Extramural Policy and Review Activities

Receipt, Referral, and Review

NIDA received 1428 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 1163 applications.

OEA arranged and managed 32 grant review meetings in which 679 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 13 contract proposal and contract proposal 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 28 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)
Imaging Science Track Awards for Research Transition (I/START)
Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21)
Conference Grants (R13)
NIH Pathway To Independence (PI) Awards (K99/R00)
Loan Repayment Program,br> Requests for Applications (RFA)

OEA managed the following RFA reviews:

• DA07-002/DA07-003: Mechanisms of Drug Abuse Interactions With HIV Neuropathogenesis (R01 & R03)
• DA07-004: Development of Immunotherapeutic Products for the Treatment of Methamphetamine Addiction (U01)
• DA07-006: Design, Synthesis, and Preclinical Testing of Potential Treatment Agents for Drug Addiction (R01)
• DA07-007: Brain Imaging Drug Use Prevention Messages (R21)
• DA07-008: Exploratory/Developmental Centers for Translational Research on the Clinical Neurobiology of Drug Addiction (P20)
• DA07-010/ DA07-011: Extinction and Pharmacotherapies for Drug Addiction (R01 & R03)
• DA07-012: The Genes, Environment, and Development Initiative (U01)
• DA07-013: Joint NIDA-NIJ Initiative for Research on Retail Drug Markets (R21)
• RM07-004: Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research via Methodological and Technological Innovation in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (R21)

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

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

• N01DA-7-1130: International Collaboration Opportunities & Research Partnerships
• N01DA-7-1134: Blending Research and Practice

SBIR Phase I Concept Review

• N43DA-8-1135: Development of a Practical Tool Kit to Help Offerors Submit a Successful SBIR/STTR Proposal
• N43DA-8-1136: Building International Research Capacity
• N43DA-8-2213: Development of Website Training for Pain Specialists on Addiction Medicine
• N43DA-8-2214: Development of Web-based Skills Training for Primary Care Physicians on Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment
• N43DA-8-5538: Drug Abuse Screening, Assessment, Patient-Treatment Matching Technologies for use in Primary Care
• N43DA-8-5539: Tools to Measure Cost- Cost Offsets of Prevention Interventions Cost Benefits, Cost Effectiveness Studies
• N43DA-8-7764: Nanoscience-based Design of Therapies for Substance Abuse
Treatment
• N43DA-8-7765: Discovery and Study of Psychoactive Components of Botanicals
• N43DA-8-8874: Design and Synthesis of Treatment Agents for Drug Abuse

Phase II SBIR Contract Reviews

• N44DA-7-4404: Rehabilitation for Methamphetamine Induced Impulsivity
• N44DA-7-4407: E-Health Relapse Prevention for the Workplace

Certificates of Confidentiality

Between April 6 and July 31 2007, OEA processed 92 Certificate applications, including 23 for extension of expiration dates and 13 for amended protocols.

Staff Training and Development

The OEA Symposium Series, a forum for staff training and sharing of ideas and information, continued through the spring. Activities included open forums for discussions and presentations that included "NIDA's HIV/AIDS Research Program: The Evolving Scientific Agenda within a New Budget Era" by Dr. Jacques Normand and "Requirement for OMB Clearance for NIDA Contracts Involving Clinical Research and Seeking Exemption from It" by Dr. Charles MacKay.

CTN-Related Review Activities

The Data and Safety Monitoring Board(s) met:

• May 10, 2007 to review and discuss the progress of study protocol CTN 0028, Randomized Controlled Trial of Osmotic-Release Methylphenidate (OROS MPH) for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Adolescents with Substance Use Disorders (SUD).
• June 20, 2007 via web conference to review an update report for study protocol CTN 0027 Starting Treatment with Agonist Replacement Therapies (START) implementation.
• July 13, 2007 to review and discuss study protocol CTN 0032, HIV Rapid Testing and Counseling Protocol.