NIDA Notes

Institute of Medicine's (IOM) AIDS Research Recommendations

This is Archived content. This content is available for historical purposes only. It may not reflect the current state of science or language from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). For current information, please visit nida.nih.gov.

In a 360-page study mandated by Congress, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) makes 46 specific recommendations describing how NIDA and two other Federal agencies can broaden the scope of their AIDS-related behavioral studies. In the 1994 report, AIDS and Behavior: An Integrated Approach, the IOM commends NIDA on its record of AIDS research- multidisciplinary studies using various innovative combinations of pharmacologic, behavioral, and social approaches to improve the effectiveness of addiction treatment and outreach strategies for out-of-treatment addicts. The IOM recommended that the three Institutes- NIDA, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism- intensify and coordinate their research into behaviors that contribute to the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The IOM, with a membership of distinguished physicians and medical researchers, is a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, which advises Congress on health policy issues. Among the IOM's AIDS research recommendations are the following:

  • Collaborate to sponsor and conduct a nationwide survey of the prevalence of HIV infection and the behavioral and other factors associated with its spread.
  • Conduct studies of the social, psychological, and biological factors that affect HIV risk-taking behaviors.
  • Continue to develop studies of high-risk settings for drug abuse, such as shooting galleries and crack houses, that may contribute to the spread of HIV and AIDS, and help implement prevention efforts in those settings.
  • Expand basic research into the biology of sexuality as it relates to high-risk sexual behaviors and include studies of how the central nervous system controls sexual behavior.
  • Support research into changes in AIDS risk behaviors among seriously mentally ill men and women and those with other cognitive impairments, including individuals not in psychiatric treatment.
  • Continue supporting basic and applied research into the maintenance of behavior change, including how to prevent patients undergoing treatment for alcohol and drug abuse from relapsing.
  • Expand basic research into the biology of substance abuse, including the function of dopamine systems, the mechanisms and components of addiction-euphoria, tolerance, sensitization, and withdrawal-and the role of opioid receptors in drug addiction and abuse.
  • Design research to estimate the number of HIV infections averted by prevention efforts and the resulting savings in health care costs.
  • Develop new funding programs and grant review procedures to encourage innovative, collaborative, and cross-disciplinary research proposals.
  • Develop new initiatives to support research on the role of social, cultural, and structural factors in HIV and AIDS transmission, prevention, and intervention.
  • Expand studies in the following behavioral and social science research areas: behavioral epidemiology research, cognitive science, cultural and ethnographic projects, intervention research, mental health research, behavioral aspects of technological interventions, organizational studies, cost-effectiveness research, and evaluation research.