International Congress of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Thanks to support from EMH, I had the opportunity to attend the 21st International Congress of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ESCAP). The conference took place in Strasbourg from 29th June – 1st July and brought together clinicians, academics and child and adolescent psychiatrists from over 70 countries. While a large portion of the program was geared towards clinicians, the variety of posters and parallel sessions across the 3 days meant that there was no shortage of learning opportunities.

The highlight of the conference, for me, was the time spent in discussion with other attendees – particularly those working in fields outside my current expertise. I shared ideas for future projects that I had thought would never come to fruition, only to be met with shared enthusiasm, encouragement and a much larger network of potential collaborators. I also received valuable practical advice from more senior academics on grant-writing, turning ideas into research proposals and lessons learned from past successes and failures – demystifying a side of academic research I have always found intimidating.

Another highlight from ESCAP was sharing findings from my most recent project, which examined the impact of food insecurity in early life on subsequent mental health trajectories. While the findings were bleak, sharing this work during my poster session was immensely rewarding. My poster prompted much discussion and positive feedback acknowledging the importance of this work. I found it especially enriching to speak to clinicians – who I rarely cross paths with in my day-to-day work – from across Europe and the US, who described the impacts of food insecurity and economic hardship on the young people and families they work with. This added context will help when preparing to publish this work, as highlighting the potential clinical relevance may strengthen the impact of the final paper.

Overall, I found my time at ESCAP 2025 to be inspiring and enriching for my academic career and identity as a researcher. I have expanded my network of future colleagues and collaborators, gained new perspectives on my own work and returned home with a long list of resources and interesting methods to learn more about. Attending this conference has helped build my confidence and has served as a reminder of how exciting and meaningful academic research can be; I am grateful for the support from EMH that made this experience possible.