2024 Program

The Child Mind Institute held its 14^th annual On the Shoulders of Giants Scientific Symposium on October 30, 2024. This year’s event explored the evolving landscape of anxiety care and the promise of next-generation treatments to improve outcomes for children and adolescents worldwide.

The 2024 symposium honored the pioneering work of Rachel Klein, PhD, a renowned researcher in the fields of anxiety and ADHD, and winner of the 2024 Sarah Gund Prize for Research and Mentorship in Child Mental Health. In her keynote speech, Dr. Klein discussed the impact of her decades-long research on our understanding and description of anxiety disorders, emphasizing the significance of early diagnosis and intervention. She explained, “we now know that [early anxiety disorders] predict later pathology,” notably adult anxiety and depression. And by intervening early, we can mitigate long-term mental health challenges.

Following her presentation, Dr. Klein’s protégé Daniel Pine, PhD, chief of the Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience (SDAN) at the National Institute of Mental Health, reinforced the importance of early diagnosis. He highlighted how identifying behavioral inhibition in early childhood has served as a predictor of anxiety and related mental health disorders. Building on this, Chad Sylvester, MD, PhD, a protégé of Dr. Pine and associate professor of psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine, presented his research on unique brain development patterns in children. His work has been used to not only predict anxiety in children but also inform novel treatments such as brain games.

After a short break, Caroline Hyde, host of Bloomberg Television’s flagship daily technology show, led a roundtable discussion examining the future of anxiety care — including cutting-edge treatments like virtual reality (VR), brain stimulation, and psychedelics — and its implications for patients. Along with our three presenters, Caroline was joined by Barbara O. Rothbaum, PhD, associate vice chair of clinical research at Emory School of Medicine, and Shan Siddiqi, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and neuropsychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Caroline opened the panel with this question: Has the number of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders increased or are we just better at diagnosing it?

The panelists pointed out that anxiety disorders are the most common disorder among children. They agreed that there appears to have been an increase in cases over the last five years. Whether that’s a result of changes in the world, upbringing, or improvements in diagnosis is unclear. “It’s rarely the case that it’s one big thing,” Dr. Pine said. “It’s usually a complex mix of things working together.”

Shifting to the topic of treatments, Caroline asked about the use of technology to treat anxiety and ADHD. “There are a lot of apps on our phones that can be really therapeutic and helpful,” Dr. Rothbaum shared. She spoke about her use of virtual reality to treat anxiety for people with a fear of flying. “It works just as well, and we don’t have to actually fly with patients. We can take off and land as many times as we want all without leaving my office.”

The conversation continued to more novel treatments like brain stimulation and psychedelic-assisted therapies that have been shown to help individuals not responding to conventional approaches. The panelists concluded that while these treatments are showing promise, it’s important to start with traditional, evidence-based treatments, and that the biggest contributor to a failed response to therapy is improperly administered treatments.

The discussion ended with optimism as panelists shared messages of hope. Treatments work, they agreed. If the first treatment doesn’t work, there are alternatives. Most children with anxiety disorders get better and go on to live very fulfilling lives.

This conversation, our annual On the Shoulders of Giants event, and the tireless work of our Science program underscore the Child Mind Institute’s commitment to advancing research to deepen our understanding of the developing brain, mental health conditions, and the impact on treatments available to patients. As our Chief Science Officer Michael Milham, MD, PhD, concluded, “Anxiety disorders are common, treatable, and brain-based . . . and the opportunities for neuroscience to go from the lab to everyday realities are coming.”

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