En español

Menu

Home
Drugs of Abuse

Quick Links

Related Topics

Quick Links

Publications

Quick Links

Research

Quick Links

Funding

Quick Links

News

Quick Links

About NIDA

Quick Links

Home » News & Events » Nora's Blog

Nora's Blog

Featured Post

Photo of a cell phone

With NIDA’s Help, Startups Translate Addiction Science into New Technologies

October 09, 2019
Over the past few years, NIDA’s Office of Translational Initiatives and Program Innovations (OTIPI) has used these and other funding mechanisms to help biotech startups develop incredibly innovative technologies that translate addiction science into healthcare and consumer products. Read More.

0 Comments

Recent Posts

World AIDS Day logo

NIDA’S Avant-Garde Award Competition Continues to Foster Transformative HIV/AIDS Research

December 2017
NIH-funded science continues to make great strides in the fight against HIV. To foster such research, 10 years ago NIDA created its Avant-Garde Award competition to fund bold projects that could have a high impact in preventing and treating HIV/AIDS in drug users. Read More.

0 Comments
Illustration of crowdsourcing

Mobilizing Citizen Science to Address the Overdose Epidemic

November 2017
Social media and crowdsourcing apps could be particularly useful for gathering and sharing information in real time about overdoses and using that information to prevent overdose deaths, thereby translating “citizen science” into “citizen prevention.” Read More.

8 Comments
Illustration of a diverse crowd of people

Addressing the Opioid Crisis Means Confronting Socioeconomic Disparities

October 2017
When we speak of addiction as a chronic disorder of the brain, it thus includes an understanding that some individuals are more susceptible to drug use and addiction than others. Read More.

14 Comments
Photo of researcher working with a pipette under a hood

New Medication Formulations Could Quickly Make a Difference for Treating Opioid Addiction

August 2017
As Francis Collins and I wrote in May, NIH and NIDA are committed to an “all scientific hands on deck” effort to end the opioid crisis in America by halving the time it takes to develop new medications to treat pain and addiction and reverse overdoses. Read More.

13 Comments
male student sleeping in class

The Concerning Link Between Inadequate Sleep and Adolescent Substance Use

July 2017
Children and adolescents require more sleep than adults. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) defines a sufficient night’s sleep for an adolescent as 8.5-9.5 hours per night. But according to data from the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, just over a quarter of middle and high-school students (27.5 %) got 8 hours or more of sleep on the average night in 2015, and most got much less. Researchers have found striking links between insufficient sleep and a range of adverse outcomes in adolescents, including obesity, poor school performance, and behavioral problems including substance use. Read More.

1 Comment
Journal special report screenshot

“All Scientific Hands on Deck” to End the Opioid Crisis

May 2017
In 2015, two million people had a prescription opioid use disorder and 591,000 suffered from a heroin use disorder; prescription drug misuse alone cost the nation $78.5 billion in healthcare, law enforcement, and lost productivity. But while the scope of the crisis is staggering, it is not hopeless. By Nora Volkow (Director, NIDA) and Francis Collins (Director, NIH) Read More.

18 Comments
Image of woman breaking a cigarette

Smoking Cessation May Improve Behavioral Health Conditions (CRAN Blog)

May 2017
Cigarette smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, responsible for over 480,000 deaths a year. Even though smoking has been decreasing overall, the smoking rate for persons with behavioral health conditions (mental and/or substance use disorders) is about twice that of the rest of the population. Read More.

1 Comment
Oxycodone pills spilling out of a bottle

Opioid Use Disorders and Suicide: A Hidden Tragedy (Guest Blog)

April 2017
In 2015, over 33,000 Americans died from opioids—either prescription drugs or heroin or, in many cases, more powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Hidden behind the terrible epidemic of opioid overdose deaths looms the fact that many of these deaths are far from accidental. They are suicides. Guest blog by Dr. Maria Oquendo Read More.

12 Comments
Image showing lethal doses of Heroin and Fentanyl

Addressing America’s Fentanyl Crisis

April 2017
Every day, 91* Americans fatally overdose on an opioid drug. It may be a prescription analgesic or heroin but increasingly it is likely to be heroin’s much more potent synthetic cousin fentanyl. In the space of only two years, fentanyl has tragically escalated the opioid crisis. *Update: Overdose rates seen in 2018 are more than 115 a day. Read More.

6 Comments
Photo of marijuana coming out of a prescription bottle

NASEM Report Recommends Removing Barriers to Cannabis Research

February 2017
The new report is based on reviews of research on both the cannabis plant itself and its constituents, but its conclusions are substantially similar to the 1999 report: While cannabis use, particularly smoked cannabis, poses some long-term health and safety risks, there is evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids can treat certain medical conditions, which include nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, spasticity from multiple sclerosis, and pain. Read More.

10 Comments

Pages

Dr. Nora Volkow: Remarks and Video Highlights

APA 2015 meeting

  • Marijuana as a Cure for Opioid Use? Nation's Top Drug Scientist Says She's Skeptical, March 2019
    Watch video (8:01)
  • Meet the Woman Leading the Nation's War on Addiction, October 2018
    Watch video (29:15)
  • Aspen Ideas Festival 2018: Shining Light on Less Visible Prescription Drug Epidemics, June 2018
    Watch video (51:34)
  • Dr. Nora Volkow on Addiction: A Disease of Free Will, May 2015
    Watch video (21:11)
  • TEDMED, January 2015
    Why do our brains get addicted?
    Watch video (16:23)
  • The World Science Festival, April 2014
    The Moth: The Brain's Addiction - Nora Volkow
    Watch video (17:01)
  • CBS 60 Minutes, April 2012
    Hooked: Why Bad Habits Are Hard to Break 
    Watch video (13:31)

About This Blog

Dr. Nora Volkow

Here I highlight important work being done at NIDA and other news related to the science of drug use and addiction.
—Dr. Nora Volkow, Director

Comment & Guest Blog Policies
Receive Nora’s Blog Articles in your Email!
You will only receive messages related to Nora’s Blog