Skip to main content

Transforming the understanding
and treatment of mental illnesses.

Celebrating 75 Years! Learn More >>

Science News

Kristina Saffran sitting on a chair smiling.
Life Beyond Anorexia Nervosa

75th Anniversary

An in-depth look at Kristina Saffran's journey with Anorexia Nervosa.

National Essay Contest for High School Students Ages 16-18. Speaking Up About Mental Health. Cash prizes! Entries due January 16, 2024. A high school student in a wheelchair using her laptop. Three teens collaborating on a writing project.
High School Students Invited to Reflect on Mental Health Stigma in National Essay Contest

The National Institutes of Health is inviting high school students ages 16-18 to participate in an essay contest on the topic of mental health stigma.

An organization chart featuring brightly colored icons of people standing in squares.
NIMH Creates Division of Data Science and Technology

On October 23, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) announced the creation of a new Division of Data Science and Technology (DST).

Photo of a pair of woman’s hands holding another woman’s hand on a table.
Saving Lives Through the Science of Suicide Prevention

75th Anniversary

Evidence-based efforts to improve suicide risk screening, assessment, and intervention are helping to save lives, thanks to research supported by NIMH.

Diverse group of doctors and nurses looking together at a tablet in a doctor's hand.
Emergency Department Intervention Reduces Adult Suicide Risk

Evidence-based practices for suicide prevention effectively reduced suicidal behaviors among adults seen for care in emergency departments.

Scrabble pieces spelling out "Ketamine."
Cracking the Ketamine Code

75th Anniversary

NIMH supported science and NIMH researchers helped pave the way for the development of ketamine—a groundbreaking treatment that has improved the lives of those who are impacted by treatment-resistant depression.

Woman holding a burning cigarette.
Helping People With Serious Mental Illness Quit Smoking

In a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and published in JAMA Psychiatry, Gail Daumit, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University, A. Eden Evins, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues developed a tobacco smoking cessation intervention for people with serious mental illness.

Illustration of abstract brain on blue background.
Scientists Unveil Detailed Cell Maps of the Human Brain and the Nonhuman Primate Brain

A group of international scientists have mapped the genetic, cellular, and structural makeup of the human brain and the nonhuman primate brain, allowing for a deeper knowledge of the cellular basis of brain function and dysfunction, helping pave the way for a new generation of precision therapeutics for people with mental disorders and other disorders of the brain.

NIH Common Fund Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) program
NIH Launches Community-Led Research Program to Advance Health Equity

NIH is funding a first-of-its-kind community-led research program to study ways to address the underlying structural factors within communities that affect health, such as access to safe spaces, healthy food, employment opportunities, transportation, and quality health care.

Worried pregnant woman sitting at home with protective face mask, looking through the window and holding stomach.
Combined, High Maternal Stress and Prenatal COVID-19 Infection May Affect Attention Span in Infants

Prenatal COVID-19 infection increased the risk for impaired attention and delayed socioemotional and cognitive functioning among infants of mothers who experienced high psychosocial stress during their pregnancy.