Extramural Policy and Review Activities

Receipt, Referral, and Review

NIDA received 1162 applications, including both primary and dual assignments and the Loan Repayment Program applications, 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 753 applications.

OEA arranged and managed 22 review meetings in which 387 applications were evaluated. 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 eight contract proposal reviews and ten concept reviews. The CRB also took responsibility for, and completed, 58 Loan Repayment Program application reviews included in the total of 387 noted above.

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. Special Emphasis Panels were also constituted for the Minority Institutions Drug Abuse Research Development Program (MIDARP), Centers applications (2 panels), a Program Project, Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition (B/START), Conference Grants, and Cutting Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA). Seven Special Emphasis Panels reviewed RFA submissions, and a final panel was constituted for the Loan Repayment Program.

OEA managed the following RFA reviews:

• DA 03-001: Diffusion of HIV Infection through Sexual Risk Behaviors of Drug Users
• DA03-002: Enhancing HIV Vaccine Efficacy in High-Risk Drug Users
• DA03-003: Improving Behavioral Health Services and Treatment for Adolescent Drug Users
• DA03-008: Transdisciplinary Prevention Research Centers
• DA03-010: Translating Tobacco Addiction Research into Treatment
• DA03-012: Drug Abuse and HIV Prevention in Youth
• DA03-015: Immunotherapy for Addition Treatment: SBIR/STTR Initiative

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

• N01DA-3-7736: Synthesis and Distribution of Drugs of Abuse and Related Compounds
• N44DA-3-7709: Virtual Reality -- Enhanced Therapy System for Treating Joint Pain
• N01DA-3-8839: Receptor Profiling and/or Compound Liability Screening
• N44DA-3-1109: Inside Out! The Human Board Game (SBIR Phase II)
• N01DA-3-8840: GMP Synthesis of Bulk Drug Substances
• N44DA-3-5519: Web-based Games to Support Drug Abuse (SBIR Phase II)
• N01DA-4-5524: DESPR Clinical Data Management & Support
• N01DA-4-7737: Quantitation of Drugs of Abuse by GC/MS

Concept Reviews

• N43DA-4-7739C: Development of Novel Approaches in Human Development
• N43DA-4-7744C: Virtual Reality for the Neurobiological Study of Drug-Brain and Behavior Interactions and Drug Abuse Treatment
• N43DA-4-5526C: Develop New Technologies for Screening & Assessing Drug Abuse and Matching Patients with Appropriate Treatment
• N43DA-4-5527C: Develop Screening and/or Assessment Tools for Multi-Problem Youth
• N43DA-4-5528C: New Technologies for Epidemiology Research
• N43DA-4-7742C: Discovery of New Chemical Probes
• N43DA-4-7740C: Efficient in vivo Delivery System for siRNA
• N43DA-4-7741C: Nanoscience-based Design of Therapies for Substance Abuse Treatment
• N43DA-4-7743C: Reagents to Identify Transcription Factors that Define Neural Cell Types
• N43DA-4-8843C: Design, Evaluation, and Integration of Image Analysis Methods to Facilitate Clinical Neuroimaging

Extramural Outreach

Drs. Teri Levitin, Director, OEA; Mark Green, Chief, Clinical, Epidemiological, and Applied Sciences Review Branch; and Mark Swieter, SRA, Basic Sciences Review Branch, presented a workshop at the annual College on Problems of Drug Dependence in June 2003. Their presentation, "What's New at NIH/NIDA and How Could it Affect You?" provided an update on extramural policies and procedures.

Dr. Swieter participated in a grantwriting workshop at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, along with Drs. Cindy Miner and David Shurtleff of NIDA and Dr. Scott Lukas.

Dr. Rita Liu, Associate Director for Receipt and Referral, OEA, represented NIDA in Boston at the June 2003 meeting of the Environmental Genome Project symposium, "Genes, Environment, and Disease".

Dr. Teri Levitin represented NIDA at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society in Atlanta, GA.

Staff Training and Development

The OEA Symposium Series, a forum for staff training and sharing of ideas and information, continued through the summer. Topics addressed have included stimulating creativity among grantees, special grant mechanisms for innovative research and junior investigators, and policy updates. The symposium series is organized and hosted by Dr. Mark Swieter.

Other Activities

The OEA has continued to assist in meeting requirements related to the President's Management Agenda objective regarding competitive sourcing, with staff involved in various aspects of the NIH competition of grants support functions.

Dr. William C. Grace, Deputy Director, OEA, participated in a focus group providing feedback to NIH on the effects of implementing modular grant policies.

Dr. Grace served on an NIH-wide committee developing a new mechanism for supporting development of clinical trials.

Dr. Teri Levitin represented NIDA on the NIH High-Risk Research Roadmap Working Group as part of the roadmap activities initiated by Dr. Zerhouni.

Dr. Teri Levitin served on an NIH-wide committee on review criteria for clinical research/ clinical trials applications.