{"id":6304,"date":"2025-05-23T16:25:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T20:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/?page_id=6304"},"modified":"2026-03-03T09:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:00:54","slug":"curesz-schizophrenia-colloquia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/pt_pt\/about\/curesz-schizophrenia-colloquia\/","title":{"rendered":"CURESZ Schizophrenia Colloquia"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

Henry Nasrallah, Rajiv Tandon and Matcheri Keshavan<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

About the CURESZ Foundation Schizophrenia Colloquia<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CURESZ Foundation is pleased to have collaborated with board members Dr. Rajiv Tandon, Dr. Henry Nasrallah and Dr. Matcheri Keshavan to bring together some of the best researchers and clinicians in the world to discuss the future of research into schizophrenia. The colloquia are titled \u201cReinventing Schizophrenia: Updating the Construct.\u201d<\/p>\n

About Schizophrenia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Affecting over 25 million people globally, schizophrenia is arguably the mental illness that has the most profound adverse impact on the ability of individuals to live productive and meaningful lives. Despite much investment over the past century, progress in our understanding of this condition has been slow and treatment development has yielded only modest improvements, with less than 20 percent of adults with schizophrenia around the world fully employed and independent today. Persons with schizophrenia continue to experience double the standardized mortality of the general population with approximately 15-year shortening of their life span. Over the approximately 125 years of intensive study, we have learned much about the nature of schizophrenia (etiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, course, treatment, outcome), but we now seem to be at an impasse. This is despite the availability of powerful tools to investigate the human brain (mapped genome, artificial intelligence, range of imaging technologies, etc.).<\/p>\n

2022 Colloquia<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the objective of making meaningful headway in breaking through the logjam, we assembled a group of 50 international experts and initiated a three-phase international project \u201cReinventing Schizophrenia: Updating the Construct\u201d in 2022 (details in Tandon et al., 2022, 2023). We invited commentaries from these experts on key questions in the field and compiled them in a special issue of Schizophrenia Research (Volume 242 published in April, 2022).<\/p>\n

After completion of phase-1, we conducted a set of three 6-hour structured virtual colloquia between July-September, 2022 that addressed three fundamental issues that needed to be resolved in order to break through the impasse in understanding and treatment development:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What do we know about schizophrenia (\u201cjust the facts\u201d) and what they tell us about its nature<\/li>\n
  2. What is\/are the current models of schizophrenia- definition, assumptions, explanatory and predictive potential, testability, comparisons<\/li>\n
  3. What are current and emerging research modalities and approaches and how can they be most effectively applied to addressing key questions that need to be answered in order to more fully characterize schizophrenia and develop more specific, efficacious treatments<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Each of these virtual colloquia had 16-18 participants (carefully selected from the experts to address specific issues in the particular colloquium), and a detailed agenda with a set of ten focused presentations each followed by structured discussions. Much preparatory work preceded each virtual colloquium. The proceedings of each virtual colloquium were summarized.<\/p>\n

    2023 Colloquia <\/strong><\/p>\n

    After completion of phase-1, a three-day in-person colloquium (Michigan Schizophrenia Colloquium) was conducted in Detroit, Michigan in 2023, in which 20 selected experts participated. Each of the sessions provided rich discussion and a set of take-home points and specific recommendations. Two major next steps were defined:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Dissemination of results of the project thus far to both clinical and research audiences<\/li>\n
    2. Continuing the expert colloquium process to further refine recommendations for specific needs and for specific audiences<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      With regard to the second task, the following actions were recommended:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Three mini-colloquia on focused topics with group of 12-15 specifically selected experts in 2024<\/li>\n
      2. Follow-up colloquium of entire group in 2025<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        2024 Colloquia<\/strong><\/p>\n

        In 2024, the CURESZ Foundation organized three colloquia in New York, Istanbul, Turkey and Bali.<\/p>\n

        The New York mini-colloquium “Unmet Therapeutic Needs in Schizophrenia” with 10 faculty and four attendees from Boehringer Ingelheim was conducted on May 3, 2024. There was a critical review and vigorous discussion of precise definition of unmet needs, current strategies towards addressing these, best methods to address them today, and optimal approaches to develop better ones for the future. Several concrete deliverables from the mini-colloquium were outlined and implementation responsibilities were assigned, and timelines were defined.<\/p>\n

        The Istanbul Colloquium, \u201cUpdating Diagnosis: Where Do We Go from Here\u201d was congregated on June 4, 2024. Two additional articles are in preparation\/review. The follow-up recommended actions are planned:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. White Paper on Key Questions and Challenges in the Study of Schizophrenia<\/li>\n
        2. Research Agenda for Schizophrenia, Circa 2025 (how to more effectively develop agents\/strategies to address unmet therapeutic needs will be an important section)<\/li>\n
        3. Guidance for Clinicians for Assessment and Treatment of Schizophrenia (segment on meeting unmet needs Today will be one key section)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          The Bali colloquium was the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific Zone and introduced the agenda and hoped-for deliverables, on December 4, 2024, titled \u201cAddressing Cross Cultural Challenges.\u201d The presentations by the various presenters were well-received and the discussions were extremely candid and productive. The following is a summary of what was agreed upon and action items:<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Participants agreed that the term \u201cschizophrenia\u201d should be retained for now as there is no currently better alternative, but concurrently felt the term was unsatisfactory; a change in name should await clarification of the concept.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. There was broad agreement of the \u201cwestern\u201d consensus conceptualization of schizophrenia (as articulated in the 2024 Schizophrenia Research article- this had been reviewed by all attendees) with the caveat that data about some aspects from the Asia-Pacific suggested minor variations or were lacking- \u201cthere are some differences in our data and we just don\u2019t have much data to support or contradict the findings from the west\u201d- on much \u201cwe just don\u2019t know\u201d – etiology, causation factors, treatment responses, and genetic research, neurobiology, or a biomarker for the disorder.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. There was agreement that schizophrenia is a group of disorders, and not a singular condition, with the following traits: No specific markers; No sufficient pathology; No sufficient etiology; Poor etiopathogenesis; Poor pathophysiologic chain; Extreme heterogeneity; Many diseases; No element is necessary or sufficient; The boundaries are fuzzy; Schizophrenia has multiple psychopathological dimensions; Psychosis should be still remain primary basis for its identification\/diagnosis.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                2025 Colloquia (more to follow)<\/strong><\/p>\n

                In 2025, the CURESZ Foundation organized colloquia in Los Angeles, Rome, Italy, and Boston.<\/p>\n

                The first mini-colloquium in Los Angeles on \u201cDo all roads lead to (through) Dopamine\u201d was conducted with 18 experts (predominantly USA-based) on May 16, 2025, in conjunction with the 2025 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. A publication summarizing the output has been submitted and is currently being reviewed by JAMA.<\/p>\n

                The second mini-colloquium in Rome, Italy on \u201cEarly Intervention in Schizophrenia: Opportunities and Challenges\u201d was implemented with 18 international experts. A publication based on its proceedings is in preparation for submission to World Psychiatry.<\/p>\n

                The three-day standalone colloquium on \u201cReimagining Schizophrenia: Resolving its complexities and Charting a Path Ahead\u201d was organized in Boston from December 12-14, 2025. In contrast to the 2023 colloquium that focused on developing a comprehensive, evidence-weighted synthesis of what is known about schizophrenia as a heterogeneous syndrome, (published in Schizophrenia Research, 2024, 264, 1-28), this colloquium went further by\u00a0explicitly articulating a trajectory for change. <\/strong>Specifically, it endorsed progressive deconstruction of the construct, incremental diagnostic reform, and a shift toward psychosis-spectrum and staging frameworks rather than continued refinement of the existing category. This will both enable meaningful advances in understanding and treatment development and also guide optimal clinical care. A major theme in this colloquium was the increasing gap between advances in our knowledge and understanding of schizophrenia on the one hand and the clinical care that we provide to those that we diagnose with this condition and the research that we conduct. Two manuscripts based on its proceedings are being developed.<\/p>\n

                Additionally, three follow-up mini-colloquia to articulate formal guidance to the field on diagnosis, biological research, and treatment were recommended for 2026 and two mini-colloquia and a three-day full colloquium were recommended for 2027.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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