Description

This opportunity, issued by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at NIH, funds research to develop and validate innovative screening assays for the discovery of validated chemical hits relevant to brain and psychiatric disorders. The goal is to identify and prioritize small molecules that can serve as starting points for future drug discovery and development for mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, panic disorder, and autism spectrum disorders.

The program covers three main stages:

• Assay Development: Design and validation of novel biological, biophysical, or cell-based assays for new targets or disease processes.
• Primary Screen Implementation: Execution of high- or moderate-throughput screens to identify initial hits, including virtual screening approaches.
• Hit Validation: Use of orthogonal and follow-up assays, cheminformatics, and medicinal chemistry to confirm and prioritize hits.

Projects must emphasize rigor, reproducibility, and relevance to psychiatric disease biology. Applications proposing clinical trials are not allowed.