Approach to Grant-Making Work Group Preliminary Recommendations National Institute on Drug Abuse National Advisory Council February 8, 2006

Workgroup Members Rudy Arredondo Kathleen Carroll Mark Greenberg Tom Kosten Scott Lukas Linda Porrino Claire Sterk David Vlahow Constance Weisner Denise Pintello – NIDA Staff

Workgroup Charge Recommendations to protect young investigators in an age of restricted budgets. Guidelines about PIs with multiple grants [NIDA or other Institute or Center (IC) Balance between “large” versus “small” science at NIDA. Recommendations on the duration of grants (RO1s, Centers, program projects); and Other issues as deemed appropriate.

Across NIH and NIDA, there is commitment to the development of careers of new investigators and to encouraging innovation through the grant process. Our recommendations are designed to stimulate the development of new/young investigators and facilitate innovative and interdisciplinary work.

Recommendations to protect new investigators  Set aside a proportion of NIDA's budget to be used at the discretion of the NIDA Director to fund promising new investigators whose scores may place them in the non-competitive range; track these investigators to see if they subsequently compete as successfully for support as other new investigators.  The KAward process has been productive and should continue and expanded.

Guidelines about PIs with large and/or multiple grants: The expectation is that such investigators/labs/Centers should facilitate training and innovation. Recommend examining all large/long duration grants and multiple grants from a single principal investigator to assess the opportunities that have been provided for the training/mentoring of new investigators, as well as their dissemination efforts. Carefully monitor the training opportunities provided by these grants and multiply-funded applicants and laboratories. Program should consider their record in training opportunities and dissemination in funding decisions.

Recommendations on balance between large versus small science at NIDA  Continue regular meetings within NIDA staff for joint planning on how to best align their programs with Roadmap and other trans-NIH funding opportunities. Continue proactive work of NIDA staff to inform the NIDA community of Roadmap and other trans-NIH funding opportunities and to assist them in preparing competitive applications. Focus on innovative ways of targeting new and junior investigators. Monitor the success of this effort and provide the results to Council.