Extramural Policy and Review Activities

Receipt, Referral, and Review

NIDA received 1,103 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 725 applications.

OEA arranged and managed 19 review meetings in which 271 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 6 contract proposal reviews, 12 Phase I and Phase II SBIR contract review meetings, and 8 concept reviews.

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 six Special Emphasis Panels to review applications in conflict with the chartered committees. Special Emphasis Panels were also constituted for Centers applications, two Program Projects applications, Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition (B/START), Conference Grants, Cutting Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) and Imaging Science Track Awards for Research Transition (I/START). Two Special Emphasis Panels reviewed RFA submissions.

OEA managed the following RFA reviews:

• DA 04-003: Centers For The Development Of Medications To Treat Drug Dependence
• DA 04-004: NIDA Neuroproteomics Research Centers (NIDA NPRCs)

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

• N01DA-4-1114: Technical Support for Constituency Outreach & Research Dissemination
• N01DA-4-1116: Blending Research and Practice
• N01DA-4-1117: NIDA Notes
• N01DA-4-1115: Communications Support
• N01DA-4-8844: Analytical Chemistry & Stability Testing of Treatment Drugs
• N01DA-4-8849: Animal Models of Methamphetamine-Induced Cognitive Impairment

Concept Reviews

• N01DA-4-7747: High-resolution Genome Scan for Drug Abuse Loci
• N01DA-4-7746: Production, Analysis & Distribution of Cannabis and Marijuana Cigarettes and related Compounds
• N01DA-4-9906: Taipei MDMA Usage Study
• N01DA-4-9907: Dopamine Neuron Study
• N01DA-4-9908: Washington University MDMA Study
• N01DA-4-8849: Animal Models of Methamphetamine-Induced Cognitive Impairment
• N01DA-4-8850: Compound Identification and Operations Support
• N01DA-4-9905: Neuroimaging Branch Support Services

The CTN Data and Safety Monitoring Board met March 18-19, 2004, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The group reviewed Wave 4 protocols, focusing on their data and safety monitoring plans, and the need for interim analyses. The Board also reviewed updates and trial progress on four ongoing studies, and agreed to bringing in study LIs to report on trial enrollment status and targets at the next meeting.

Extramural Outreach

Dr. Mark Swieter, OEA, gave presentations on The Peer Review Process at NIH and on Funding Mechanisms at a Grant Writing Workshop at the Virginia Youth Tobacco Program meeting on March 23, 2004, in Richmond, VA.

Dr. Mark Swieter delivered a talk on the Grants Enterprise at NIH to the NIDA INVEST and Humphrey fellows on March 5, 2004.

Dr. Teri Levitin, Director, OEA, has continued to serve on the NIH Director's Pioneer Award committee. This initiative is one of the NIH Roadmap activities; it will provide support for 5-10 investigators of exceptional creativity up to $500,000 per year for five years.

Dr. Teri Levitin organized and co-chaired a plenary session on "Images of Addiction" and organized and chaired a special session on "Funding Opportunities and Review Procedures for Brain Research at NIH" at the 15th Annual Spring Brain Conference in March 2004.

Dr. Teri Levitin organized and chaired an invited symposium for the Conference on Human Development meeting held in April 2004, in Washington, D.C. on "Funding Opportunities at NIH for Human Development Research".

Dr. Khursheed Asghar, OEA, presented a talk entitled "Review Process for NIDA MIDARP" at the April 13, 2004 NIDA sponsored meeting "Special Populations Research Development Series on Minority Institutions Drug Abuse Research Program (MIDARP)".

Staff Training and Development

The OEA Symposium Series, a forum for staff training and sharing of ideas and information, continued through the fall and winter. Topics addressed have included electronic Research Administration (eRA), the module for program staff in IMPAC II, a 5-year retrospective of NIDA's Career Development Award Program, Conference Grants, Cooperative Agreements, staff roles in promoting progress in the field, and staff management of active grants. The symposium series is organized and hosted by Dr. Mark Swieter.

Other Activities

Mr. Lyle Furr, OEA, attended the National Human Research Subjects Protections Conference in Orlando, FL, March 31, to April 2, 2004.

Mr. Richard Harrison, OEA, served on the Health Disparities Group and the Special Populations Minority Consortium and participated in the review of minority supplements in March 2004.

Ms. Pamela Stokes and Dr. Rita Liu, both of OEA, initiated an electronic system for referral of grant applications to the Institute's Divisions and program officials. The new system, developed in coordination with the Institute's budget office, Division and IT representatives, eliminates the need to send paper copies of grant applications around the Institute and streamlines the process for capturing program class codes assigned to applications.