Notice Number: NOT-OD-12-045
Key Dates
Release Date: February 8, 2012
Response Date: May 11, 2012
Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Purpose
This Notice is a time-sensitive Request for Information (RFI) soliciting input into the Scientific Strategic Plan for the proposed new Institute with the working name of the National Institute of Substance Use and Addiction Disorders. This new Institute would result from the proposed reorganization of substance use, abuse, and addiction-related research at the NIH.
Background
In September 2010, the Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB), established pursuant to Sec. 401(e) of the PHS Act, recommended that NIH create a new Institute focused on substance use, abuse, and addiction-related research. After extensive discussions with experts from within and outside the NIH, the SMRB found that the current organization of substance use, abuse, and addiction research at the NIH is not optimal for fulfilling the agency’s mission or optimizing research in substance use, abuse, and addiction. The SMRB recommended that the NIH Director establish a new Institute focusing on addiction-related research and public health initiatives. The SMRB also recommended that the reorganization should encompass all addiction-related research within the NIH, not just the programs of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The SMRB recommended that NIDA and NIAAA be dissolved and that the non-addiction research activities within their portfolios be transferred to other NIH Institutes and Centers. The November 2010 report containing the full set of recommendations made by the SMRB can be found at: http://smrb.od.nih.gov/documents/announcements/SUAA_112010.pdf.
NIH has given careful consideration to the SMRB findings and agrees that the current organization of substance use, abuse, and addiction-related research at NIH does not optimally capitalize on existing and potential synergies that could be facilitated within a single Institute. Further, NIH agrees with the SMRB that such reorganization would better enable recognition and development of scientific opportunities in substance use, abuse, and addiction research, assist in meeting public health needs, and improve training opportunities for the next generation of investigators.
As such, NIH proposes to create a new Institute, with the working name of the National Institute of Substance Use and Addiction Disorders,” through inclusion in the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2014. A planning committee that includes scientific representatives from the potentially affected Institutes and Centers is developing a Scientific Strategic Plan for the proposed Institute with the primary goal of identifying new scientific opportunities that are not currently supported in the existing NIH research portfolios and public health initiatives on substance use, abuse, and addiction-related disorders. > > > > Read More
