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Related Announcements

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Issued by

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Purpose

This Notice is a Request for Information (RFI) inviting feedback on an outline for the NIDA Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2021-2025.

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

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the lead federal agency supporting research on drug use and its consequences. NIDA’s mission is to advance science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual and public health. NIDA is developing a new strategic plan to communicate a vision for advancing the Institute’s mission over the next five years.

Information Requested

NIDA seeks comments on the draft outline for its FY 2021-2025 Strategic Plan from diverse stakeholders, including scientific experts, health care providers, patients and family members, advocacy groups, other federal agencies, and non-governmental scientific, professional, and healthcare organizations. We encourage organizations to submit a single response reflecting input from their organization as a whole.

Please provide your perspective on any or all of the following points:

• The scientific goals and actions articulated in the framework, including additional areas of opportunity that should be included in the plan, drawbacks or challenges to accomplishing these goals and actions, and/or other items for consideration
• Cross-cutting research topics and approaches articulated in the framework, and/or additional cross-cutting themes that should be considered
• Other topics that you find relevant to the development of the strategic plan
• Ways to ensure widespread dissemination and implementation of the plan

NIDA FY 2021-2025 Strategic Plan Outline

Introduction

Overview of the strategic plan as it relates to NIDA’s mission to advance science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and apply that knowledge to improve individual and public health:

• Landscape of Substance Use in America
• Strategic Planning at NIDA: Past, Present, Future
• Organizing Principles of NIDA’s Strategic Plan
• Overview of the Strategic Planning Process

Cross-Cutting Research Topics and Approaches

Research topics and approaches with relevance across NIDA’s goals and strategic actions:

Research Topics

• Identify and Develop Approaches to Reduce Stigma
• Identify and Develop Approaches to Reduce Health Disparities
• Understand Sex/Gender Differences
• Understand the Interactions Between Substance Use, HIV and other Co-occurring Conditions, including COVID-19

Research Approaches

• Leverage Technology and Innovation
• Capitalize on Big Data Analytics and Open Data Sharing
• Integrate the Complexity of Drug Use and Related Behaviors into Models

Priority Research Goals and Actions

Three overarching research goals form the foundation for the strategic plan and associated actions:

Goal 1: Understand Drug Use, Behavior and the Brain

• Action 1.1: Advance basic neuroscience and understand the neurological impact of drug use
• Action 1.2: Enhance knowledge of the real-world landscape of drug use
• Action 1.3: Determine individual and population level risk and protective factors for drug use and addiction across the lifespan

Goal 2: Develop and Test Novel Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Support Strategies

• Action 2.1: Identify innovative interventions that include attention to opioid, stimulant, and cannabis use disorders, and adolescent vaping
• Action 2.2: Target interventions to the needs of the whole patient and their families
• Action 2.3: Identify appropriate endpoints for demonstrating effectiveness in treatment outcome

Goal 3: Implement Evidence-Based Strategies in Real-World Settings

• Action 3.1: Support research to scale up application of tested interventions that include screening, harm reduction approaches, and collaborative care models
• Action 3.2: Identify ways to enhance integrating prevention, treatment, and recovery support services into general medical care and other settings, including justice settings
• Action 3.3: Better understand the impact of racial inequity, cultural differences, social structures, and evolving drug policy on health disparities in accessing and utilizing quality care for substance use disorders

Scientific Stewardship of Public Resources

NIDA’s commitment to being responsible stewards of public funds via:

• Promoting High Quality Research Training and a Diverse Research Workforce
• Translating and Disseminating Research to Inform Policy and Practice
• Fostering Collaboration with Public and Private Partners
• Supporting the Development of Cutting-edge Research Infrastructure
• Advancing Rigor and Reproducibility of Scientific Evidence

How to Submit a Response

Responses to this RFI must be submitted via email at: NIDAStrategicPlan@nida.nih.gov

To ensure full consideration, responses must be received by August 7, 2020.

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 NIDA staff, and individual feedback will not be provided to any responder. The U.S. Government will use the information submitted in response to this RFI at its discretion.

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 NIDA 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 U.S. 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. The provided information will be analyzed and may appear, in summary form, removing personally identifying or sensitive information, in reports or other publicly accessible resource

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

NIDA Strategic Planning Team
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Email: NIDAStrategicPlan@nida.nih.gov