Mission

In 2007, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) launched Measures for Clinical Trials of Treatment of Cognitive Impairment. This was later supported by the launch of the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consortium (MATRICS-CT), funded by $2.4 million in private-sector contributions, to develop a set of tools that can assess the effectiveness of drugs used to treat schizophrenia. The consortium also aims to adapt a series of tests, known as the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), and to translate them into languages commonly used for international clinical trials.

Consortium History

In April 2004, MATRICS-CT investigators organized a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)/NIMH consensus meeting to develop guidelines for the design of clinical trials of cognitive-enhancing drugs for people with schizophrenia. Participants included representatives from government (FDA and NIMH), academia, and industry. The workshop developed recommendations for subject selection, co-primary outcome measures, and statistical approaches for study design. The guidelines were conceptualized as a reasonable starting point for use in trial design of cognitive-enhancing drugs. In the past five years, several studies have been conducted using the FDA-NIMH-MATRICS guidelines and the MCCB. These trials provide new information on the feasibility and relevance of the proposed guidelines and the MCCB.

Structure & Governance

NIMH administers the program, while the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) coordinates a scientific board comprising representatives from NIH, FDA, industry, academia, and the advocacy community.

Financing

This project is funded by $2.4 million in private-sector contributions.

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