Extramural Policy and Review Activities

Receipt, Referral, and Review

NIDA received 1441 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 1122 applications.

OEA arranged and managed 22 grant review meetings in which 462 applications were evaluated. OEA's reviews included applications in chartered, standing review committees and Special Emphasis Panels (SEPs). In addition, OEA's Contracts Review Branch (CRB) arranged and managed 11 contract proposal reviews, 10 concept reviews, and reviews of 151 applications to the Loan Repayment Program.

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 meetings of each of these committees, OEA staff held 18 Special Emphasis Panels for a variety of reasons:

Conflicts with the chartered committees
Center Grant Applications
Program Project Grant applications
Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition (B/START)
Cutting Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA)
Imaging Science Track Awards for Research Transition (I/START)
Conference Grants (R13)
6 Special Emphasis Panels that reviewed RFA submissions.

OEA managed the following RFA reviews:

• DA05-004: Lapse or Relapse to Drug Abuse and Other Chronic Conditions
• DA05-005: Secondary Analysis of the NESARC and NSPY Datasets
• DA05-006: Neurobiology of Behavioral Treatment: Recovery of Brain Structure and Function
• DA05-007: Consequences of Drug Abuse and Alcohol Exposure on Brain and Behavioral Development
• DA05-008: HIV and Drug Abuse Interventions Among Pregnant Women in Drug Abuse Treatment
• DA05-009: Strategic Program for Innovative Research on Drug Addiction Pharmacotherapy (SPIRDAP)

Completed Reviews from the Contracts Review Branch since the last Council are as follows:

Contract Reviews (R&D and non-R&D)

• N01DA-5-5532: National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY) Data Archive, Analysis, and Management Center
• N01DA-5-7753: Neuroscience Information Framework
• N01DA-5-8845: Medications Development for Stimulant Dependence II (MDS II)
• N01DA-6-8852: Regulatory Affairs Support for IND Applications
• N01DA-5-8853: Using Drug Self-Administration in Rats to Evaluate Drugs of Abuse and Pharmacotherapies in Drug Addiction
• N01DA-5-8856: Medical Writing and Report Coordination Support
• N01DA-5-8857: Clinical Data Management - Support for Clinical Trials

SBIR Phase I and Phase II

• N44DA-5-5526: A Web and PC-based Substance Abuse Screening Program
• N44DA-5-5528: Real-time Data Collection Utilizing Automated Speech Recognition Technologies
• N44DA-5-7741: Nanoscience-based Design of Therapies for Substance Abuse Treatment
• N44DA-5-7742: Discovery of New Chemical Probes

SBIR Phase I Concept Reviews

64	N43DA-6-7756	Nanoscience-based Design of Therapies for Substance Abuse Treatment
76	N43DA-6-1127	Development of Science Literacy Materials or Programs
77	N43DA-6-4404	Development of Serious Games for Neuro-Rehabilitation of Drug-Induced Cognitive Deficiencies
78	N43DA-6-4405	E-Health Applications of Empirically Supported Therapies in English and/or Spanish
79	N43DA-6-5533	Development of State-of-the-Art Mechanisms for Epidemiological Research
80	N43DA-6-5534	Training and Infrastructure Development for Community Coalitions
81	N43DA-6-8861	Clinical Trials for Anti-Addiction Medication Development
82	N43DA-6-8862	Development of Novel Drug Delivery Systems for Treatment of Drug Addictions
83	N43DA-6-7757	Create High Quality Feeder Layer Independent C57BL/6 Mouse ES Cells and Other Inbred ES Lines for High-throughput Gene Targeting
84	N43DA-6-1128	Develop Methods for Stimulating International Collaborations

Certificates of Confidentiality

Between May 18 and August 11, 2005, 59 new certificates, 19 extensions, and 4 amendments were processed.

Extramural Outreach

Dr. Rita Liu, OEA, participate in the workshop " What's New at NIDA and NIH: How will it Affect You? " at the CPDD meeting in June 2005.

Dr. Rita Liu made a presentation at an extramural program workshop at the International Narcotics Research Conference in Annapolis, MD in July 2005.

Dr. Teresa Levitin, Director, OEA, joined colleagues from several NIH Institutes and NSF for a workshop for graduate students and new faculty on how to obtain federal funding that was presented in conjunction with the 17th annual convention of the American Psychological Society held in Los Angeles in May 2005.

Dr. Teresa Levitin participated in a CPDD workshop in June 2005 entitled " What's New at NIDA and NIH: How will it Affect You?"

Dr. Levitin served on the NIDA committee that organized a number of activities at the American Psychological Association annual meeting in Washington D.C. in August 2005. She, along with other NIDA colleagues, represented NIDA at the symposium "Meet the National Institutes of Health: Research and Training for New Investigators" and, with Drs. Minda Lynch and Larry Stanford, she co-chaired a symposium "Adolescent Brain Development: What Does It Have To Do With Cognitive Processes?"

Dr. Levitin continues to serve on a number of trans-NIH committees, including the communications workgroup that drafted recommendations about communication between DEAS and the ICs, and the Extramural Program Management Committee's workgroup on the implementation of the OHRP Guidance on Research Involving Human Data or Specimens.

Dr. Mark Green, OEA, made a presentation at an extramural program workshop at the International Narcotics Research Conference in Annapolis, MD in July 2005.

Dr. Mark Green organized a workshop for the June 2005 CPDD meeting entitled " What's New at NIDA and NIH: How will it Affect You? " that also included Drs. Gerald McLaughlin, Teri Levitin, Mark Swieter, and Rita Liu.

Dr. Mark Swieter, OEA, made a presentation on grant application review in a Grant Writing Workshop at the CPDD meeting in June 2005.

Dr. Mark Swieter participated in at workshop "What's New at NIH and NIDA: How Will it Affect You?" at the CPDD meeting in June 2005.

Dr. Mark Swieter participated in the Training Grant Mixer at the CPDD meeting in June 2005.

Dr. Mark Swieter gave a talk entitled, "NIDA Research Mechanisms and Review Procedures", at the NIDA Mentored K Awardees Meeting at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bethesda in August 2005.

Staff Training and Development

The OEA Symposium Series, a forum for staff training and sharing of ideas and information, continued through the spring and summer. Topics addressed have included a presentation on changes instituted by NIH dealing with coded private data and biological specimens and there are open forums where staff can bring up their own questions about grants and other extramural policy.