The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse recently published a special edition devoted to NIH-funded research in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. The driving force behind this collection of 24 articles was a 2010 conference that brought together experts and stakeholders from across academic institutions, native communities and government to discuss research findings and research opportunities in AI/AN substance...

Researchers have identified a blood test that may help predict how severely a baby will be affected by alcohol exposure during pregnancy, according to a study published November 9 in the journal PLOS ONE. The study authors, from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine and the Omni-Net Birth Defects Prevention Program in...

Alcohol produces a wide range of pharmacological effects on the nervous system through its actions on ion channels. The molecular mechanism underlying ethanol modulation of ion channels is poorly understood. NIAAA scientists used a unique method of alcohol-tagging to demonstrate that alcohol activation of a G-protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK or Kir3) channel is mediated by a defined alcohol pocket...

NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM Summary of the 118th Meeting June 4-5, 2008 The National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism convened for its 118th meeting at 5:30 p.m. on June 4, 2008, at the FishersLaneConferenceCenter in Rockville, Maryland, in a closed session. Dr. Abraham Bautista presided over the closed review of grant applications. Dr. Ting-Kai...

Join us for a webinar on Apr 10, 2019 at 2:00 PM EDT. Register now! Among adults 18 and older, alcohol use is increasing, particularly for females. Alcohol use among middle- and high-school students is declining, but primarily for young males. Previously large gaps in alcohol use for teen males and females have disappeared. These changing patterns are concerning given...

Join us for a webinar on Apr 10, 2019 at 2:00 PM EDT. Register now! Among adults 18 and older, alcohol use is increasing, particularly for females. Alcohol use among middle- and high-school students is declining, but primarily for young males. Previously large gaps in alcohol use for teen males and females have disappeared. These changing patterns are concerning given...

CONTENT: A. Legislation, Budget, and Policy B. Director’s Activities C. NIAAA Staff and Organization D. Research Priority Emphasis and Core Support Teams E. NIAAA Research Programs F. Scientific Meetings G. Outreach H. Multi-Media Products from NIAAA A. Legislation, Budget, and Policy Federal Employee Health Coverage for Substance Abuse Services In the Office of Personnel Management’s annual call for benefit and...

A new study released today by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), estimates that the economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse was $246 billion in 1992, the most recent year for which sufficient data were available. This estimate represents $965 for every man...

Brain molecules similar to the active compound in marijuana help to regulate alcohol consumption, according to new reports by scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Bethesda, Maryland, and a separate NIAAA-supported group at several New York state research institutions. In studies conducted with a strain of mice known to have a high preference for alcohol...

Bethesda, Maryland. If multiple city departments and private citizens join together to implement comprehensive traffic safety strategies, they can significantly reduce traffic deaths and injuries, according to an article by Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., and colleagues at Boston University in the June American Journal of Public Health (Volume 86, No. 6). The Saving Lives program reduced traffic deaths by 25...

In a special supplement to Pediatrics, edited and sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), physicians will have access in one place to the reviews and analyses of current research on biological, behavioral, and environmental changes during childhood and adolescence that foster the initiation, maintenance, and acceleration of illegal use of alcohol by underage youth. This...

Scientists tracking the progress of children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as they became teenagers have shed new light on the link between ADHD and the risk of developing alcohol and substance use problems. The researchers found that individuals with severe problems of inattention as children were more likely than their peers to report alcohol-related problems, a greater frequency of...

This is a correction to the webex connection information for the ABCD pre-application technical assistance webinar, which will be conducted on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. EST to discuss the three new Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Longitudinal Study funding opportunities: (1) a set of research project sites ( RFA-DA-15-015), (2) a single central data analysis...

At the 2017 meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, the symposium “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Alcohol Treatment But Were Afraid To Ask: A Primer for Non-Clinicians” covered screening and diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, brief interventions, and referral to treatment, as well as the many treatment options and potential pathways through treatment. The symposium included discussions...

At the 2017 meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, the symposium “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Alcohol Treatment But Were Afraid To Ask: A Primer for Non-Clinicians” covered screening and diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, brief interventions, and referral to treatment, as well as the many treatment options and potential pathways through treatment. The symposium included discussions...

NIAAA issued this notice NOT-AA-17-002 ( https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-AA-17-002.html) to communicate the policy regarding grant applications seeking to identify common variants conferring genetic risks for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and related phenotypes. The policy is based on recommendations from the Genetics and Genomics Advisory Meeting NIAAA convened on October 26, 2016. The Advisory Panel determined that Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) are currently...

News Advisory Updated Guide Offers Clinicians New Tools to Help Patients With Alcohol Problems What: Announces update of Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much: A Clinician’s Guide, produced by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Why: The updated Guide includes a new medications management program that consists of brief...

National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Summary of the 115th Meeting May 24, 2007 The National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism convened for its 115th meeting at 5:30 p.m. on May 23, 2007, at the Fishers Lane Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland, in a closed session, and again in open session at 9:00 a.m. on May...

It is now well accepted in pediatrics and obstetrics that prenatal alcohol is a teratogenic agent and the primary causative factor underlying fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), although for the majority of the 20th century that knowledge was either unknown or ignored. At least 2 factors contributed to the delay in recognizing alcohol's role in teratogenicity: the rejection of earlier...

The Research Society on Alcoholism has selected NIAAA deputy director Dr. Kenneth R. Warren to receive the RSA Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes a person with a long, balanced career whose contributions to alcohol research, training, service and advocacy have had a lasting impact on the field. Warren is a distinguished scientific administrator and a foremost expert on the...