KOSEN 한인과학기술자네트워크

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Primary Sponsor: Department of Health and Human Services Deadline: 4/1/2001; 8/1/2001; 12/1/2001 KEYWORDS Development of Methods to Detect Adverse Cardiovascular Interactions Between Cocaine and Potential Cocaine Dependence Treatment Medications The development and validation of in vitro and/or in vivo bioassay methods for the identification of adverse cardiovascular properties of potential cocaine addiction treatment medications are of special interest to the NIDA Treatment Research and Development Division. Since it is reasonable to believe that patients receiving cocaine dependence treatment medications may occasionally self-administer large quantities of cocaine, the bioassay procedures should be applicable not only to the study of the medication alone, but also to the study of cocaine/medication combinations. James B. Terrill, Ph.D. (301) 443-8289 Email: jt62r@nih.gov C. Behavioral Treatment Development Branch (BTDB) The BTDB supports research on behavioral treatments and combined behavioral and pharmacological treatments. Behavioral treatments include psychotherapies, behavior therapies, family therapies, group therapies, counseling strategies, rehabilitative techniques, brief behavioral interventions, therapeutic community treatments, and other psychosocial treatments. Research on these treatments may be carried out in any setting, including both academic and community or "real-world" settings. Behavioral Strategies for Increasing Compliance in Taking Treatment Medication Research to develop and to evaluate strategies to induce recovering addicts to take medication for a prolonged time, especially antagonists such as Naltrexone; to induce HIV infected drug users to comply with medical treatments (HAART) in drug abuse treatment settings; or to adapt existing behavioral strategies to increase patient compliance and cooperation in long-term treatment for drug abuse or for diseases associated with drug abuse such as tuberculosis or hepatitis. An important consideration should be cost and practicality of use in actual clinical practice or in an aftercare program. The product of such research might be a manual, which describes the behavioral strategy, and its implementation by treatment staff or scientific data regarding evaluation. Integration of Behavioral Therapies and Pharmacotherapies Development and testing of integrated therapeutic approaches for individuals who abuse various drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, nicotine, and opioids; in addition this may include individuals with co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders, since effective treatment of both disorders may lead to improved treatment outcomes. Integrated behavioral therapies and pharmacotherapies may enhance the efficacy of both types of therapeutic interventions. For instance, the maintenance and detoxification of heroin addicts could perhaps be optimized by the integration of distinctive behavioral therapies devised specifically for opioid agonists, antagonists or partial agonists determined by the heterogeneity of the subgroup of addicts and the pharmacological differences of the medications. Integration of medications and behavioral therapies could possibly enhance compliance with medication regimens, increase retention allowing pharmacological effects to occur and prevent relapse to drug abuse and addiction. Drug Abuse Treatment in Primary Care Settings Development and testing of brief behavioral interventions for drug use/abuse and other health risk behaviors in various populations (e.g., children, preadolescents, adolescents, women, minorities) that are seen in office-based practice and other health care settings. The brief intervention strategies may be used by a variety of health care professionals in primary health care settings. Also, development and testing of valid and reliable screening and assessment instruments to detect drug abuse that could be used by health professionals in primary health care settings. Woman and Gender Differences in the Provision of Behavioral Treatments, and HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Approaches Develop and evaluate specific behavioral treatment approaches targeting drug-addicted women. This may include behavioral therapies, skills training techniques, counseling strategies, and HIV and other infectious disease behavioral risk reduction strategies. . This may also include development and testing of training materials that specifically address women and gender differences in drug addiction treatment to promote effective use of research-based treatment approaches. Training materials may involve treatment manuals, training videos, CD and CD ROM technology or other innovative educational strategies for health professionals. Transporting Behavioral Treatments to Community Practitioners There is a need for effective methods of transferring behavioral therapies found to be effective in clinical trials to clinical practice. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, operant behavioral therapy, and family therapy are among the therapies that have been shown to be efficacious in a highly controlled setting and may be helpful treatment approaches in community treatment programs as well. However, community practitioners may have been trained using other approaches and may not have been exposed to these scientifically-based approaches. This is a call for proposals that examine mechanisms to transfer effective research-based drug abuse treatment information and skills-based techniques to practitioners in the community. This may involve the development and testing of training materials and procedures to use in the training of community practitioners to skillfully administer these treatments, including the development of highly innovative technology transfer and communication approaches. Research testing the transportability of empirically supported therapies to the community (Stage 3 research) is an important component of the Behavioral Therapies Development Program. There is also a need for the development of educational methods to train non-drug abuse health care workers in relating to drug abusers; eliciting medical histories regarding past or present drug abuse; recognition of the signs and symptoms of drug abuse; identification of those at high-risk for HIV and other drug abuse related medical problems such as tuberculosis or hepatitis. Development and validation of a drug abuse screening instrument which can be administered by primary health care providers, and training in administering such an instrument. Using Telemedicine to Disseminate Drug Addiction Research Findings to Primary Health Care Providers Telemedicine programs are being used in urban medical centers to rapidly disseminate science-based information on new medical treatments. In addition, approximately one-third of the rural hospitals are now using telemedicine to improve patient care. Health care professionals need science-based information on drug abuse prevention and treatment. Research to develop and evaluate telemedicine programs to transport science-based information on drug addiction to the primary health care community is encouraged. Developing Culturally Sensitive Behavioral Therapies for Racial and Ethnic Minorities Minority populations are disproportionately affected by the consequences of drug abuse. Research to develop and evaluate behavioral treatments that are culturally sensitive and relevant for diverse racial and ethnic minority populations is encouraged. This may include studies of behavioral treatments, alone or in combination with pharmacological treatment, or studies of behavioral strategies for increasing adherence to taking medications. In the development and evaluation of the behavioral treatment, attention needs to be directed at examining medical, social, and cultural factors that may influence adherence to the behavioral treatment approach and treatment outcome. Dorynne Czechowicz, M.D. (301) 443-0107 Email: dc97d@nih.gov Effects of Drugs at the Cellular Level Development of new imaging techniques, reagents and related hardware and software for dynamic investigations of the effects of drugs of abuse on cellular activities and communications. For example, these techniques might include, but are not limited to, development and utilization of reagents for magnetic resonance microscopy and other MRI methods; development of methodologies applying functional MRI to drug abuse studies; the use of dyes, intrinsic signals, and other optical indicators for studying signal transduction mechanisms, the regulatory control of protein entities (such as phosphorylation), and neuronal excitatory and inhibitory pathways. Areas of interest may include, but are not limited to: A. Studies using molecular biological techniques to scale-up protein production for investigations aimed at enhancing understanding of the structure, function and regulation of molecular entities involved in the cellular mechanisms through which abused drugs act. B. Validated in vitro test systems can reduce the use of animals in screening new compounds that may be of potential benefit in treating drug abuse. Test systems are needed to evaluate activity at receptors or other sites of action, explore mechanism(s) of action, and assess potential toxicity. C. With the recent success in molecular cloning of various drug abuse relevant receptors, enzymes, and other proteins, researchers will elucidate the molecular mechanism of action of these drugs. Studies to generate strains of transgenic animals carrying a gene of interest are solicited. Of special interest are knockout and tissue-specific knockout animals. These animals can be used to identify gene function, and to study the pharmacological, physiological, and behavioral role of a single gene. Jonathan Pollock, Ph.D. (301) 443-6300 Email: jp183r@nih.gov Other Research Topic(s) Within Mission of Institute Cathrine Sasek, Ph.D., SBIR Coordinator National Institute on Drug Abuse 6001 Executive Boulevard Room 5230, MSC9591 Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9591 (301) 443-6071; Fax: (301) 443-6277 Email: csasek@nih.gov For administrative and business management questions, contact: Gary Fleming, J.D. Grants Management Officer National Institute on Drug Abuse 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 3119, MSC9591 Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9591 (301) 443-6710 Solicitation closing dates are: April 1, August 1, and December 1, 2001.