Recruitment and Characterization of Healthy Research Volunteers for NIMH Intramural Studies

Objective: To screen and create a list of adult volunteers in good health for participation in research studies conducted at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Develop a normative set of structural and functional brain MRI scans and MEG recordings that are linked to healthy research volunteer characteristics. Maximize scientific impact of data from volunteers by broadly sharing with other researchers.

Study Population: Adult males and females in general good health who are 18 to 70 years of age.

Design:

This study has 2 parts. Part 1 is an online screen in which interested participants are asked to complete online forms that will help determine their eligibility for Part 2, which is an in-person assessment at the NIH Clinical Center. In addition, there are 3 optional procedures, an optional MRI brain scan, MEG recording, and electrocardiography (EKG) that are completed at the NIH Clinical Center. Procedures are done in sequence unless a person is found to be ineligible to move to the next step.

Adult individuals who are interested in participating in NIMH IRP clinical studies as a healthy research volunteer can directly visit or be directed to visit the study website where they will first consent electronically and then complete a set of online self-report measures. Items may include: demographic information, mental health symptoms, psychological measures, disability status, substance use patterns, and clinical/family history. Individuals who are flagged based on predetermined responses to survey items may be further screened by a member of the study clinical team. If found to be ineligible for the study because of a clinically significant or unstable medical or mental health condition, these individuals will be referred back to the community and/or given information about NIMH clinical studies for which they may be eligible. Respondents with no flags or who pass through additional screening will be eligible for a clinical (in-person) assessment at the NIH Clinical Center. During the in-person outpatient appointment the participant will provide informed consent for the clinical assessment and optional MRI and MEG studies. At that point they are considered enrolled in the study. The clinical assessment may include safety assessment, vital signs, history and physical, labs, cognitive tests, mental health surveys, and structured psychiatric diagnostic interview.

Some assessments may be conducted either in-person or virtually using approved telehealth services. Laboratory tests will be done for routine clinical purposes. The consent form will explicitly inform participants that if enrolled in the study, their de-identified data will be broadly and publicly shared through NIH-approved data repositories. Participants in this recruitment and characterization study may then be placed on a list of healthy research volunteers and their contact information may be shared with other NIMH IRP studies.

Outcome Measures:

• Primary outcome measure - List of well characterized healthy volunteers including demographic, psychological, physical, laboratory, MEG, and MRI data; and utilization of volunteer participants by NIMH IRP investigators.
• Secondary outcome measure - Upload of de-identified healthy volunteer characterization data to an open access data repository for secondary research purposes; data may include demographic, psychological, physical, laboratory, MEG, and MRI measures.