NIDA Prevention Research in an Era of Fiscal Constraints

The current US fiscal climate presents both challenges and opportunities for Prevention Science in general, and for drug abuse prevention research in particular. The constraints of a tight budget lead to difficult decisions for funding agencies such as NIDA and other NIH institutes.  Applications will be scrutinized even more closely for mission relevance and potential return on investment.  However, this also highlights the prospect of focusing attention on innovative and critical research questions that will advance the field of drug abuse prevention.   This Roundtable brings together a panel comprised of five senior NIDA officials.  The Roundtable has two major objectives.  First, the panelists will discuss expectations and emphases for NIDA prevention science and prevention services research in the coming years, including priorities for implementation and adoption of evidence based practices. Second, the panelists will engage in active dialogue with the broader prevention science community so that NIDA’s research agenda planning will be better informed.  The NIDA panelists will be listening for the prevention field to identify both broad concepts and detailed research questions that are deemed critical to advance the science.