ACA Lauds NIMH for Behavioral Mental Health Research Initiatives

As a National Institute of Mental Health partner, ACA participated in the annual NIMH Professional Coalition for Research meeting in Washington DC on April 23rd. Dr. Thomas Insel, NIMH Director, led the meeting which focused on research advances in mental health, current and future NIMH initiatives, and soliciting feedback from the invited organizations.

ACA has been critical of NIMH in the past for having a singular focus on biological aspects of mental disorders and so was pleased that there was a new emphasis on behavioral mental health research. NIMH announced two new behavioral and social science initiatives. The first, Oppnet, will expand and coordinate funding for behavioral science research across all National Institute for Health institutes, centers and offices. Oppnet will also provide a mentoring program for researchers grounded in biologically focused research to become oriented to behavioral research. The second behavioral initiative, Science of Behavior Change, is focused on funding research that delineates behavioral mechanisms which promote positive change and maintenance of those changes. For more information on the new NIMH Oppnet and Science of Behavior Change initiatives visit http://oppnet.nih.gov