Founded in 1887, the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) today is the federal focal point for medical research in the United
States. Composed of separate institutes and centers, NIH is one of eight
health agencies of the Public Health Service within the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services. The NIH mission is to uncover new knowledge
about the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and
disability, from the rarest genetic disorder to the common cold. It does
this through
Research. Enhancing research outcomes across the medical
research continuum by supporting research in NIH’s own intramural
laboratories as well as the research of nonfederal scientists working
in universities, medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions
throughout the country and abroad; communicating scientific results;
promoting the efficient transfer of new drugs and other technologies;
and providing effective research leadership and administration.
Research Training and Career Development Program. Supporting
research training and outreach designed to ensure a continuing supply
of well-trained scientists.
Research Facilities Program. Modernizing and improving intramural
and extramural research facilities to ensure that the nation’s
scientists have adequate facilities in which to conduct their work.
Science education efforts by NIH and its institutes and centers are critical
in ensuring the continued supply of well-trained basic research and clinical
investigators, as well as the myriad professionals in the many allied disciplines
who support the research enterprise. These efforts also help educate people
about the scientific results so that they can make informed decisions about
their own health as well as the health of the public.
This curriculum supplement is one such science education effort, done
through the partnership of the NIH National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism, the NIH Office of Science Education, and Biological Sciences
Curriculum Study (BSCS).
About the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA) supports and conducts biomedical and behavioral research on the
causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism and alcohol-related
problems. NIAAA also provides leadership in the national effort to reduce
the severe and often fatal consequences of these problems by
conducting and supporting research directed at determining the cause
of alcoholism, discovering how alcohol damages the organs of the body,
and developing prevention and treatment strategies for application in
the nation’s healthcare system;
supporting and conducting research across a wide range of scientific
areas including genetics, neuroscience, medical consequences, medication
development, prevention, and treatment through the award of grants and
within the NIAAA intramural research program;
conducting policy studies that have broad implications for alcohol-problem
prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation activities;
conducting epidemiological studies such as national and community
surveys to assess risks for and magnitude of alcohol-related problems
among various population groups;
collaborating with other research institutes and federal programs
relevant to alcohol abuse and alcoholism and providing coordination for
federal alcohol-abuse and alcoholism activities;
maintaining continuing relationships with institutions and professional
associations; international, national, state, and local officials; and
voluntary agencies and organizations engaged in alcohol-related work;
and
disseminating research findings to healthcare providers, researchers,
policymakers, and the public.
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