Drug Discovery and Clinical Therapeutics Program

This program supports research aimed at designing and developing novel research tools for neuroimaging novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of mental disorders. Supported research includes studies of structural chemistry of molecular targets, identification of pharmacological research tool, and preclinical drug discovery. The program supports the National Cooperative Drug Discovery and Development Groups for the Treatment of Mental Disorders (NCDDDG). The NCDDDG encourages public-private partnerships to accelerate the discovery of pharmacological agents targeting novel molecular targets implicated in the pathophysiology of mental disorders to increase the availability of pharmacologic research tools for basic and clinical research; to facilitate the development and validation of models to evaluate novel therapeutics in mood disorders; to support early phase human clinical testing to rapidly assess the safety and efficacy of promising drug candidates; and, to facilitate the development and validation of new clinical measures or biomarkers suitable for use in human proof of concept trials of novel therapeutics. Areas of interest include:

• Developing and testing PET/SPECT imaging ligands for targets implicated in mental disorders in proof of concept studies as potential biomarkers for drug discovery and for pathophysiological studies of mental disorders.
• Identifying the genetic and molecular mechanisms that contribute to individual differences in drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacologic response in normal humans.
• Establishing proof of concept studies to assess safety and tolerability of novel mechanism of action drugs in normal human subjects, especially drugs in the early stages of development for the treatment of mental disorders.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposals with the institute contact listed below prior to the submission of their applications to ascertain that their proposed work is aligned with NIMH funding priorities.

Contact

Linda S. Brady, Ph.D.
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7204/MSC 9645
301-443-3563, lbrady@mail.nih.gov