NEWS

Call for People with Lived Experience of Depression

Fri, 08 May 2026 09:59:18 GMT

We’re inviting applications from individuals with lived experience of depression to join the EU-PEARLDIVER's Lived Experience (LE) Board. EU-PEARLDIVER is a multinational European platform trial working to improve treatments for depression. Lived Experience has been embedded deep into the design as well as the execution of the Trial; LE Board members will actively shape decisions, influence the direction of the trial, and ensure it stays grounded in real experiences.

We welcome people from all backgrounds – whether your experience is personal, as a carer, or both. We are trying to bring together a group that reflects a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds, including people who may not usually see themselves represented in research spaces. The trial will initially be launched in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Italy, and the UK. Right now, the LE Board application process is focused but not limited to these countries.

• The Board meets four times a year.

• Members are compensated for their time.

• The LE Board will be led by lived experience experts.

• The working language of the LE Board is English.

Completed forms must be submitted by email. Instructions are included in the form.

Applications are open until May 31.

Please feel free to share the call with your network!

Public Consultation

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 09:47:39 GMT

The consortium is inviting commentaries on EU-PEARLDIVER’s master protocol , outcome measures , and authorship & publication policy .

We are announcing our first public consultation on EU-PEARLDIVER’s master protocol, its planned outcome measures, and our authorship & publication policy. Between September 10, 2025 and December 12, 2025, we welcome your input on the trial's draft documents. The documents can be found under resources and are also linked in the header above.

If you would like to send us your thoughts, please complete the provided commentary template . After the end of the public consultation period, we will publish a list of all the comments received along with the consortium’s decision and reasoning. All individuals providing responses will be acknowledged on our website. In addition, our signature red beanies will be given away in a raffle among the respondents to our consultation.

We are also considering additional suggestions for treatments to be evaluated in this trial, including candidates for the first two oral drugs, using our drug suggestion template . Funding for running these two drugs is already provided by Wellcome and a decision will be made by December 31, 2025. A current list of candidate drugs under consideration can be found here .

Pre-Launch Meeting

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:11:31 GMT

The consortium held a pre-launch meeting at Lake Wannsee

On April 28-29, 2025, partner clinics from across Europe gathered at the Blumenfisch guesthouse on Lake Wannsee in Berlin for the first coordination meeting of the EU-PEARLDIVER Platform Trial. Representatives from Aarhus, Barcelona, Berlin, Cologne, Helsinki, London, Milan, Rotterdam, and Vienna came together to set the course for this multinational European trial.

The EU-PEARLDIVER project is dedicated to the urgently needed improvement of therapeutic options for treatment-resistant depression. The study, funded by Wellcome, brings together the scientific and clinical expertise of leading European university hospitals to advance new therapies to patients more quickly and efficiently. Using a platform trial design, this project will allow a variety of treatment options to be tested simultaneously for efficacy and safety, thereby enabling clinically relevant findings to be obtained more quickly.

Perspective on platform trials published

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 11:11:31 GMT

A review initiated by our consortium summarizes platform trial experiences in mental health from Europe, Australia, Japan, and the US to highlight their potential, as well as challenges and barriers for their implementation in psychiatry

Our consortium led an international group of clinicians, experts by experience, and methodologists to summarize the potential for platform trials to transform the evidence landscape in mental health. The paper also reviews currently planned and ongoing platform trials in psychosis, post traumatic stress disorder, and depression, including a feature of EU-PEARLDIVER. The paper was published in Nature Mental Health on March 14, 2025.
Free to read link: https://rdcu.be/ecSMq