The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) supports most of the world's research on addiction, working with some of the world's foremost researchers in neuroscience, behavior, pharmacology, physiology, genetics, epidemiology and medicine. Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) categories that are likely to include Addiction Science projects include: BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (Code: BE); MEDICINE & HEALTH SCIENCES (Code: ME); and CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (Code: CB). However, any science fair project that contributes to our knowledge of addiction and its health consequences will be considered for the NIDA Science Fair Award.
Below are sample study areas from the ISEF Web site that fit well with addiction science.
BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (Code: BE)
The science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interactions with the environment studied through observational and experimental methods.
Subcategories:
CLIN: Clinical and Developmental Psychology - The study and treatment of emotional or behavioral disorders. Developmental psychology is concerned with the study of progressive behavioral changes in an individual from birth until death.
COG: Cognitive, Brain and Cognition, Neuropsychology - The study of cognition, the mental processes that underlie behavior, including thinking, deciding, reasoning, motivation and emotion. Neuropsychology studies the relationship between the nervous system, especially the brain, and cerebral or mental functions such as language, memory, and perception.
PHY: Physiological Psychology - The study of the biological and physiological basis of behavior.
SOC: Sociology and Social Psychology; Industrial/Organizational Psychology - The study of human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society. Sociology is concerned with all group activities-economic, social, political, and religious.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (Code: CB)
The study of the structure and formation of cells.
Subcategories:
CELL: Cellular Biology - The study of the organization and functioning of the individual cell.
GENE: Genetics - The study of molecular genetics focusing on the structure and function of genes at a molecular level.
IMM: Immunology - The study of the structure and function of the immune system, innate and acquired immunity, and laboratory techniques involving the interaction of antigens with antibodies.
MOLE: Molecular Biology - The study of biology at the molecular level. Chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interrelationships of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and learning how these interactions are regulated.
MEDICINE & HEALTH SCIENCES (Code: ME)
The science of diagnosing, treating, or preventing disease and other damage to the body or mind.
Subcategories:
DIS: Disease Diagnosis and Treatment - The act or process of identifying or determining the nature and cause of a disease or injury through evaluation of patient history, examination, and review of laboratory data. Administration or application of remedies to a patient for a disease or injury; medicinal or surgical management; therapy.
EPID: Epidemiology - The study of the causes, distribution, and control of disease in populations. Epidemiologists, using sophisticated statistical analyses, field investigations, and complex laboratory techniques, investigate the cause of a disease, its distribution (geographic, ecological, and ethnic), method of spread, and measures for control and prevention.
GENE: Genetics - The study of heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited traits among similar or related organisms.
MOLE: Molecular Biology of Diseases - The study of diseases at the molecular level.
PHYS: Physiology and Pathophysiology - The science of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of normal tissues or organs. Pathophysiology is the study of the disturbance of normal mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions that a disease causes, or that cause diseases.
This is the first year NIDA has offered ISEF awards. However, we have reviewed titles of winning projects from 2006, so we can offer examples of those that might have been eligible for NIDA Addiction Science Awards.