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These are graphics of brain scans showing the changes that happen in the brain when a child is successful at achieving a reward. Areas of the brain that are most active are highlighted in red and yellow.

NIDA's Scientific Findings & Achievements of 2018

January 07, 2019
As we enter 2019, it is a good time to take stock of what NIDA accomplished over the past year. As always when I look back at the research being done by NIDA grantees and partners, I am amazed at the wealth of knowledge being created from our investments. Here I want to highlight just a few of the many outstanding developments in basic science, new therapeutics, and epidemiology and prevention research from the year that just ended. Read More.

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Recent Posts

National AIDS Testing day logo

National HIV Testing Day, June 27, 2014

June 2014
Almost 1.1 million Americans are currently living with the HIV virus, and nearly a sixth of those don’t even know they are infected. That means they aren’t getting needed treatment, and it means they could be passing the infection on to others without knowing. Read More.

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Trends in overdose deaths 1999-2011, of significance from 2006 to 2011, opiod deaths up 28%, cocaine deaths down 35%, heroin deaths up 119%

What Can We Do About the Heroin Overdose Epidemic?

June 2014
A striking new dimension of our nation’s ongoing opioid epidemic is the escalating number of deaths from heroin overdose. Read More.

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The Leaky Pipeline! Career Level Disparities in Neuroscience Programs for URMS

Increasing Diversity in Research

June 2014
Diversity enriches any workforce, and that is especially true of science. People with different backgrounds and experiences may think in different ways, produce different ideas and insights, and approach scientific questions from different angles. Read More.

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Photo of a group of teens

National Longitudinal Study of the Neurodevelopmental Consequences of Substance Use

May 2014
A major new longitudinal study aims to examine the effects of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs on the developing brain. Read More.

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RX Drug Abuse Summit logo

National RX Drug Abuse Summit

April 2014
The Summit brings together people on all sides of the problem, including representatives from government agencies, law enforcement, and the treatment world. Read More.

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Commission on Narcotic Drugs 2014

UNODC Recommends Treating Addiction as Health, Not Legal, Issue

March 2014
Earlier this month I went to Vienna for the 57th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), part of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). There I chaired a working group that presented a set of recommendations to the CND concerning the most appropriate, scientifically informed way to approach the problem of substance use disorders: as a medical, not a legal, issue. Read More.

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Naloxone as packaged in a box for distribution

Naloxone—A Potential Lifesaver

March 2014
Naloxone can reverse or block the effects of other opioids. It can very quickly restore normal respiration to a person whose breathing has slowed or stopped as a result of abusing heroin or prescription opioids, or accidentally ingesting too much pain medication Read More.

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Glucose metabolism in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in healthy and cocaine-addicted subject.

Addiction and Free Choice

February 2014
The recent death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a result of drug addiction has provoked many thoughtful, sympathetic responses in the media, from people in recovery who understand how hard it is to wrestle with addiction, as well as from scientifically informed journalists who understand that addiction is a disease. Read More.

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Philip Seymour Hoffman

Another Reminder of the Terrible Toll of Addiction

February 2014
This past weekend Americans were shocked and saddened to learn that one of our greatest actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman, had died at age 46 of an apparent heroin overdose. Hoffman’s death, in the prime of his life and career, is a poignant reminder of some of the harsh realities of a disease that 17.7 million Americans struggle with and that all too often cuts their lives short. Read More.

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Students at the National Drug Facts Week assembly for the South Central SADD organization in Greenwich, Ohio.

National Drug Facts Week

January 2014
This week—January 27 through February 2—is the fourth annual National Drug Facts Week. Every year since 2010, NIDA has sponsored this observance, during which schools and other community organizations host events to share and spread the science on drugs and drug abuse to teenagers. Read More.

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Dr. Nora Volkow: Remarks and Video Highlights

APA 2015 meeting

About This Blog

Dr. Nora Volkow

Here I highlight important work being done at NIDA and other news related to the science of drug use and addiction.
—Dr. Nora Volkow, Director

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