HOLLYWOOD, FLA. – In the United States, rates of mental illness continue to increase while rates of cure do not. That’s according to a recent report on the global disease burden published in JAMA (2013;310:591-608).
For that reason, leaders in the mental health field such as Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, and who is both a psychiatrist and a neuroscientist, are supporting President Barack Obama’s BRAIN Initiative. The 12-year vision with a projected $4.5 billion price tag that goal has among its aims. The hope is that the initiative will help determine biomarkers aimed at finding effective cures for a variety of mental illnesses.
Dr. Thomas Insel
After Dr. Insel spoke at the plenary session of this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, formerly known as the New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit meeting, he sat for an interview with this news organization.
This is part II of that interview. In this segment, Dr. Insel discusses how the BRAIN Initiative could change practice for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. Dr. Insel also describes how he thinks the collaboration of many scientists will aid in the quest to understand the biology of the brain. In addition, he describes how funding in this new era will be determined for those interested in applying for research grants.
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