXSW Disclosing a mental health need at work (telling a manager you're struggling, asking for accommodation, taking a leave) is a decision most workplaces still have no real answer for. Our proposed session for SXSW, The Return-to-Work Question Nobody Asks Out Loud, skips the awareness-campaign framing and gets specific: what disclosure actually costs, and how silence costs more. It's a live, audience-driven conversation, not a lecture. Our second proposal, Strengths AI Cannot Match: The Lived Experience Advantage, will reveal insights into what it's really like navigating the workplace while living with serious mental illness. Participants will leave with practical strategies to build a more empathetic, resilient workplace that empowers all employees. We can't bring these conversation to Austin without your vote. Make your voice heard now, voting closes August 23: bit.ly/OneMindAtSXSW #OneMind #LivedExperience #MentalHealth #FlourishAtWork #SXSW #SXSW2027

VOTE NOW TO BRING ONE MIND TO SXSW 2027 🗳️ Behind our @sxsw proposal, Strengths AI Cannot Match: The Lived Experience Advantage, are two leaders from our One Mind Lived Experience Initiative, Linea Johnson & Alex Sheehan, sharing firsthand what it's like to navigate the workplace with serious mental illness, and the strengths that experience brings. We've also proposed a second session, The Return-to-Work Question Nobody Asks Out Loud, tackling the disclosure conversations most workplaces still can't answer, which will be led by Dr. David Ballard & Brandon Staglin. Voting closes August 23rd! Help bring One Mind to the SXSW stage, cast your votes now: bit.ly/OneMindAtSXSW #SXSW #SXSW2027 #PanelPicker #MentalHealth #WorkplaceWellness #Community #Wellbeing

One Mind is heading to @SI_Stadium! ⚽⁠ ⁠ We're honored to join @NewYorkRedBulls for their 8th Annual Mental Health Awareness Night on Saturday, August 22.⁠ ⁠ When RBNY takes on @ChicagoFire, One Mind will be recognized on the field at halftime in front of thousands of fans. This serves as a powerful moment for One Mind and RBNY to shine a spotlight on a shared commitment to breaking the stigma surrounding mental health.⁠ ⁠ Visit onemind.org/RBNY to learn more! ⁠ #MentalHealthAwareness #OneMind #MentalHealth #RedBullNewYork #MLS #MentalHealthMatters

One Mind has submitted two session proposals for @sxsw and we need your vote to bring both to the 2027 SXSW stage! Vote now: bit.ly/OneMindAtSXSW 🧠Strengths AI Cannot Match: The Lived Experience Advantage — a role-playing simulation revealing what it's really like to navigate the workplace while living with serious mental illness. Led by One Mind’s Linea Johnson, MHL and Alex Sheehan. 🗣️The Return-to-Work Question Nobody Asks Out Loud — a live, audience-driven conversation about the real cost of disclosing a mental health need at work, and the steeper cost of staying silent. Led by One Mind’s David Ballard and Brandon Staglin. Voting is open through August 23. Cast your vote today!

Hope shouldn’t require abandoning reality. In the latest blog post from our Lived Experience Community, Linea Johnson shares a powerful and deeply honest reflection of what delusions actually feel like and why social media trends like “delulu” can be triggering for people with lived experience of psychosis. Read the full post: onemind.org/lived-experience…

"Over 50 years, I have seen people with and without mental health conditions learn from one another when their experiences are witnessed rather than judged." Linda Sibio has spent 50 years turning her #LivedExperience of #Schizophrenia into a creative practice she calls "The Insanity Principle." Now she's partnering with @ucdavis on a study to ground the method in science, with the hope of making it available nationally. Learn more about the "The Insanity Principle" in our latest blog post: onemind.org/lived-experience… #MentalHealth #Advocacy #OneMind

"I don't have perfect mental health. I have practiced mental health." Mental health executive and lived experience advocate Tracie Ibrahim on radical acceptance, self-compassion, and leading through—not around—serious mental illness. Read her story, in our latest blog post: onemind.org/lived-experience…