Drug Discovery and Clinical Therapeutics Program

This program supports the National Cooperative Drug Discovery/Development Groups for the Treatment of Mental Disorders (NCDDG). The NCDDG encourages public-private partnerships to accelerate the discovery of pharmacological agents targeting novel molecular processes implicated in the pathophysiology of mental illnesses; to facilitate the development and validation of predictive assays for developing novel therapeutics for mental illnesses; 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.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to align projects according to the NIMH Strategic Plan (see Funding Strategy), along with NIMH guidance on the use of model organisms for mental health-relevant research (NOT-MH-19-053 ), biological investigations of genes associated with disease risk (NOT-MH-18-035 ), and enhancing the reliability of NIMH-supported research through rigorous study design and reporting (NOT-MH-14-004 ).

In addition, the NIH/NIMH Therapeutics Discovery Research webpage links to additional relevant announcements and guidance.

Potential applicants are encouraged to carefully review the NCDDG funding opportunity announcements for the U01 (PAR-20-118 ) and U19 (PAR-20-119 ) and to contact the Institute contact listed below prior to the submission of their application to ascertain that their proposed work is aligned with NIMH funding priorities.

Contact

Linda S. Brady, Ph.D.
6001 Executive Boulevard
301-443-3563, lbrady@mail.nih.gov