NIDA Seeks Input for 2021-25 Strategic Plan

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is seeking input from the public and the scientific community as it crafts its strategic plan for 2021-25.

The plan has three main goals, NIDA director Nora Volkow, MD, wrote in a blog post on the NIDA website:

• Understand drug use, addiction and the brain
• Develop and test novel prevention, treatment and recovery support strategies
• Implement evidence-based strategies in real-world settings

Volkow also identified four topics that will get special focus over the next five years: reducing stigma around SUD, reducing health disparities, understanding sex/gender differences related to SUD/addiction, and understanding the relationships between substance use and co-occurring conditions.

The strategic plan will serve as NIDA’s overarching vision for shaping addiction science in the coming years and include information on how the institute intends to manage public funds, but it is not intended to serve as an exhaustive list of initiatives for the institute, Volkow wrote.

Additional information, including how to submit responses, is available in the Request for Information document published on the National Institutes of Health website. Responses are due Aug. 7.