Number 8, February 2006

This E-news is issued every other month to inform the international drug abuse research community about:

• What’s New
• Funding Opportunities
• The Research Training and Exchange Program
• Meetings
• Public Announcements from NIDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Other Items of Interest
• Reading Corner

What’s New

Institute of Medicine (IoM) Examines Prevention of HIV Infection among Injection Drug Users in High-Risk Countries
The IoM Board on Global Health is conducting an expedited review of scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of strategies to prevent and treat HIV in countries where drug use is the primary driver of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Although the review will include evidence from around the world, IoM is particularly seeking evidence from affected regions: Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, the Newly Independent States, Central Asia and South East Asia.

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Funding Opportunities

NIH Announces New Funding Initiative for Young Investigators
The NIH Pathway to Independence Award Program provides 1 to 2 years of mentored support followed by 3 to 5 years of independent support to researchers who have no more than 5 years of postdoctoral research training. Beginning in Fall 2006, NIH expects to issue between 150 and 200 Pathway to Independence Awards in each of five years, for a total of approximately $400 million. Both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens are eligible, but all research must be conducted at a U.S. institution. Initial applications are due April 7, 2006; standard application dates apply after the first deadline.

Existing Updates on NIDA’s International Program funding opportunities:

• Ongoing Research and Training Opportunities
  (in English & Spanish)
• International Clinical, Operational and Health Services Research Training Award
  (ICHORTA) (D43)
• PA-03-018 AIDS International Training and Research Program
  (Expires December 27, 2007
• International Research Collaboration on Drug Addiction, PA-06-050
  (Expires January 3, 2009

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Research Training and Exchange Updates

For current information on NIDA and NIH training and exchange programs, please visit the following Web pages:

National Institutes of Health Office of Extramural Research — Funding Opportunities and Notices

NIDA International Program

The NIDA International Program fosters international cooperative research and the exchange of scientific information by drug abuse researchers around the globe. International scientific collaboration in drug abuse research is fostered through the following programs:

• INVEST Drug Abuse Research Fellowship
  • Application Deadlines: April 1 and October 1
  • Notification of Award: June 1 and December 1
  • Fellowships awarded in June must begin by December 31 of the current year. Fellowships awarded in December must begin by June 30 of the following year.
  • How can I get help in finding a mentor or connecting with a NIDA grantee? To find a mentor who is right for you or to connect with a NIDA grantee, consult the online database of research projects supported by NIH at ip@nida.nih.gov).
  • Brazilian Named INVEST Fellow
    NIDA has selected Dr. Paulo Telles, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as an INVEST Drug Abuse Research Fellow. Dr. Telles will work with Dr. Kimberly Page-Shafer, University of California, San Francisco, to analyze hepatitis C (HCV) infection protection or susceptibility among young injection drug users (IDUs). The researchers will use qualitative and quantitative evidence to compare IDUs who are not infected with HCV to IDUs who have recently become infected with HCV in order to identify the prevention interventions and socio-cultural factors that moderate the risk of HCV infection. A psychiatrist, Dr. Telles has conducted research on preventing HIV, HCV, and other sexually transmitted diseases among drug-using populations that was supported by NIDA, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Brazilian government.
• Distinguished International Scientist Collaboration Program
  Click on the above link if you are a senior scientist collaborating with a NIDA grantee and would like to work together in the most suitable locale for joint research.
  Application Deadline: January 1
  Notification of Award: March 1
  (If you need an extension, please submit your request via e-mail to NIDA International Program atnida_ip@iqsolutions.com.)
• NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey Drug Abuse Research Fellowship
  Click on the above link if you are a mid-career professional who wants to gain international experience at a U.S. research institute. The NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey Drug Abuse Research Fellowship is a component of the larger U.S. Department of State program, and you must contact the U.S. Embassy or Fulbright Commission in your home country to apply. The U.S. Department of State is the primary sponsor of the Humber H. Humphrey Program.

NIH Fogarty International Center

The Fogarty International Center, the international component of the NIH, addresses global health challenges through innovative and collaborative research and training programs and supports and advances the NIH mission through international partnerships.

• Programs and Initiatives
• NIH Grants Information and Program Application Deadlines & Review Cycle Dates

Fogarty International Center / Ellison Medical Foundation - Overseas Fellowships in Global Health and Clinical Research

Overseas Fellowships in Global Health and Clinical Research

Are you a graduate-level U.S. student in the health professions? FIC/Ellison Medical Foundation offers a Clinical Research Training Fellowships that provides a one-year clinical research training experience at top-ranked, NIH-funded research centers in developing countries of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

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Meetings

Calendar of Major Scientific Meetings in Drug Abuse Research

2006 NIDA International Forum
June 16–19, 2006, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

• Meeting Announcement
• Online Registration Form

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Press Releases

• NIH News & Events
• NIDA Newsroom

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Other Items of Interest

Get Automated PubMed Updates From My NCBI

The Research Assistant
NIDA-funded research online tool for behavioral scientists.

NOTE: The following information is being provided for informational purposes only. Reference to any Website listed below does not constitute endorsement of or recommendation by NIDA/NIH/DHHS.

Access to Free or Low Cost Online Publications for Researchers

• International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)
• HINARI - Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative

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Reading Corner

Look here for research articles or other publications that may be of interest to the international drug abuse research community.

• Former INVEST Fellow and Mentor Co-Author Book Chapters

  2004-2005 NIDA INVEST Drug Abuse Research Fellow Dr. Liliana M. Cancela, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina, and her mentor, Dr. Peter W. Kalivas, Medical University of South Carolina, have published chapters in two new books: 1) "Hipótesis etiopatogénicas de los trastornos por abuso de sustancias" in Historia de la Psicofarmacología, Tomo I: De los orígenes a la medicina científica: sobre los pilares biológicos del nacimiento de la psicofarmacología, edited by F. López-Muñoz and C. Alamo and published in Madrid by Editorial Médica Panamericana, S.A.; and 2) "Substance Abuse Disorders" with Lingford-Hughes, which will be included in "Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders" in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology 3rd series.

NOTE: The following information is being provided for informational purposes only. Reference to any Website listed below does not constitute endorsement of or recommendation by NIDA/NIH/DHHS.

• The University of Maryland Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) provides a weekly, one-page overview of timely substance abuse trends or issues via e-mail. Back issues are available online at http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/cesarfax.asp. To subscribe, contact Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at +1-301-405-9770 or by E-mail at cesar@cesar.umd.edu.
• Publishing Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed
  (Click on BOOK ORDERS on the left-hand menu buttons)
  Thomas F. Babor, Kerstin Stenius and Susan Savva, eds.
  London, 2004, International Society of Addiction Journal Editors
  Co-published with the World Health Organization

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