National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), as part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, supports and conducts biomedical and behavioral research on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. The NIAAA functions both as a funding agency that supports research by external research institutions and as a research institution itself, where alcohol research is carried out in‐house.[1] It funds approximately 90 percent of all such research in the United States and promotes reductions in the per capita consumption of alcohol. NIAAA also provides leadership in the national effort to reduce the severe and sometimes fatal consequences of these problems.
According to its mission statement, the agency provides leadership in the national effort to reduce alcohol-related problems by:
- Conducting and supporting research in a wide range of scientific areas including genetics, neuroscience, epidemiology, health risks and benefits of alcohol consumption, prevention, and treatment
- Coordinating and collaborating with other research institutes and federal programs on alcohol-related issues
- Collaborating with international, national, state, and local institutions, organizations, agencies, and programs engaged in alcohol-related work
- Translating and disseminating research findings to health care providers, researchers, policymakers, and the public.
The Vision Statement of the agency is to support and promote the best science on alcohol and health for the benefit of all by:
- Increasing the understanding of normal and abnormal biological functions and behavior relating to alcohol use
- Improving the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol use disorders
- Enhancing quality health care
NIAAA's research initiatives are:
- Basic Research on Medications Development for Alcohol-Use Disorders
- Genetic Studies of Vulnerability to Alcohol
- Mechanisms and Markers of Alcohol-Induced Organ Damage and Organ Protection
- Behavioral and Genetic Risk Factors for Alcoholism
- Long-term, Community-Based Prevention of Alcohol Problems at Specific Life Stages: Underage Populations and the Elderly
- Identifying the Neuroscientific Basis of Alcohol-Related Behaviors
- Multi-site, Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Women, HIV/AIDS, and Alcohol
- Disparities in Adverse and Beneficial Effects of Alcohol
- Advancing Behavioral Therapies for Alcoholism
Their Work
Guided by their mission to lead the nation’s research efforts on alcohol use and abuse, NIAAA supports research conducted within the Institute, as well as in institutions around the world.
Extramural Research
Extramural research is research conducted by organizations outside the NIH with NIH support through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements.
NIAAA’s extramural research includes both clinical and basic science research.
Clinical research comprises more than 30 percent of NIAAA’s extramural research, and includes programs in:
Prevention Treatment Health Services Intramural Research
The laboratories and researchers housed within NIAAA seek to unravel the biological basis of alcohol use disorders and related problems, and to develop new strategies to prevent and treat these disorders.
See also
References
- ↑ http://journals1.scholarsportal.info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/tmp/5031446454702030488.pdf Addiction (June 2011), 106 (6), pg. 1052-1060 Markus Heilig; Kenneth R. Warren; George Kunos; Peter B. Silverman; Brenda G. Hewitt