Posts by Former NIMH Director Thomas Insel about RDoC

NIMH’s RDoC initiative is in keeping with current interest in precision medicine. In his latest blogpost, Dr. Insel invites the research community to engage in discussion on the RDoC online forum.

In his latest blog, Dr. Insel discusses precision medicine, which is the new hot topic in research and what it means for mental health.

NIMH is committed to new and better treatments, but this will only happen by developing a more precise diagnostic system. Going forward, we will be supporting research projects that look across current categories – or sub-divide current categories – to begin to develop a better system. RDoC is nothing less than a plan to transform clinical practice by bringing a new generation of research to inform how we diagnose and treat mental disorders.

The RDoC project is an experimental approach to classification of mental disorders that will serve as a framework for ongoing research.

Dr. Insel describes how precision medicine may put us on the path to better diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

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.