Extramural Policy and Review Activities

Reviews

NIDA received 972 grant applications, including both primary and dual assignments, for which the Office of Extramural Affairs (OEA) managed the programmatic referral process during this council cycle. Of these, NIDA received the primary assignment on 682 applications. OEA arranged and managed 18 review meetings in which 317 applications were evaluated. (Others were reviewed by the Center for Scientific Review). OEA's reviews included applications in chartered, standing review committees, applications in conflict-of-interest with standing committees, and submissions to special initiatives. In addition, OEA's Contracts Review Branch (CRB) arranged and managed four contract proposal review meetings, ten Small Business Innovation Research reviews, and two concept reviews. CRB staff are currently in the process of managing the reviews of fifty-eight Loan Repayment Program applications.

NIDA's chartered committees consist of NIDA-E (Treatment Review Committee), NIDA-F (Health Services Review Committee), NIDA-L (Medications Development Committee), and NIDA-K (Training Committee). In addition to holding meetings of each of these committees, OEA staff held three Special Emphasis Panels to review applications in conflict with the chartered committees. Two Special Emphasis panels were constituted for reviews of program project applications, and another was held to review unsolicited center grants. A meeting was held for a single application on a topic that did not fit into other committees.

Reviews were held for RFAs, including, "Chronic Stress and Its Relation to Drug Abuse and Addiction," " Guidance for Behavioral Treatment Providers: Research on Knowledge and Skill Enhancement," and "The Impact of Child Psychopathology and Childhood Interventions on Subsequent Drug Abuse."

The remaining panels were for the reviews of Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition-NIDA (B/START; 2 panels), Imaging Science Track Award for Rapid Transition (I/START), Cutting Edge Basic Research Awards, and Conference Grant mechanisms.

The completed review activities of the Contracts Review Branch are given below.

Concept Reviews

• NO1DA-3-5524c: DESPR Clinical Data Management & Support
• NO1DA-4-7737c: Quantitation of Drugs of Abuse by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

Concept Proposals

• NO1DA-3-8829: Analytical Chemistry Resources Center for Medications Development
• NO1DA-3-8823: Rodent and Monkey Test for NIDA Medications Development Program
• NO1DA-3-1202: Logistics Support for NIDA's Contracts Review Branch/OEA
• NO1DA-3-8831: Assessment of Potential Cocaine Treatment in Non-Human Primates

SBIR Reviews

• N43DA-3-1112: Development of Science Education Materials Related to the Use of Animals
• N43DA-3-8832: Design, Synthesis, Preclinical Testing and Scale up of Novel Treatment Agents for Stimulant Abuse
• N43DA-3-5522: Worksite Based Health Promotion for Youth
• N43DA-3-5523: Develop New Technologies for Drug Abuse Prevention Delivery
• N43DA-3-5521: Measurement Modules for Psychiatric Comorbidity Evaluation
• N43DA-3-7733: Synthesis of New Chemical Probes
• N43DA-3-7734: Virtual Reality for Treatment of Pain or Drug Addiction
• N43DA-3-7735: Technologies for Proteomic Analysis in the Nervous System
• N43DA-3-4402: Development of Testing Technology to Support Delivery of Linked Drug Abuse Treatment and Primary Medical Care
• N43DA-3-8835: Pharmacovigilance Database for Anti-Addiction Medications

Extramural Outreach

On February 25, 2003, Dr. Teresa Levitin, Director, OEA, participated in a workshop, "Peer Review of Education Research Grant Applications: Considerations, Implications and Future Directions" sponsored by the National Research Council Committee on Research in Education.

In March 2003, Dr. William Grace, Deputy Director, OEA, presented two talks at Binghamton University's Destination Discovery Research Symposium. The first was an update on NIH funding priorities and changes at NIH; the second was a discussion of peer review procedures at NIH.

Dr. Mark Swieter, SRA, Basic Sciences Review Branch, spoke on the grants enterprise at a meeting of the NIDA INVEST and Humphrey fellows in April 2003 when they met at the NIH campus. He participated in a panel presentation and discussion of "The Changing Scene of Funding for Neuroscience Training" at the annual meeting of the Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs in Washington DC in May 2003.

Staff Training and Development

The OEA Symposium Series provides staff training and a forum for sharing of ideas and information. Topics addressed have included the NIH policies on data sharing, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (the "Privacy Rule"), and data safety and monitoring. In addition, Dr. Cindy Miner spoke on activities of NIDA's Office of Science Policy and Communications. The symposium series is organized and hosted by Dr. Mark Swieter.