Acknowledgments from the Conference “OPEN and ProNET: Preliminary Data on Assessing Psychosis Risk in Adolescents and Young Adults”

Thank you to all participants for their interest and valuable discussion during the presentation of the OPEN and ProNET projects at the Mondino Foundation.
For several years, our research group has been engaged in studying the early stages of psychiatric disorders in adolescents and young adults, with the ultimate goal of developing targeted and effective prevention strategies.

The OPEN project aims to identify individuals with at risk mental states for psychotic and bipolar disorders. To date, nearly 300 people have completed the questionnaire, and 46 of them were contacted to participate in an in-depth evaluation. OPEN has allowed us to identify 14 young people with at risk mental states, who were appropriately referred to mental health services.

The ProNET project follows adolescents and young adults with at risk mental states longitudinally, to understand how their symptoms and difficulties evolve over time. The project has successfully recruited 44 participants at risk for psychosis and 15 participants in the control group. Their collaboration has been, and continues to be, invaluable for advancing research.

For both OPEN and ProNET, we considered it crucial to establish a network with local mental health services. This was important not only for recruitment, but especially to guide participants to the structures that could best support their self-care and mediate between them and mental health professionals when necessary.

Our commitment to mental health prevention and to building bridges between scientific research and clinical practice therefore continues.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the speakers and moderators of the conference:

Prof. Renato Borgatti
Prof. Pierluigi Politi
Prof. Paolo Fusar-Poli
Dr. Stefano Damiani
Dr. Umberto Provenzani
Dr. Martina Mensi
Prof. Anna Pichiecchio
Dr. Carlo Asteggiano

Dr. Marika Orlandi
Prof. Laura Fusar-Poli
Dr. Valentina Floris
Dr. Serena Gagliardi
Dr. Riccardo Stefanelli
Dr. Margherita Rovida
Dr. Alberto Stefana
Mr. Alessandro Tringali

A heartfelt thanks to all the people who have contributed — and continue to contribute — to the OPEN and ProNET projects.

OPEN and ProNET Team of Prof. Paolo Fusar-Poli, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences