Founding and Early History

The Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH) was established as the Missouri Institute of Psychiatry (MIP) in October 1962 by George A. Ulett, M.D., on the grounds of St. Louis State Hospital as the research and teaching arm of the Missouri Division of Mental Diseases, now the Department of Mental Health (DMH). The University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) took over operation of MIP in 1965. The establishment of the institute quickly led to a drastic reduction in hospital overcrowding, a new psychiatric residency training program, full-time psychiatric care for patients, an end to racial segregation in city psychiatric facilities, and the first treatment program for alcoholism in St. Louis.

The Institute’s original mission was to provide research and clinical training to residents in psychiatry. Between 1963 and 1980, the Psychiatric Residency Training Program graduated over 180 psychiatrists, nearly half of whom were employed by the DMH to provide mental health services in rural areas of the state. The Institute also conducted clinical research with persons with chronic mental health conditions at St. Louis State Hospital.

During the initial years, the Institute established a national/international reputation in computational psychiatry. Led by the Institute’s director (Dr. Ulett), members of the Institute’s systems health research unit combined the computational strengths of the computer system with deep clinical content expertise in psychiatry to produce the Standard System of Psychiatry (SSOP) – the first data-driven diagnostic algorithm and associated treatment recommendation for individuals with a mental health condition. These research efforts foreshadow current areas of excellence within the Institute where several teams utilize data science methods and clinical expertise to discover, validate, and implement tailored mental health intervention programs in the US and around the world.

From MPI to MIMH

August 1991 brought a change in leadership and focus when clinical psychologist Danny Wedding, Ph.D., became the new director of the renamed Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH). Under Dr. Wedding’s direction, the Institute concentrated on health care policy and expanded into policy research, program evaluation, and public education about mental and addictive disorders. In 2010, Dr. Wedding was succeeded by Joe Parks, M.D., the Chief Clinical Officer of DMH. Later that year, MIMH moved academic affiliations to University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL) as part of the Office of Research Administration under the leadership of Nasser Arshadi, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research at that time. In 2014, Dr. Parks was succeeded by Rob Paul, Ph.D., Professor of Psychological Sciences at UMSL. Dr. Paul has been a clinician-scientist for over 20 years and faculty member in the Department of Psychological Sciences since 2006.

MIMH Today

Over the past decade, MIMH has informed new knowledge that supports the mental health and well-being of persons with behavioral health problems through research and evaluation, policy development, technological innovation, and training. Today, MIMH is poised to become one of the country’s finest health services research organizations dedicated to serving the state and the nation by improving the delivery of behavioral health services.