Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 7, 2000

Volume 28, Number 27

NIDA gives Yale $11 million grant

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has awarded $11 million to Yale over five years to establish a clinical trials network aimed at testing, refining and disseminating drug addiction treatments in the community.

Yale is one of five grant recipients around the country and will join community treatment providers and Advanced Behavioral Health (ABH), a statewide not-for-profit company, to carry out the New England Node of the National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network (CTN). The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) will work with Yale and ABH to implement the New England Node.

"We are extremely proud that NIDA has designated this department, ABH and our collaborators as the New England Node for the CTN," said Dr. Steve Bunney, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine. "Like many grants of its size, it will achieve more than its stated aim. The power of the potential synergism in the alliance between Yale, ABH, DMHAS and DCF can not be overestimated."

The CTN will provide a research infrastructure to evaluate drug addiction treatments in real-life settings with diverse client populations. By bridging the gap between research and practice, the CTN will foster partnerships among NIDA, treatment researchers and community-based treatment programs.

"We are quite honored and excited about the opportunity to work closely with these substance abuse treatment providers to improve the quality of drug abuse treatment in Connecticut and throughout New England," said Kathleen Carroll, principal investigator of the grant.

Yale clinical researchers will work with five community treatment programs in the first phase of the CTN, including the Community Mental Health Services of Southeastern Connecticut, Connecticut Counseling Centers in Waterbury, Connecticut Renaissance in Norwalk, Liberation-Meridian-Guenster in Bridgeport and the Hartford Dispensary. Additional providers will participate as the network expands to include a variety of treatment settings and patient populations.

"This award is a major victory, not only for the project's professional community but also for those who will benefit from the innovative and tested best practices in care that will result from its work," said Thomas Kirk, deputy commissioner of the state's Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. "We are committed to continued support for the researchers and treatment programs involved with the project and to a sustained partnership with Yale and ABH that will maximize the applications drawn from the studies."

The CTN, which was announced in January 1999 with a call for grant applications, was recommended by the 1998 Institute of Medicine Report, Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice, as an important mechanism for improving drug abuse treatment in this country.

"We are pleased to have participated in a pilot project with Dr. Carroll," said Kristine Ragaglia, commissioner of DCF. "We have a history of successful collaboration with ABH and this project will benefit our clients in need of substance abuse treatment services."

Founded by community-based treatment organizations, ABH has a statewide network of mental health and substance abuse providers who work with children, adolescents and adults.

"ABH and its providers are delighted to participate in the NIDA Clinical Trials Network Initiative," said Deborah Beckwith, ABH chief executive officer. "It gives ABH an opportunity to bring its management expertise to the behavioral health research field and further improve the care delivered to clients throughout the New England Node."

-- By Karen Peart

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