Federal Commitment to Support Minority and Women Researchers

Abstract

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has played a strategic role in developing the entire spectrum of mental health researchers. Without NIMH, we would not have the understanding of mental disorders, improvements in the mental health system, or knowledge about how behavior affects health generally. NIMH has been at the forefront of AIDS research from the beginning of this epidemic and has contributed to an understanding of the cause and effect of HIV infection and AIDS. In addition, NIMH has been in the vanguard of supporting the development of minority and women researchers. An Associate Director for Special Populations was mandated by the 1980 Mental Health Systems Act, the legislation that implemented the recommendation of the President’s Commission on Mental Health. Even though the Act was repealed in 1981, the part that authorized this position was not rescinded. I arrived at NIMH in 1983 as the Associate Director for Special Populations with the responsibility to ensure that all of the Institute’s programs are responsive to minority concerns. By 1984, Congress had added women as another special population.