On November 20-22, 2023, the R2D2-MH project partners, cocreation group members and members of the scientific advisory board gathered at the Pasteur Institute (Paris, France) for the annual general assembly meeting.

In a nutshell:

• 3 days
• More than 80 participants
• 17 cocreationg group members, including members of the adolescent group
• 15 early career researchers
• 12 country represented

On the first day, separate work-package meetings allowed participants to discuss specific topics and meet in person, often for the first time. In the afternoon, attendees gathered in the historic Duclaux lecture hall for the official kick-off by our coordinator Prof. Thomas Bourgeron, followed by a keynote lecture by one of the scientific advisors, Katri Räikkönen from the University of Helsinki, about the influence of prenatal development, preterm birth or low birth weight on health and mental health outcomes throughout life. The day continued with the first work-package update presentations.

On day 2, attendees could listen to the keynote lecture of Prof. Andrew Pickles from the Scientific Advisory Board entitled “Harmony and Discord: working with multiple measures and fools’ gold standards” and further updates on the progresses made in workpackages, which continued on day 3.

Throughout the meeting, participants could work on the 2 concepts associated with R2D2-MH: cocreation and resilience.

• In a dedicated session, cocreation group members had the opportunity to share their vision of participative research
• The members of the adolescent cocreation group presented the video they have developed about the R2D2-MH glossary (more to come shortly!)
• All participants worked in smaller groups on the concept of Resilience: What is resilience in the context of neurodiversity? How is it understood from a genetics, neurobiology or social point of view?

Participants left the meeting filled with new ideas for the upcoming months. Thanks to all who attended in person or remotely, see you next year!