Hi reddit! We are leading the federal agency charged with setting and supporting the national agenda for mental health research and are excited to talk with you today.

Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. is the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He oversees an extensive research portfolio of basic and clinical research that seeks to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure. Dr. Gordon pursued a combined M.D.-Ph.D. degree at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Medical school coursework in psychiatry and neuroscience convinced him that the greatest need, and greatest promise, for biomedical science was in these areas. Dr. Gordon's research focuses on the analysis of neural activity in mice carrying mutations of relevance to psychiatric disease. His lab studied genetic models of these diseases from an integrative neuroscience perspective, focused on understanding how a given disease mutation leads to a behavioral phenotype across multiple levels of analysis. To this end, he employs a range of systems neuroscience techniques, including in vivo imaging, anesthetized and awake behavioral recordings, and optogenetics, which is the use of light to control neural activity. His research has direct relevance to schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and depression. Follow Dr. Gordon on Twitter/X.

Shelli Avenevoli, Ph.D., is the Deputy Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). In 2001, Dr. Avenevoli joined the NIMH intramural research program as a staff scientist in the Section of Developmental Genetic Epidemiology of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program. In 2005, she moved to the NIMH division of extramural research as Chief of the Emotion, Mood, and Depressive Disorders Program. In 2008, Dr. Avenevoli became Chief of the Developmental Trajectories of Mental Disorders Branch. She has been heavily involved in a number of key NIMH efforts, including revising NIMH's Strategic Plan, re-defining the Institute's approach to supporting research in neurodevelopment and bipolar disorder, and serving as a liaison to other agencies for special initiatives. Prior to joining NIMH, Dr. Avenevoli received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Temple University, and completed an NIMH-funded postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at Yale University School of Medicine.

We'll be available starting at 11:00 am ET (16 UT), ask us anything!

Username: /u/NIMH_Research