NIH 1998 Almanac/The Organization/NIDA/
National Institute on Drug Abuse: Mission
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) provides national leadership for research
on drug abuse and addiction. Through its extramural research program and its intramural
research program at the Division of Intramural Research in Baltimore, NIDA supports
studies on the biological, social, behavioral and neuroscientific bases of drug abuse as
well as its causes, prevention, and treatment. In addition, NIDA supports research
training, career development, public education and research dissemination in these areas.
Through grants and contracts to investigators at research institutions around the country
and overseas, NIDA supports research and training on:
- the neurobiological, behavioral, and social mechanisms underlying drug abuse and
addiction
- specific biomedical and behavioral effects of drugs of abuse, including marijuana,
heroin, and cocaine, on the body and brain
- effective prevention and treatment approaches, including a broad research program
designed to develop new treatment medications and behavioral therapies for drug abuse
- the causes and consequences of drug abuse, including impact on society and morbidity
and mortality in selected populations, e.g., ethnic minorities, youth, women
- investigation of the relationship of drug use to other problem behaviors, e.g.,
psychopathology, unemployment, violence
- biomedical, behavioral, and social factors associated with
vulnerability/invulnerability to drug abuse and addiction
- the role of drug abuse as a factor contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis, and other diseases and the development of effective prevention/intervention
strategies
- research on the mechanisms of pain and the search for a nonaddictive analgesic
- research on tobacco and nicotine addiction.
NIDA’s intramural research program is located in Baltimore, Md. Originally known
as the Addiction Research Center, it conducts multidisciplinary research on basic
biological and behavioral mechanisms that underly drug abuse and dependence, including its
causes and adverse consequences. Research is also supported on treatments for drug
dependence and HIV transmission by injecting drug users. Studies range from molecular to
laboratory research with animals to clinical studies with human volunteers. The program
employs the latest technology, including positron emission tomography to study the action
of drugs in the human brain and transgenic species to better understand the role genes in
drug abuse. The intramural program also serves as a national and international training
center for young investigators in the drug abuse field.
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