NIDA Funding Priorities

May 2011

Colleagues,

In these tough budget times, it is not surprising that rumors will take hold about where we will direct our funding priorities at NIDA. To counter with facts, I would like to reassure all of our research grantees that our priorities remain the same—that is, a focus on prevention, treatment, and HIV—and that no one aspect of NIDA's multilayered research portfolio will be neglected to the enhancement of others. It has been rumored, for example, that medications development will capture an inequitable portion of our budget; however, this is not true. While medications development is a critical piece of the research we fund, particularly since pharmaceutical companies have been reluctant to invest, it reflects only 12 percent of our total budget, a rate relatively unchanged over the last several years. Please know that I appreciate the work of all of our grantees and am keenly aware that it takes all of your varied contributions to carry out NIDA's mission "to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction."

Sincerely,

Nora D. Volkow, M.D.
Director