Executive Summary

The Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies (IDAS) was established at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1993 to promote excellence in research and education on substance abuse. The Institute is currently comprised of over 50 faculty members from fourteen different departments within the university, thus enabling a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the complex problems associated with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

The substance abuse research conducted by IDAS faculty spans the disciplines of medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and it includes clinical and services research in community-based practice settings. One major focus of the Institute is on the biological basis for the actions of drugs of abuse on the brain; significant contributions have been made to the study of cocaine, opiates, marijuana, alcohol, hallucinogens, tobacco, inhalants and PCP. This research has been particularly valuable in providing the scientific basis for developing new drug abuse treatments. Other important areas of substance abuse research include the study of behavioral and genetic factors related to drug addiction, the evaluation of abuse liability of new medications, and the development and evaluation of new prevention and treatment models. IDAS faculty also have made major contributions to the study of tobacco use and dependence among youth.

Fiscal year 2007 was another year of exceptional accomplishments and growth at the Institute. In particular, the Institute made significant strides in advancing its mission to increase opportunities for substance abuse training and education. In addition to continuing its support for the concentration in addiction studies as part of the masters in public health program, IDAS graduated its first group of Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows in Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Policy under a 5 year grant from the Institute on International Education. With continuing support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the design and curricula for a new International Program in Addiction Studies (IPAS) was also developed this past year, with the first students to be enrolled in fall, 2008. This program will offer a tripartite masters of science degree in addiction studies from three of the world’s leading addiction’s research universities: VCU, King’s College London and the University of Adelaide. In addition to these accomplishments, the number and total dollar amount of sponsored research awards increased once again this year. IDAS faculty received 29 new awards, bringing the total amount of sponsored research this past year to nearly $23 million. An extremely productive year in scholarly pursuits, faculty published over 200 articles, books and book chapters. Finally, scholarship and leadership in substance abuse research by IDAS faculty was recognized through numerous honors and appointments.

FY 2008 also promises to be an exciting year, with many new initiatives already in the planning stages. For example, in collaboration with the VCU Department of Philosophy, IDAS will be sponsoring a four-part lecture series on Addiction and the Law. Open to the public, this effort will expand the Institute’s activities to interject scientific evidence into a critical public policy debate. We will also build on relationships established through the Humphrey Fellowship Program to begin developing stronger international collaborations. For example, with support from the VCU Office of International Education, IDAS faculty will be participating in a delegation to the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (Republic of South Africa) to explore joint educational and research initiatives and two grant applications are being planned with collaborators in South Africa. Finally, we will continue to build on our relationship with community partners, most notably the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, with whom IDAS faculty have developed several projects. Our earlier work on the Collaborative Forum on Substance Abuse Research and Practice has already led to one successful NIDA grant application that will be implemented in FY 2008. All of these initiatives will provide exciting opportunities for IDAS to advance its mission to promote excellence in substance abuse research and education.    

The most critical challenge faced by IDAS continues to be the lack of suitable office and research space, which severely limits the Institute’s future growth and development. The success of our faculty in generating nearly $23 million in funding this year for substance abuse research and training has not been matched by the availability of space in which to do the work, and it has limited our ability to recruit new faculty and compete for external funding.