Pittsburgh - NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania has been selected as the Outreach Partner for the state of Pennsylvania by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the nation's leading mental health research agency. NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania joins a nationwide network of 55 mental health organizations dedicated to educating the public about mental health and the importance of research.

Under this award, NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania will serve as a statewide resource for science-based information about mental illnesses, their causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The organization will also share opportunities for volunteer participation in mental health studies.

"We are honored to have been chosen by NIMH to be their partner in Pennsylvania," said Christine Michaels, CEO of NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania.  "This enables us to share important information and research about mental health with our affiliates, members, and the public."

The NIMH Outreach Partnership Program supports organizations from every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to deliver science-based information to communities across the country.

"NIMH produces a lot of useful information that a lot of people may not know about," said Michaels. "We now have an opportunity to spread the word and hopefully inform and educate more people about important developments in mental health."

NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania has NIMH materials available in its office in Pittsburgh and it also distributes them when it exhibits at conferences across the state. The organization has developed a special webpage dedicated to the NIMH Outreach Partnership Program which can be found at www.namikeystonepa.org/education/nimhpartnership.

NIMH is one of 27 Institutes and Centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Federal government's principal biomedical and behavioral research agency. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).