LINC Conference 2026 and launch of the WHO Collaborating Centre in Brain Health

The Liverpool Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Centre (LINC) is hosting its 2026 conference at the Victoria Gallery & Museum on Wednesday 25 November, and the day carries a bit of extra weight: they're using it to launch their new WHO Collaborating Centre in Brain Health. That's a big deal in its own right, as it makes Liverpool one of only two such centres in the world, a nod from the WHO to the city's work in neuroscience, brain development, and mental health.

LINC itself is still relatively new, having launched at the University of Liverpool in the summer of 2025. It was founded by Professors Benedict Michael, Tom Solomon, Atif Rahman, and Melissa Gladstone, and it brings together 220 clinical, behavioural, and translational neuroscience researchers. The whole thing is built on a multidisciplinary approach, pulling from three university institutes — Population Health, Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, and Life Course and Medical Sciences — and working alongside regional NHS trusts like The Walton Centre, Alder Hey, and Mersey Care.

That collaboration is where the real-world impact comes in. LINC's researchers have helped shape the Global Scales for Early Development, advanced work on meningitis and encephalitis, and informed evidence-based approaches to maternal and child mental health, which later fed into WHO programmes like the Thinking Healthy Programme. The new WHO Collaborating Centre designation is a recognition of that track record.

The conference runs from 08:45 to 18:00 in the Leggate Lecture Theatre at the Victoria Gallery & Museum on Ashton Street, with a drinks reception following from 18:00 to 19:30. It's a full day of neuroscience, with the WHO launch as the headline.