As in other fields of medicine, a gap exists in the drug abuse treatment field between clinical practice
and scientific research. Blending Clinical Practice and Research: Forging Partnerships to Enhance
Drug Addiction Treatment provides an important opportunity for clinicians and researchers to
examine cutting-edge scientific findings about drug abuse and addiction and their application to
clinical practice. Conference participants also will have the opportunity to help determine additional
areas in need of research related to drug addiction treatment.
One important response to the gap in the drug abuse treatment field between clinical practice and
research has been the National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA's) National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials
Network (CTN), a research infrastructure currently consisting of 14 research "nodes" designed to test
the effectiveness and usefulness of new and improved interventions in community-based treatment settings
with diverse populations. The CTN is an important component of NIDA's overall goal to establish and
maintain partnerships with drug abuse researchers and community treatment providers. New York is the
site of two such research nodes.
