NIDA Treatment Research Branch

NIDA's Treatment Research Branch (TRB) seeks to expand and improve the therapeutic options available to drug abusers and drug dependent persons.

TRB supports research on:

• behavioral, approved pharmacological, and nontraditional treatments for drug abuse and dependence.

• interventions to reduce AIDS risk behaviors.

• strategies to attract drug abusers to treatment, retain them in treatment, and help them avoid relapse.

• the development of screening and diagnostic methods that identify patients' special needs, enabling them to be matched to the most effective treatments.

Major Areas of Research

• Behavioral Therapies Development Program

  The Behavioral Therapies Development Program is a major initiative to develop and explore the efficacy of behavioral therapies for the treatment of drug abuse and dependence. Behavioral therapies being studied include:

  • psychotherapies
  • behavior therapies
  • counseling
  • family-focused therapies.

  This program encompasses Stage I or therapy development research, as well as Stage II or therapeutic efficacy research. Establishing the transportability of efficacious therapies to the community or Stage III research is also a goal of this program.

• Pharmacotherapy Treatment

  TRB supports research on established pharmacotherapies. This is an area of research to improve the effect of marketed medications (e.g., methadone, LAAM, naltrexone, and nicotine gum/patch) for the treatment of drug abuse and dependence. The development and integration of behavioral therapies with pharmacotherapies to maximize efficacy is an important area of investigation.

• AIDS Risk Reduction

  TRB promotes research to reduce or prevent highrisk behaviors associated with AIDS among drug abusers. The aim of this program is to develop and test HIV risk reduction strategies that can be integrated within or added to drug abuse and dependence therapies.

• Comorbid Mental and Drug Abuse Disorders

  Research on comorbid mental and addictive disorders is supported by the TRB. TRB seeks to develop and test the efficacy of therapies for drug addicted populations with cooccurring mental disorders.

• Drug Abuse Treatment In Primary Care Settings

  This initiative promotes research to develop and test (a) screening, assessment and diagnostic instruments to aid in the detection of drug abuse and drugrelated problems; and (b) brief therapeutic interventions that can be used in officebased and other health care treatment settings.

• Special Populations

  TRB promotes research that addresses the unique needs of special populations such as women, children and adolescents, and ethnic and racial minorities.

Treatment Research Staff

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