BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Back to Basics at NIMH

Why NIMH is building its new strategic plan on basic research and genetics

April 9, 2015 7:00 AM UTC

NIH's National Institute of Mental Health is reversing the trend of promoting translational research in publicly funded organizations with a new strategic plan that formalizes the institute's recent shift back to basic research in its focus and funding. The move has been welcomed by others in the field, who think a solid understanding of neurobiology can do more to advance new therapies than pushing programs based on poorly founded theories.

"The truth is that the current state of psychiatric research is early stage and that is where we need to focus our efforts," said Steven Hyman, who was director of NIMH from 1996-2001. "There have been a lot of premature attempts at translation based on older hypotheses that keep recycling, so now is really a time to generate new fundamental hypotheses, generate new tools and create new technologies to facilitate the next generation of translational and clinical research." ...