The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has released Advancing Alcohol Research to Promote Health and Well-Being, the institute’s strategic plan for fiscal years 2024-2028. The plan charts a course for the next five years and outlines the goals and priorities that will guide NIAAA’s research through a dynamic balance of basic, translational, and clinical research relevant to NIAAA’s mission.

“For more than 50 years, NIAAA has been at the forefront of cutting-edge alcohol research,” said NIAAA Director George F. Koob, Ph.D. “Guided by this new strategic plan, I am optimistic that NIAAA-supported research will pave the way for future breakthroughs that will help more Americans live healthier, more productive lives.”

The new strategic plan seeks to advance many long-held NIAAA research and research training priorities, such as preventing alcohol misuse at all ages, enhancing the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD), fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), and other alcohol-associated pathologies, improving treatment for these conditions, and addressing health disparities in alcohol misuse and related consequences. Highlights also include:

• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the alcohol research enterprise
• Women’s health research
• Whole-person health and integrated health approaches
• Data science (e.g., artificial intelligence) and data management
• Translation and back translation of research findings
• Social determinants of health in the context of risk and resilience
• Social media impact on alcohol-related behaviors and outcomes, and social media as a tool for innovating interventions

Developed by NIAAA leadership and staff, with input from external researchers, advocacy groups, professional societies, and interested individuals, the strategic plan considers the long-term priorities of the field while remaining flexible to adapt to emerging public health needs and scientific opportunities.