The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has developed a 5-year strategic plan aimed at gaining new information about the basic science of the brain as it relates to the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction. Part of the plan is to use novel findings about the brain to create more effective interventions for preventing and treating substance use disorders, according to a written statement by NIDA.
The plan for 2016-2020, which NIDA has named “Advancing Addiction Science,” calls for the achievement of the following four strategic goals:
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• Identify the biological, environmental, behavioral, and social causes and consequences of drug use and addiction across the lifespan.
• Develop improved strategies to prevent drug use and its consequences.
• Develop new and improved treatments to help people with substance use disorders achieve and maintain a meaningful and sustained recovery.
• Increase the public health impact of NIDA research and programs.
“Developing this plan was a collaborative effort incorporating guidance from the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse, scientific and clinical experts, stakeholder organizations, and the public,” NIDA Director Nora Volkow said in a written statement.
“This plan outlines our broad goals across basic science, prevention, treatment, and public health; identifies four priority focus areas that we believe present unique opportunities to be leveraged over the next 5 years; and reflects a flexible, dynamic approach that will allow us to adapt to new scientific and technological advances and changing public health needs, and to take advantage of scientific opportunities as they arise,” she said.
More information about the plan is available here.