NAMInet The NAMInet is a tremendous resource exclusively for our grassroots leadership. The research community and some patient-advocacy groups have responded that serious problems are quite rare and that the proposed restrictions would impede needed clinical research. We believe that research involving people with mental disorders is essential if we are to better understand the underlying causes of these illnesses, and we are committed to ensuring the protection of people who participate in studies our institute funds and conducts.
Mental illnesses are destructive, disabling, and all too often, lethal.
It is simply unacceptable to lock patients with whom we collaborate and their families into the status quo. Given this challenge, an urgent goal for NIMH is to establish additional safeguards to protect participants in clinical research funded and conducted by the institute. We are striving to develop procedures that will serve as a model for all medical research that uses human volunteers. The NIMH has been proactive in this arena. Over the past 14 months, the institute has sponsored two workshops to address issues involving research with vulnerable populations, and we are planning a third.