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The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has been the lead Federal agency responsible for scientific research on alcohol and its effects for 40 years. During that time, NIAAA has conducted and funded groundbreaking research, distilled and disseminated those research findings to a broad audience, and ultimately improved public health. Among NIAAA's many significant contributions are the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, the largest survey ever conducted on alcohol and associated psychiatric and medical conditions; investment in research to identify the genes underlying vulnerability to alcoholism; creation of the Collaborative Studies on Genetics of Alcoholism, a study of the genetics of alcoholism in a human population; leadership in exploring the effects of alcohol on fetal development and on a variety of diseases and organ systems; fostering alcoholism treatment, including supporting a medications development program that has funded more than 30 Phase 2 trials and 15 human laboratory studies; international collaborations and work across the National Institutes of Health; influential research on preventing alcohol problems through community programs as well as policy changes; and the translation of research findings to everyday practice, including the production of award-winning clinician training materials. KEY WORDS: Alcoholism; alcohol and other drug use, abuse, and dependence; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions; Collaborative Studies on Genetics of Alcoholism; research; health services research; treatment research; prevention research; research in practice
In 1970, Congress passed and President Richard M. Nixon signed the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970. With the passage of that law, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) became the lead Federal agency to address the problems associated with alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Over time, NIAAA has continued to evolve. Today's research portfolio casts a net over a wide range of study-from epigenetics and neuroimaging to health disparities and personalized medicine. NIAAA continues to spark innovative approaches to research problems, to foster cooperation and collaboration with other agencies and programs, and to advance our understanding of alcohol and its effects.
For example, NIAAA took the lead in supporting research to explore alcohol's effects on fetal development in the 1970s, when many scientists and physicians doubted the existence...