Establishing a national Healthy Minds Think Tank (HMTT)
For the last few decades, we have been trying to solve many of the brain diseases that have devastated humanity, diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. But much of the effort has been at the point of disease.
We have focused on treating diseases once an individual develops the disease. Though this approach is important and must continue, we must also start focusing on prevention and a completely different approach to disease.
The new approach would involve the communities that are affected by these diseases, and use the knowledge of the community to understand the means of addressing the factors that may contribute to the said diseases.
This approach not only provides us information about the nature and contributors to the given diseases, but also translational models of the intervention that are most likely to work in the different communities.
In order to succeed in this massive new direction we need to establish the most knowledgable, experience, diverse, and forward looking think tank ever established in any health sector.
With the guidance of this powerful group we hope to influence policy, and outcomes when it comes to the future of mind/brain health.