This Wednesday the 5th of July is the inaugural 'Research Appreciation Day', a social media initiative to celebrate and recognise the ground-breaking work of health researchers.

The focus of this appreciation day is to give research the credit it’s due, and to shed light on the hard-working individuals who are making a difference to all our lives.

All progress made in treating illnesses, big or small, comes through research. It is only though the tireless research of scientists, health professionals and volunteers that we are able to improve the treatments available for different physical and mental health conditions. Despite this vital service, research is often forgotten about when it comes to funding and policy decisions or discussions about health care.

The challenges that many researchers face are similar no matter their discipline. Access to funding, mentorship and positions within institutions are sparce and fiercely competitive.

Accessing data is also a challenge. It’s difficult for researchers, funders, people with lived experience, and others with an interest in mental health science to keep track of the ever-expanding literature.

This is why GALENOS is working to improve access to the latest scientific literature relating to anxiety, depression and psychosis in a new state-of-the-art online resource.

This will make it easier for researchers, and the wider mental health community, to better prioritize the research questions that are in most urgent need of answers. In turn, this will accelerate discovery science to provide solutions for the 1 in 4 of us who are impacted by mental illness.

Without research it’s just guesswork.

Collaborative working between academics, researchers, mental health professionals and experts by experience is vital if we are to make meaningful progress in understanding, treating and preventing serious mental illnesses.

This is why it’s important we recognise the hard work of the individuals and groups who are working together on research, including projects like GALENOS.

Founded by MQ Mental Health Research, #ResearchAppreciationDay aims to celebrate the work of all physical and mental health researchers who are working to better understand, treat and ultimately one day prevent serious illnesses.

“Research Appreciation Day is about acknowledging the dedication and resilience of researchers who’ve helped us better understand and treat health conditions. Their efforts often remain behind the scenes, and we’re delighted to bring them into the spotlight. Imagine the progress we could make in preventing conditions like eating disorders, depression, or heart disease, if they received the same level of focused support as was made for the COVID-19 vaccines.” Imagine the progress we could make in preventing conditions like eating disorders, depression, or heart disease, if they received the same level of focused support as was made for the COVID-19 vaccines.” — Lea Milligan, CEO of MQ Mental Health Research and GALENOS executive

To stay up to date about the work of GALENOS please follow us on Twitter and Facebook.