NIHR HRC-PCH collaborate with NIHR i4i to award
£1.5 million for young people’s mental health technologies
Friday 10 October 2025
NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Paediatrics and Child Health recently collaborated with the NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) team to design and deliver a new funding call to address challenges in children and young people’s mental health.
This new i4i Funding at the Speed of Translation (FAST) opportunity, which launched in March 2025, supports the development of technologies to reduce waiting lists for children and young people in community and hospital settings. This includes those with learning disabilities, or seeking mental healthcare or neurodevelopmental assessment.
Failure to provide accurate and early diagnosis and support can lead to multiple long-term challenges to children and young people’s mental and physical health as they grow older.
Over £1.5 million has been awarded to 17 pioneering health technology projects leveraging a range of innovative approaches, including artificial intelligence, chatbots and virtual reality. The innovations are also based in a range of contexts, including at home, school, online and in clinic, and as such will be addressing each of the three key shifts in the 10 Year Health Plan for England of hospital to community, treatment to prevention, and analogue to digital.
Professor Paul Dimitri, Director of the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Paediatrics and Child Health, said:
“Children and young people with mental health challenges and neurodevelopmental conditions including ADHD and autism deserve timely, personalised care and technology has a vital role to play in making that possible. At the HRC, we’re focused on accelerating innovations that reduce delays, empower families, and support clinicians with smarter tools. The NIHR i4i FAST funding to support these companies in developing vital technologies marks a crucial step toward building a more responsive and equitable system for the children and young people who need it most.”
Find out more about this fantastic initiative and the companies involved through the link below.