Mind Forward
About this Event
The inaugural Mind Forward event. Advancing brain science and mental health innovation, from psychedelics and CNS therapies to brain longevity, biotech and digital therapeutics.
At Mind Forward we strive to produce quality, fact-based content, events and information for the entire mental health value chain.
We aim to be the one hub connecting all stakeholders including patients, researchers, clinicians, therapists, investors, business owners and policy makers, working together towards advancing mental health care into the future.
Mind Forward is powered by Prohibition Partners — the team behind PSYCH Symposium, Cannabis Europa, Business of Cannabis and the Cannabis Health Symposium, established producers of Europe's most influential industry conferences.
- PSYCH Symposium
- Cannabis Europa
- Business of Cannabis
- Cannabis Health Symposium
Agenda
🕑: 10:20 AM - 11:00 AM
A Human in the Loop? The Evolving Role of AI and LLM's in Therapy
Info: The headline fear, that chatbots will replace human therapists, isn't where the interesting story is anymore. It's where AI sits alongside the clinician that matters. APA's 2026 survey found over a third of psychologists now have patients using AI as a supplementary support, and regulators across the US and EU have spent this year drawing a clear line, not against AI in mental health, but against AI pretending to be a licensed clinician without one in the loop. A wave of U.S states have passed laws requiring human oversight rather than banning the tools outright, and under the EU AI Act, therapeutic chatbots remain permitted, they simply can't manipulate or replace clinical judgement.
🕑: 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM
SSRI Alternatives: The non-drug pathway
Info: Rather than rendering SSRIs obsolete, neuromodulation devices are positioning themselves as viable first-line alternatives, key adjunctive therapies, or exit ramps for patients who cannot tolerate or do not respond to traditional pharmacotherapy.
This panel will look at the current landscape for clinical-grade and at-home consumer devices, the evidence behind them and how they could help establish a new treatment paradigm for depressive and anxious disorders.
🕑: 11:40 AM - 12:20 PM
Extending the Life of the Mind: Europe's Brain Health Shift
Info: The European Partnership for Brain Health launched in January 2026, a ten year, roughly 500 million euro initiative spanning over 55 institutions across 30 countries, built on the idea that brain health across the whole lifespan, not just old age, is now a societal and economic priority. That shift shows up clinically too. At the EAN Congress this year, Geneva's Memory Clinic director described neurology moving from a reactive model, diagnosing after symptoms appear, to a proactive one built around dedicated Brain Health Services for preventing cognitive decline before it starts.
This panel asks what "extending the life of the mind" actually looks like in practice, from population level prevention strategy to the clinics, diagnostics, and daily protocols built around it, and where the European research agenda and the commercial longevity space can genuinely work together rather than talk past each other.
🕑: 01:30 PM - 02:00 PM
From Fringe to Pharma: The $3.8 Billion Signal in Psychedelics
Info: Eli Lilly's acquisition of AtaiBeckley for up to $3.8 billion, the largest deal in psychedelic medicine to date, is being read across the sector as the moment plant medicine stopped being fringe and started being fundable. This panel unpacks what happens when a company built on Prozac starts betting its neuroscience pipeline on DMT and MDMA derivatives. What does big pharma acquisition actually mean for patient access, pricing, and the culture of a field that grew up outside the traditional pharmaceutical system? And with AbbVie, Otsuka, and others also acquiring psychedelic assets this year, is this consolidation or validation, and can it be both at once?
🕑: 03:20 PM - 04:00 PM
Healthspan Over Hype: Nootropics, Peptides, and the Evidence Challenges
Info: he nootropics market alone has hit nearly $7 billion in 2026. OTC biohacking has expanded from products such as lion's mane and L-theanine into peptide stacks which can be purchased online, rapamycin cycling, and clinic-administered plasma exchange. Due to the nature of the exponential hype around these areas, consumer enthusiasm has raced ahead of clinical evidence in almost every category.
This session brings clinicians into the room to separate what's genuinely promising (measurable healthspan interventions, well-studied adaptogens) from what's expensive noise. A grounded look at functional mushrooms, cognitive stacks, and the new wave of longevity clinics, from people who actually have to answer for the outcomes.
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Time at the Bar: Are Science Backed Alcohol Alternatives the Future?
Info: As generations increasingly look more towards health optimisation as a priority, how does the UK's nightlife industry adapt? The no and low alcohol category has grown into a multi billion pound market in its own right and is reshaping what a night out can looks like.
This panel brings together the science of functional alternatives, the practicalities of running venues and nightlife policy in a post-alcohol landscape, and the emerging ecosystem around it, from post-party recovery supplements to on-site drug testing services designed to keep people safer rather than pretend nothing's happening.
Where is it happening?
GBP 226.13 to GBP 314.33
