By Thomas Insel on November 27, 2012
NIMH’s director talks about the need for research that explores the frontiers of science and funding efforts to encourage innovative research.
Continue reading “Roads Not Taken”…
By Thomas Insel on June 22, 2012
Continue reading “The Pay-Offs of ARRA”…
By Thomas Insel on January 26, 2012
Dr. Insel responds to discussion from the National Advisory Mental Health Council concerning the need to balance research funding for basic science and mental health services.
Continue reading “Balancing Immediate Needs with Future Innovation”…
By Thomas Insel on January 17, 2012
NIMH’s “government bureaucrats” are really dedicated public servants devoted to good patient care, improved treatments, and scientific discovery.
By Thomas Insel on December 14, 2011
Dr. Insel discusses the state of psychiatric research and development (R&D) in the public and private sectors
Continue reading “Treatment Development: The Past 50 Years”…
By Thomas Insel on June 17, 2011
Dr. Insel on investing in research.
By Thomas Insel on April 19, 2011
NIMH research can have a significant impact on public health through innovations and projects that cross the four objectives outlined in NIMH’s Strategic Plan.
Continue reading “NIMH Impact on Public Health”…
By Thomas Insel on March 07, 2011
Dr. Insel discusses the impact of difficult budget times on mental health research.
By Thomas Insel on February 18, 2011
With the charge to become vanguards for the next generation of scientists, NIMH recognized the 12 recipients of the 2010 Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists—or BRAINS.
Continue reading “Big BRAINS Academy: NIMH Awards Program Fosters Creative New Scientists”…
By Thomas Insel on January 26, 2011
Dr. Insel discuss what NIMH is doing to support economic research in light of mental health parity and health care reform.
By Thomas Insel on January 04, 2011
Dr Insel discusses research priorities for 2011.
By Thomas Insel on October 19, 2010
NIH has created several funding mechanisms aimed at supporting innovative, unconventional research.
Continue reading “Investing in Innovation”…
By Thomas Insel on August 30, 2010
Dr. Insel discusses the evolution of clinical research and changing priorities in clinical research funding.
Continue reading “Taking Clinical Research to the Next Level”…
By Thomas Insel on June 15, 2010
Dr. Insel addresses recent misconceptions pertaining to financial conflict of interest.
Continue reading “More on Public Trust and Conflict of Interest”…
By Thomas Insel on June 07, 2010
Dr. Insel discusses progress in the approaches for identifying and preventing financial conflicts of interest.
Continue reading “NIMH — Reducing Conflict of Interest, Ensuring Public Trust”…
By Thomas Insel on May 17, 2010
NIMH recognizes the first seven recipients of its BRAINS awards.
Continue reading “NIMH’s BRAINS Awards—In Support of Creativity”…
By Thomas Insel on March 30, 2010
Today’s treatments for mental illness may be good but they are not good enough. As industry pulls back, NIMH will have to step in and play a bigger role in fostering development of a new generation of evidenced-based medications for people with mental illness.
Continue reading “Who Will Develop the Next Generation of Medications for Mental Illness?”…
By Thomas Insel on March 10, 2010
A picture of the brain’s connections is emerging from an effort to create a reference atlas of the human “connectome.” Much like variation in the human genome, highly individual variation in circuitry occurs within a universal, intrinsic functional architecture.
Continue reading “Tracing the Brain’s Connections”…
By Thomas Insel on March 04, 2010
NIMH is increasing its commitment to global mental health. The Institute is already invested in research around the globe. In 2009, NIMH supported nearly 200 grants in 51 countries. Our portfolio has included AIDS prevention in sub-Sahara Africa, studies of autism in Saudi Arabia, and research on mental health systems in Chile. With such a broad international portfolio, so many unmet needs for mental health research in the United States, and so little new money available for research, why would NIMH want to invest more globally?
Continue reading “Disorders Without Borders”…
By Thomas Insel on February 01, 2010
Can we develop a clinically useful diagnostic system based on neuroscience and genetics? Not yet. But, in the spirit of beginning a long journey, NIMH is taking its first step with the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project.
Continue reading “Re-Thinking Classification of Mental Disorders”…
By Thomas Insel on January 22, 2010
NIMH’s aggressive approach towards identifying and preventing financial conflicts of interest.
Continue reading “Ensuring Public Trust”…
By Thomas Insel on January 08, 2010
This week’s issue of Nature, the first of 2010, includes an editorial entitled “A Decade for Psychiatric DisordersExternal Link: Please review our disclaimer.”. Phil Campbell, the editor of Nature, argues that the understanding and treatment of conditions such as schizophrenia are ripe for a revolution. At NIMH, we agree with this assessment. Indeed, the revolution is already underway with extraordinary recent findings from genomics, imaging, and clinical trials. The banner for this revolution is pathophysiology, understanding the mechanism of disease as a critical step to developing novel, effective, and safe treatments and preventive strategies. As Campbell says, “There is much to be done, and a decade is the timescale over which enhanced commitment is required.”
Continue reading “Looking Forward in 2010”…
By Thomas Insel on December 29, 2009
From the extraordinary funding opportunities presented by the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)External Link: Please review our disclaimer. to significant new investments in research and resource infrastructure — this has been a remarkable year for our Institute. I would like to reflect with you on how the work of 2009 has prepared us for the year ahead.
By Thomas Insel on December 17, 2009
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has made a substantial commitment to research designed to discover autism’s causes and improve diagnosis and treatment. Not only has NIMH become the lead institute for autism research at NIH, we have become the largest single source of funding for autism research in the country.
Continue reading “Autism Progress”…
By Thomas Insel on November 30, 2009
The NIMH Strategic Plan provides a framework to focus and accelerate mental health research so that breakthroughs in science become breakthroughs that can tangibly improve mental healthcare and the lives of people living with and affected by mental illness. For the Institute to pursue most effectively its mission of transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses, we must be able to adapt to and fully explore the constantly changing scientific landscape that comes with the increased pace of research progress.
Continue reading “Focusing Our Funding Opportunity Announcements”…
By Thomas Insel on September 01, 2009
Last February’s announcement that funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)External Link: Please review our disclaimer. will be used to support job creation and retention in biomedical research presented an exciting opportunity for NIMH. These supplemental funds arrived just as the Institute was launching the implementation of its new Strategic Plan. For some months now, the Institute has been diligently working to implement a series of ARRA funding initiatives that will aggressively pursue the Plan’s objectives.
Continue reading “NIMH and the Recovery Act”…
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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This page last reviewed: January 27, 2011.
