Building upon work accomplished in the current award, the applicant will continue her professional work by conducting six convergent research studies examining drug use epidemiology and evaluating treatment interventions for drug abuse and dependence. These projects are (1) Natural history of narcotics addiction: a 33-year follow-up study, (2) Treatment utilization and effectiveness study, (3) Tobacco use and cessation study, (4) Drug treatment process study, (5) Drug abuse treatment outcome study (DATOS), and (6) Persistent effects of treatment studies (PETS). Projects 1 to 4 were initiated in the current award period and provide data for more in- depth analyzes in the renewal period. Projects 5 and 6 are ongoing national studies that will provide further data for analysis. A special emphasis is on the examination of implications of research findings pertinent to the development of improvement treatment strategies and relevant social policies. The applicant will continue her professional development applying innovative statistical methodologies to drug abuse data in support of her substantive work. The applicant's supporting institution is an organized research unit, the Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI), within the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, UCLA. Affiliated with the NPI is the UCLA Drug Abuse Research Center, which has been conducting research in drug abuse epidemiology, the natural history of narcotics addiction, treatment evaluation, and social policy over the past 20 years. In this setting, the applicant will conduct the proposed research wand will receive additional training in clinical aspects of drug abuse treatment and in the implementation of treatment services. Furthermore, the applicant's considerable psychosocial research complementing the Institute's biobehavioral perspective. The applicant also expects to grow professionally as Associate Director of the UCLA Drug Abuse Research Center.
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