National Institute of Mental Health

What National Institute of Mental Health does

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), founded in 1949 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is the lead U.S. federal agency for research on mental disorders and one of 27 institutes/centers within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Department of Health and Human Services. NIMH operates a Division of Intramural Research Programs with more than 40 Principal Investigator-led research groups on the NIH campus conducting basic neuroscience, clinical, and translational research on mental illnesses, brain function, and behavior. Externally, NIMH funds research at universities, medical schools, and healthcare systems through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements, and it produces expert-reviewed mental-health publications (brochures, fact sheets, statistics) available free to the public in English and Spanish.

The institute's core technical assets include the AFNI (Analysis of Functional NeuroImages) open-source software package, developed since 1994 by NIMH's Scientific and Statistical Computing Core and used globally for MRI visualization and analysis; the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework for studying mental disorders across multiple dimensions of functioning; and the Systems Neuroscience Imaging Resource (SNIR), which provides high-throughput microscopy, confocal, light-sheet, and 3D-reconstruction tools for systems-level molecular anatomy. In parallel, NIMH has stood up in-house Machine Learning and Data Science teams and funds extramural AI/ML research such as IMPACT-MH (with Mayo Clinic as data coordination center) and grants for AI-based speech analysis and crisis prediction.

NIMH is funded entirely through U.S. federal congressional appropriations routed through the NIH/HHS budget and generates no commercial revenue; all publications, software, crisis-line services, and educational content are provided without charge. Its principal stakeholder groups are mental-health researchers (primary), healthcare providers, patients and families, and the general public. The institute co-operates the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline with SAMHSA (launched July 2022; over 10 million contacts served) and convenes the Director's Innovation Speaker Series, science updates, and stakeholder-engagement programs to translate research into public-health impact.

Name

National Institute of Mental Health

Legal name

National Institute of Mental Health

Website

https://nimh.nih.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the lead U.S. federal agency for research on mental disorders, operating within NIH/HHS since 1949. It conducts intramural neuroscience and clinical research in Bethesda, Maryland, funds extramural grants at universities and medical centers, develops open-source tools such as AFNI and the RDoC framework, and co-operates the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Mental Health Research Agency

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers (621420), Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) (621330)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Research Funding Agencies (Public/Quasi-Public) (HLAJALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Behavioral Health & Substance Use Program Funding (Public Health) (HLAJALAI), Crisis Support, Suicide Prevention & Acute Behavioral Triage Platforms (HLALAEAI), Mental Health & Crisis Support Services (BPAGAEAH)

Keywords

• Mental health research
• Federal research grants
• Neuroscience research funding
• Public health information
• Mental illness treatment research

Headquarters

HQ city

Bethesda

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Government Funding: NIMH is a U.S. federal government research institute funded through the NIH budget and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services annual appropriations. The institute supports research at universities, medical centers, and other institutions via grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The National Institute of Mental Health is the U.S. federal lead agency for mental health research, conducting intramural basic neuroscience and clinical research through its Division of Intramural Research Programs at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, while funding extramural research at universities and medical centers through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. It provides free, expert-reviewed public health information on mental disorders in English and Spanish, operates the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in partnership with SAMHSA, develops research tools such as the AFNI neuroimaging software and the RDoC framework, and supports training and career development for mental health scientists.

Product overview

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is a U.S. government research institute that does not offer a commercial product in the traditional sense. Its core offerings include expert-reviewed health information publications (fact sheets and brochures on mental health topics like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, and autism), the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Framework for studying mental disorders, and its Intramural Research Program (IRP) conducting neuroscience and clinical research at NIH. NIMH also funds extramural research programs including AI-powered speech analysis tools for psychosis assessment and the IMPACT-MH data coordination center using machine learning for mental health research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Health Topics Publications Expert-reviewed fact sheets and brochures covering mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, autism, ADHD, eating disorders, and suicide prevention, provided free to the public in English and Spanish.
• Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Framework A research framework supporting new ways of studying mental disorders by integrating multiple levels of information to understand the basis of mental disorders, used by mental health researchers.
• Intramural Research Program (IRP) NIMH's internal research division conducting basic neuroscience research and clinical investigations of mental illnesses, brain function, and behavior at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, with over 40 research groups led by Principal Investigators.
• AFNI Software Package Open-source software package for MRI visualization and analysis, including structural, functional, and diffusion-based imaging tools, developed by NIMH's Scientific and Statistical Computing Core and freely available for download with global training bootcamps.
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Nationwide three-digit crisis hotline operated in partnership with SAMHSA providing 24/7/365 suicide prevention and mental health crisis support via phone, text, and chat, with specialized services for veterans, Spanish speakers, and LGBTQ+ youth.
• IMPACT-MH Data Coordination Center A five-year federal grant program with Mayo Clinic serving as data coordination center, implementing data standardization across depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and sleep disorders using big data and machine learning approaches.
• NIMH Research Grants and Funding Opportunities Extramural research funding distributed to universities, medical centers, and other qualified research institutions through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to support mental health research.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 10 million crisis contacts responded to through 988 since 2022
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022NIMH partners with SAMHSA on suicide prevention initiatives including the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, Zero Suicide healthcare model implementation, and behavioral health crisis services development.
• NIH (National Institutes of Health)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIMH is a component of NIH, which is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIMH collaborates with other NIH Institutes on cross-disciplinary research initiatives including the BRAIN Initiative.
• Henry Ford HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHenry Ford Health developed the Zero Suicide model in 2001 and partners with NIMH on research studies. Implementation across six healthcare systems serving 10+ million patients showed significant reductions in suicide attempts and deaths.
• Universities and Medical CenterscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIMH supports research at universities, medical centers, and other institutions via grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Examples include Penn State, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Stanford, and others receiving NIMH funding.
• Stanford PsychiatryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStanford Psychiatry postdoctoral scholar Umair Hassan received NIMH grant to research sleep theta burst stimulation for treating depression.
• Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research (Northwell Health)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeinstein Institutes received $4M NIMH grant to develop AI-powered speech analysis tools for assessing psychosis severity.
• Albert Einstein College of MedicineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlbert Einstein College of Medicine received $18M NIH grant to develop AI-based tools for predicting serious mental illness crises.
• Mayo ClinicminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMayo Clinic serves as data coordination center for IMPACT-MH program, advancing mental health research using big data and machine learning, funded by NIMH.
• Penn State and University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearchers at these institutions received a five-year, $3.2 million NIMH grant to study epigenetic mechanisms underlying PTSD and exaggerated fear responses.
• ACTG (AIDS Clinical Trials Group)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACTG, the world's largest HIV clinical trials network, launched study A5413 funded by NIMH and NIAID to evaluate dasatinib for reducing HIV reservoir.
• University of Southern CaliforniaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSC professor Maja Matarić received NIMH grant to conduct clinical trial exploring effectiveness of socially assistive robots in delivering CBT to students.
• Doxy.me Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDoxy.me partnered with Lucid Reality Labs with NIMH funding to develop VR Exposure Therapy platform for treating phobias, PTSD, and panic disorders through telemedicine.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): HHS sister agency that operationalizes mental health services and co-operates 988 with NIMH. Broader services mandate (versus NIMH's research mandate), but tightly coupled through crisis and suicide prevention programming.
• Wellcome Trust: Major UK-based charitable foundation that funds biomedical and mental health research globally. Comparable scale of research funding, though private/philanthropic rather than governmental in nature.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Larger HHS agency with mental health surveillance, statistics, and population-health mandate. Overlaps with NIMH on epidemiology, suicide statistics, and public health communication but at a broader scope.

Regional players

• Medical Research Council (UKRI-MRC): UK government research funding body with comparable mental health and neuroscience grant programs. Direct international analog to NIMH's extramural funding model, operating in a different geography.
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): Canadian federal health research funder with an Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction. International peer to NIMH with similar extramural grant structure and government mandate.

Direct peers

• National Cancer Institute (NCI): Largest NIH institute by budget; structurally identical to NIMH as a federal health research funding agency with intramural and extramural programs. Comparable scale, governance, and appropriations model.
• National Institute on Aging (NIA): NIH institute with analogous research funding, intramural research, and public health information mission, focused on aging rather than mental health. Direct organizational peer within the NIH system.
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): NIH institute focused on brain and nervous system disorders with substantial overlap in basic neuroscience, neuroimaging infrastructure, and intramural research programs. Co-directs the BRAIN Initiative with NIMH.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): Fellow NIH institute with overlapping mission in substance use and co-occurring mental health research, sharing grant-making authority and intramural research structure with NIMH. Closest peer in organizational model and behavioral health focus.
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): Another large NIH institute operating the same extramural grants/intramural research model as NIMH. Useful comparator for budget scale, program structure, and federal research funding dynamics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/NIMHgov
• YouTubeyoutube.com/NIMHgov
• Facebookfacebook.com/nimhgov

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments25 records

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Frequently asked questions about National Institute of Mental Health