Horizon SMILE

24/02/2026

🎙️ Today we organised the 6th session of the Mental Health Dialogues series:

“How do we make interdisciplinarity work in mental health research?”

Together with seven EU-funded projects, we explored what interdisciplinarity really looks like in the day-to-day collaborations, beyond proposals and theory.

A special thanks to Alexandru Padurean ( ) for opening and moderating the session, and to Barbara Regeer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for the keynote on the science of interdisciplinarity.

💬 Our panelists shared insights from their projects:

• Advance Mental Health: Wietse Anton Tol (Københavns Universitet - University of Copenhagen)
• : Dominic Heutelbeck ( ) & Gwendolyn Mayer (Heidelberg University Hospital)
• : Annet Kleiboer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
• Net&Me Bootstrap: Hernâni Zao (Universidade de Évora)
• : Kate Woodcock (University of Birmingham) & Adam Barnard ( )
• : Rodrigo Lima & Anne Marie Kuchler (Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona)
• : Arlinda Cerga Pashoja (St Mary's University, London)

💡 Key takeaways:

• Interdisciplinarity requires intentional structures, time, and trust.
• Real collaboration begins where comfort zones end.
• Spaces for dialogue, reflection, and learning are essential.
• EU projects can be laboratories for new ways of working together.

This discussion is just the beginning. Insights may feed a joint publication and help shape future Horizon Europe collaborations.

🙏 Thank you to everyone who joined and contributed!

( ), European Commission

24/02/2026

Online hate speech is harmful and dangerous — and can lead to cruelty and violence in real life.

Each of us can raise awareness and help support people targeted by hate speech, both online and in our communities.

Ideas of how you can say “No To Hate”: https://www.un.org/en/hate-speech

20/02/2026

19/02/2026

Our coordinator, Prof. Dr. Dominic Heutelbeck, and Dr. Gwendolyn Mayer are representing SMILE in this round of Mental Health Dialogues! 🌟

Prof. Dr. Heutelbeck is a Professor of Computer Science and Managing Director of the Research Institute for Telecommunications and Cooperation (FTK). He coordinates the European research project SMILE and focuses on IT security, distributed systems, and event-driven architectures, with particular emphasis on attribute-based access control and secure data sharing. He has led numerous national and European research projects and works as a consultant and trainer in software architecture, Domain-Driven Design, and secure system design.

Dr. Gwendolyn Mayer is a Research Associate at Heidelberg University Hospital, Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics. Her work focuses on digital mental health interventions for depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, as well as neurofeedback and psychosomatic research. She brings expertise in digital mental health, communication skills, and the social dimensions of patient care.

Together, they will share insights from coordinating and implementing interdisciplinary digital mental health research across Europe, bridging secure technological infrastructures with psychosomatic and clinical perspectives.

🗓️ 24 Feb 2026 | 🕒 11:00–12:30 CET | 💻 Online (Zoom)
👉 Register: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7lYBZ7lCRLWJlBNjBogPGg

Advance Mental Health Net&Me Bootstrap ( ), European Commission

17/02/2026

Dr. Rodrigo A. Lima and Dr. Ann-Marie Küchler are representing IMPROVA in this round of Mental Health Dialogues! 🌐

Dr. Lima is a researcher at Fundació Sant Joan de Déu (Spain) and a member of CIBERSAM. He holds a PhD in Health Sciences, and his work focuses on promoting mental health and preventing mental disorders in children and adolescents through scalable, school-based eHealth interventions. He is the Principal Investigator of ePro-Schools and the Scientific Coordinator of IMPROVA, both EU-funded projects. He also serves as Spain’s representative in the School Mental Health International Leadership Exchange (SMHILE).

Dr. Küchler is a psychologist and researcher specialising in digital mental health and health behaviour interventions for adolescents and young adults. Her work focuses on the co-creation, evaluation, and implementation of eHealth programs in interdisciplinary teams across psychology, public health, social sciences, education, and technology. Through international projects such as StudiCare (WHO International College Student Initiative) and the EU Horizon IMPROVA project, she integrates clinical training with implementation-focused research to translate evidence into scalable mental health solutions.

Dr. Lima will share insights from coordinating interdisciplinary research with children and adolescents, while Dr. Küchler will co-lead the collective sense-making at the end of the panel discussion.

🗓️ 24 Feb 2026 | 🕒 11:00–12:30 CET | 💻 Online (Zoom)
👉 Register: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7lYBZ7lCRLWJlBNjBogPGg

Advance Mental Health Net&Me Bootstrap Horizon SMILE MILE Health and Digital Executive Agency ( ), European Commission

17/02/2026

Dr. Hernâni Oliveira is representing BootStRaP in this round of Mental Health Dialogues! 🔬

Dr. Oliveira holds a degree in Biology and a degree in Communication Sciences, as well as two master’s degrees in Molecular Oncology and Health Education.

He earned his PhD through the UT Austin | Portugal Doctoral Programme. He is the founder of the start-up BRIGHT, a project aimed at using gamification and participatory processes in vulnerable healthcare contexts. He is currently a researcher and guest professor at the University of Évora.

Dr. Oliveira will highlight challenges and solutions in interdisciplinary collaboration from the BootStRaP project.

🗓️ 24 Feb 2026 | 🕒 11:00–12:30 CET | 💻 Online (Zoom)
👉 Register: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7lYBZ7lCRLWJlBNjBogPGg

Advance Mental Health Net&Me Bootstrap Horizon SMILE Health and Digital Executive Agency ( ), European Commission

16/02/2026

Our co-coordinators, Dr. Kate Woodcock and Adam Barnard, are representing ASP-Belong in this round of Mental Health Dialogues!🎓

Dr. Kate Woodcock is a professor of Applied Clinical Psychology at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Before returning to Birmingham, she worked as a lecturer in Atypical Development at Queen’s University Belfast between 2014 and 2017.

Dr. Woodcock held a Marie Curie Outgoing Fellowship between 2011 and 2014, with the first two years of this working with a social neuroscience team at Peking University in China. She completed her PhD and first postdoctoral position (2005-2011) at the Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Birmingham.

Adam Barnard is a theatre director, playwright and experience designer. His plays, including Buckets and Too Small To Be A Planet, have been performed internationally in multiple languages.

He previously ran Company of Angels, a British theatre company dedicated to innovative collaboration with young people and pan-European translation projects. He was a founding Co-Investigator of the research group D.O.T., where he developed the initial LINA concept.

Dr. Kate Woodcock will participate in the panel discussion on interdisciplinary collaboration in EU projects, while Adam Barnard will co-lead the collective sense-making session at the end of the panel discussion.

🗓️ 24 Feb 2026 | 🕒 11:00–12:30 CET | 💻 Online (Zoom)
👉 Register: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7lYBZ7lCRLWJlBNjBogPGg

Advance Mental Health Net&Me Bootstrap Horizon SMILE Health and Digital Executive Agency ( ), European Commission

16/02/2026

Our coordinator, Prof. Dr. Wietse Anton Tol, is representing ADVANCE for this round of Mental Health Dialogues! 👥

Dr. Wietse Tol is a Professor of Global Mental Health at the Section of Global Health, Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen; Endowed Professor of Global Mental Health and Structural Injustice at the Athena Institute, VU University Amsterdam; Adjunct Professor at the Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Senior Advisor with HealthRight International.

He holds an MA in Clinical and Health Psychology (Leiden University), a Ph. D. in Public Mental Health (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.

Dr. Tol’s research and practice focus on mental health and psychosocial support interventions for populations affected by adversity in low- and middle-income countries. In particular, his work centres on (integrated) interventions that address mental health and the social determinants of mental health, and he is very interested in understanding how research can lead to improved practice (and vice versa).

He regularly consults with UN agencies and (international) non-governmental organisations in the areas of mental health and psychosocial support needs assessment, intervention selection and development, monitoring, and evaluation.

Dr. Tol will discuss practical lessons for interdisciplinary collaboration in mental health research.

🗓️ 24 Feb 2026 | 🕒 11:00-12:30 CET | 💻 Online (Zoom)
👉 Register: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7lYBZ7lCRLWJlBNjBogPGg

Advance Mental Health project Net&Me Bootstrap Horizon SMILE Digital Executive Agency ( ), European Commission

16/02/2026

Dr. Arlinda Cerga Pashoja is representing MENTBEST in this round of Mental Health Dialogues! 🌍

Dr. Pashoja is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, UK, and Principal Investigator in the MENTBEST and Reconnected projects. She has more than two decades of experience as a clinician in the NHS, as well as a researcher and lecturer in mental health.

Over the last 10 years, her research has focused on the establishment, evaluation, and implementation of digital interventions for common mental health disorders. Within MENTBEST, Dr. Pashoja and the Albanian team are leading a work package on participatory approaches and co-creation.

Dr. Pashoja will bring insights from her diverse experiences and how they have shaped interdisciplinary research in mental health.

🗓️ 24 Feb 2026 | 🕒 11:00–12:30 CET | 💻 Online (Zoom)
👉 Register: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7lYBZ7lCRLWJlBNjBogPGg

Advance Mental Health Net&Me Bootstrap Horizon SMILE Health and Digital Executive Agency ( ), European Commission

16/02/2026

Our coordinator, Dr. Annet Kleiboer, is representing RECONNECTED in this round of Mental Health Dialogues! 💡

Dr. Kleiboer is an Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology in the Department of Clinical, Neuro, and Developmental Psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her research and teaching focus on digital mental health interventions for stress-related disorders such as depression and anxiety.

She has a strong interest in the development of digital mental health interventions, their working mechanisms, and the use of novel, rigorous methods to test their effectiveness.

Dr. Kleiboer has been involved in several national and international projects, including SPRINT, E-COMPARED, ICARE, and eMEN, and is currently the Principal Investigator of the RECONNECTED project, funded by Horizon Europe and running from 2023 to 2027.

She has supervised 14 PhD students (7 ongoing) and has published over 90 peer-reviewed papers.

She is also an Associate Editor of the journals Internet Interventions and Frontiers in Psychiatry: Digital Mental Health, and serves as Programme Director of the Master’s in Psychology.

Dr. Kleiboer will share practical strategies for interdisciplinary collaboration in EU digital mental health interventions.

🗓️ 24 Feb 2026 | 🕒 11:00–12:30 CET | 💻 Online (Zoom)
👉 Register: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7lYBZ7lCRLWJlBNjBogPGg

Advance Mental Health Net&Me Bootstrap SMILE Health and Digital Executive Agency ( ), European Commission

13/02/2026

Our coordinator, Prof. Dr. Dominic Heutelbeck , is representing SMILE in this round of Mental Health Dialogues! 🌟

Prof. Dr. Heutelbeck is a Professor of Computer Science and Managing Director of the Research Institute for Telecommunications and Cooperation (FTK). He coordinates the European research project SMILE and focuses on IT security, distributed systems, and event-driven architectures, with particular emphasis on attribute-based access control and secure data sharing. He has led numerous national and European research projects and works as a consultant and trainer in software architecture, Domain-Driven Design, and secure system design.

Prof. Dr. Heutelbeck will share experiences from coordinating interdisciplinary mental health research across Europe.

🗓️ 24 Feb 2026 | 🕒 11:00–12:30 CET | 💻 Online (Zoom)
👉 Register: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7lYBZ7lCRLWJlBNjBogPGg

Advance Mental Health Net&Me Bootstrap ( ), European Commission