Notice Number: NOT-AA-16-010
Key Dates
Release Date: November 15, 2016
Response Date: December 6, 2016
None
Issued by
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Purpose
This Notice is a time-sensitive Request for Information (RFI) inviting comments and suggestions on the draft NIAAA Strategic Plan for Research: 2017-2021.
NOTE: It is important to read this entire RFI notice to ensure an adequate response is prepared and to have a full understanding of how your response will be utilized.
Background
NIAAA is developing a new five-year Strategic Plan to advance its mission to generate and disseminate fundamental knowledge about the effects of alcohol on health and well-being, and apply that knowledge to improve diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol-related problems, including alcohol use disorder, across the lifespan.
The strategic plan will serve as roadmap for optimizing the allocation of NIAAA’s resources to areas of alcohol research most likely to benefit from additional support, and translating scientific discoveries for the benefit of the public, with a continued focus on many of the Institute’s current research priorities. While the strategic goals and objectives of the plan reflect the breadth of NIAAA’s scientific portfolio, the document is not intended to articulate every important research opportunity within the broad field of alcohol research.
Information Requested
This RFI seeks input on the strategic goals, objectives, and cross-cutting themes outlined in the draft NIAAA Strategic Plan for Research: 2017-2021. These goals, objectives, and themes are listed below, and the complete draft plan is available at: https://niaaa.nih.gov/draft-strategic-plan. NIAAA invites comments from researchers, health care professionals, patient advocates and advocacy organizations, scientific and professional organizations, federal agencies, and other interested members of the public. Organizations are encouraged to submit a single response that reflects the views of their organization and membership as a whole.
Specifically, NIAAA seeks comments on the following:
- Suggested changes or additions to the strategic goals and objectives or cross-cutting themes, including research gaps, emerging research needs, and future opportunities that should be considered in the strategic plan.
- The scientific or public health rationale for the changes or ideas proposed and the anticipated impact on advancing alcohol research.
- Anticipated challenges that will need to be addressed to achieve these priorities.
Draft Strategic Goals and Objectives
Goal 1: Identify Mechanisms of Alcohol Action, Alcohol-Related Pathology, and Recovery.
- Objective 1a: Identify mechanisms underlying alcohol use disorder and co-occurring mental health conditions.
- Objective 1b: Identify genomic and non-genomic factors associated with resilience and vulnerability to alcohol misuse, alcohol use disorder, and co-occurring mental health conditions.
- Objective 1c: Identify mechanisms through which alcohol contributes to organ damage and disease.
Goal 2: Improve Diagnosis and Tracking of Alcohol Misuse, Alcohol Use Disorder, and Alcohol-Related Consequences.
- Objective 2a: Improve the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder
- Objective 2b: Develop new approaches for diagnosing fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, enabling early interventions.
- Objective 2c: Develop and evaluate measures to improve the diagnosis of alcohol-related organ damage, especially alcoholic liver disease, and assess its progression.
- Objective 2d: Track the prevalence, patterns, and trends of: alcohol use, misuse, and alcohol use disorder; co-occurring conditions; and alcohol-related consequences across the lifespan.
Goal 3: Develop and Improve Interventions to Prevent Alcohol Misuse, Alcohol Use Disorder and Alcohol-Related Consequences.
- Objective 3a: Promote universal screening and brief intervention for alcohol and other substance use.
- Objective 3b: Develop, evaluate, and promote effective interventions for preventing alcohol misuse, alcohol use disorder, and related consequences for individuals at all stages of life.
Goal 4: Develop and Improve Treatments for Alcohol Misuse, Alcohol Use Disorder, Co-occurring Conditions, and Alcohol-Related Consequences.
- Objective 4a: Improve existing behavioral treatments for alcohol use disorder and co-occurring conditions, and develop new behavioral treatments based on advances in neuroscience and basic behavioral research.
- Objective 4b: Develop novel medications for treating alcohol use disorder and co-occurring conditions.
- Objective 4c: Identify factors that facilitate or inhibit sustained recovery from alcohol use disorder.
- Objective 4d: Advance precision medicine by evaluating which treatments for alcohol use disorder and related conditions work best for which individuals.
- Objective 4e: Develop and evaluate interventions to treat fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, alcoholic liver disease, and other negative health outcomes caused by alcohol misuse.
- Objective 4f: Evaluate the effectiveness, accessibility, affordability, and appeal of alcohol use disorder treatments and recovery models, and test strategies to increase their adoption in real-world settings.
Goal 5: Enhance the Public Health Impact of NIAAA-Supported Research.
- Objective 5a: Improve public awareness of the effects of alcohol on health and well-being, and of options for preventing and treating alcohol misuse, alcohol use disorder, and alcohol-related problems for individuals at all stages of life.
- Objective 5b: Develop and promote tools and resources to assist healthcare providers, researchers, and policy makers in addressing alcohol misuse, alcohol use disorder, and other alcohol-related health consequences.
- Objective 5c: Strengthen collaborations to facilitate dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices for preventing, diagnosing, and treating alcohol misuse, alcohol use disorder, and related problems.
Cross-cutting themes:
- Address Alcohol Misuse Across the Lifespan
- Address Co-Occurring Conditions
- Reduce Health Disparities
- Advance Precision Medicine
- Strengthen the Biomedical Research Workforce
- Serve as a Responsible Steward of Our Nation’s Research Resources
How to Submit a Response
To ensure consideration, responses must be received by December 6, 2016 and should be emailed to [email protected]. Respondents will not receive individualized feedback.
Responses to this RFI are voluntary. Do not include any proprietary, classified, confidential, trade secret, or sensitive information in your response. The responses will be reviewed by NIAAA staff, and individual feedback will not be provided to any responder. The Government will use the information submitted in response to this RFI at its discretion. The Government reserves the right to use any submitted information on public NIH websites, in reports, in summaries of the state of the science, in any possible resultant solicitation(s), grant(s), or cooperative agreement(s), or in the development of future funding opportunity announcements.
This RFI is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation, grant, or cooperative agreement, or as an obligation on the part of the Federal Government, the NIH, or individual NIH Institutes and Centers to provide support for any ideas identified in response to it. The Government will not pay for the preparation of any information submitted or for the Government’s use of such information. No basis for claims against the U.S. Government shall arise as a result of a response to this request for information or from the Government’s use of such information.
We look forward to your input and hope that you will share this RFI document with your colleagues.
Inquiries
Please direct all inquiries to:
Email: [email protected]
and Human Services (HHS)
