NIDA at Work

The chief of NIDA's Services Research Branch talks about drug abuse treatment within the criminal justice system, and assesses the challenges facing drug abuse treatment overall in the United States.

NIDA Program Officer Dr. David Thomas speaks about the intertwined problems of pain and prescription opioid abuse, as well as the research supported by NIDA and the National Institutes of Health to address these problems.

Describes NIDA’s Special Populations Office which promotes addiction science that examines health disparities and foster research careers among members of underrepresented communities.

Discusses the work of NIDA’s Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, the Institute’s locus for studies into the fundamental brain mechanisms underlying drug abuse and addiction.

Describes the role of the Division of Clinical Neuroscience and Behavioral Research in NIDA’s drug abuse and addiction research plan.

Highlights a project in which nine research centers collaborate with criminal justice partners to test science-based tools for integrating drug abuse treatment in prisons and probation and parole programs.

Discusses the work of NIDA’s Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research, organized to track drug use and provide empirically based information for researchers and service providers.

Highlights NIDA’s research portfolio to identify the genes and genetic processes responsible for a person’s vulnerability to drug abuse.

Reports on the objectives and activities of the Neuroscience Consortium and their impact on Institute drug abuse research programs and initiatives.