PROJECT SUMMARY: Recruitment and Assessment Core Psychiatric research relies on the use of validated and reliable self-report, interview-based, and behavioral assessments to diagnose DSM-5 psychiatric disorders, estimate level of severity of mental health symptoms, and to delineate transdiagnostic constructs of relevance across disorders. The Recruitment and Assessment Core of the Center for Neuroscience-based Mental Health Assessment and Prediction (NeuroMAP) in Phase II will support Research Project Leaders (RPLs) and Pilot Project Investigators (PPIs) by overseeing and completing the recruitment, screening, and common Core interview-based, self-report, and behavioral assessment procedures. The goal of the Recruitment and Assessment Core is to accelerate the RPL and PPI projects by allowing for efficient participant recruitment and more rapid data collection, aiding in the formulation of aims and hypotheses based on core data, and thereby making R-level grant applications more competitive. The Recruitment and Assessment Core will work closely with the Circuits and Molecules Core to support a multi-level assessment approach (symptoms & behavior, circuits & physiology, cells & molecules) and is structured to support the NeuroMAP theme: identification and validation, via an experimental approach, of targetable disease-modifying processes (DMPs) in mood and anxiety disorders. During Phase I, common data elements were established across all RPL projects and provided a balance between the research goals of the individual RPL projects and secondary data analyses for PPIs. During this phase, the Core was able to recruit 552 participants for RPLs and each project reached recruitment milestones despite SARS-CoV-2 and a two-month shutdown of the institute. Moreover, 8 PPI used the Core data to identify novel DMPs in mood and anxiety disorders. The Core focuses on measures derived from a modified NIMH Research Domain Criteria approach: (a) Negative Valence Systems measures, i.e., how individuals respond to aversive situations or context (RPL Project 1 focuses on threat sensitivity; Project 2 focuses on avoidance behavior, Project 3 focuses on repetitive negative thinking); (b) Positive Valence Systems measures, i.e., how individuals respond to positive motivational situations or contexts (Project 2 will focus on approach motivation); (c) Interoception measures, i.e. sensing, processing, and integrating internal bodily signals together with external stimuli to affect motivated behavior (Project 2 focuses on responses to interoceptive perturbation). The aims of the core are (1) to provide timely recruitment and standardized assessments for all NeuroMAP projects; (2) to maintain a reproducible and reliable assessment structure that can be used for extramurally supported projects; and (3) to develop a self-sustainable business plan for the user base. The Core will be a unique resource for LIBR investigators as well as researchers at other academic institutions...