149th Meeting Minutes

Minutes – May 13, 2025

The National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse convened its 149th meeting at 9:00 a.m. on May 13, 2025. This meeting was conducted virtually. The closed portion of the meeting held on May 13th was for reviewing applications for Federal grant assistance and was open only to Council members and Federal employees. The Council adjourned on May 13, 2025, at 10:15 a.m.

Council Members Present
Arpana Agrawal, Ph.D.
Kate Beebe DeVarney, Ph.D.
Deborah Chassler, MSW
Charles Chavkin, Ph.D.
Cristiane Duarte, Ph.D.
Helena Hansen, M.D., Ph.D.
Regina LaBelle, J.D.
Angela Laird, Ph.D.
Melanie Ott, M.D., Ph.D.
Mark VonZastrow, M.D., Ph.D.

Council Chair
Nora Volkow, M.D.

Executive Secretary
Susan Weiss, Ph.D.

Federal Employees Present
Gillian Acca, Ph.D.
Will Aklin Jr, Ph.D.
Carol Alderson
Diana Alkire, Ph.D.
Subramaniam Ananthan, Ph.D.
Leonardo Angelone, Ph.D.
Sabeeh Baig, Ph.D.
Gagan Bajaj, Ph.D.
Ruben Baler, Ph.D.
Olivier Berton, Ph.D.
Jeremiah Bertz, Ph.D.
Quandra Blackeney
Carlos Blanco, M.D., Ph.D.
Kathleen Borgmann, Ph.D.
Jenny Browning, Ph.D.
Amanda Burton, Ph.D.
Usha Charya
Soyoun Cho, Ph.D.
Thomas Clarke, Ph.D.
Tamika Cloyd
Katherine Cole, Ph.D.
Keva Collier Kidemu, M.D.
Wilson Compton, M.D., M.P.E.
Monica Corry
Jessica Cotto, M.P.H.
MeLisa Creamer, Ph.D., MPH
Nathaniel Davis
Marta De Santis, Ph.D.
Bethany Deeds, Ph.D.
Lara Depadilla, Ph.D.
Julia Donnelly, M.S.
Gaya Dowling, Ph.D.
Jana Drgonova, Ph.D.
Sheba Dunston, Ed.D., M.P.H., CHES
Christie Espinoza
John Fedota, Ph.D.
Marcy Fitz-Randolph, D.O.
Pamela Fleming
Morris Flood, Ph.D.
Katrina Foster, Ph.D.
Gregg Friedman
Lindsey Friend, Ph.D.
Julie Frost Bellgowan, M.S.
Udi Ghitza, Ph.D.
Amy Goldstein, Ph.D.
Lennin Greenwood
Elyse Grossman, Ph.D., J.D.
Steven Hafner, Sc.D.
Hui Han
Christina Hatch, Ph.D.
Evan Herrmann, Ph.D.
Keisher Highsmith, Dr.P.H.
Paul Hillery, Ph.D.
Jennifer Hobin, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Hoffman, Ph.D.
Angela Holmes, Ph.D.
August Holtyn, Ph.D.
Katia Howlett, Ph.D.
Carol Hubner, Ph.D.
Shareen Iqbal, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Aminul Islam, Ph.D.
Richard Jenkins, Ph.D.
Darci Johnson, M.P.H.
Ellie Johnson
Shkeda Johnson-Young, M.P.A.
Nicolas Johnston, M.S.
Saravanan Karuppagounder, Ph.D.
Mary Kautz, Ph.D.
Rachel Kelley, Ph.D.
Heather Kimmel, Ph.D.
Elena Koustova, Ph.D.
Yuki Lama, Ph.D.
Guifang Lao, M.D., Ph.D.
Hoang Le, Ph.D.		Kimberly LeBlanc, Ph.D.
Angela Lee-Winn, Ph.D.
Ernestine Lenteu
Feng Li, Ph.D.
Sara Lioi, Ph.D.
Roger Little, Ph.D.
David Liu, M.D.
Marsha Lopez, Ph.D.
Amy Lossie, Ph.D.
Jessica Lukacs, M.D., MBA
Sean Lynch, Ph.D.
Raul Mandler, M.D.
Jeanette Marketon, Ph.D.
Charles Marschke B.S.
Lindsey Martin, Ph.D.
Barbara Oudekerk, Ph.D.
Tristan McClure-Begley, Ph.D.
Shannon Mitchell, Ph.D.
Ivan Montoya, M.D.
Holly Moore, Ph.D.
Landhing Moran, Ph.D.
John Morgan, Ph.D.
Caitlin Moyer, Ph.D.
Traci Murray, Ph.D., MPH,
Sunila Nair, Ph.D.
Preethy Nayar, Ph.D.
Amy Newman, Ph.D.
Tam Nguyen, Ph.D.
Shannon Nicks, Ph.D. MPH
Devon Oskvig, Ph.D.
Vani Pariyadath, Ph.D.
Erin Parker, Ph.D.
Sheila Pirooznia, Ph.D.
Janani Prabhakar, Ph.D.
Ipolia Ramadan, Ph.D.
Michele Rankin, Ph.D.
Dharmendar Rathore, Ph.D.
Carmela Reichel, Ph.D.
Alexa Romberg, Ph.D.
Boris Sabirzhanov, Ph.D.
Christopher Sarampote, Ph.D.
John Satterlee, Ph.D.
Jennifer Schermerhorn
Matthew Seager, Ph.D.
Myriam Selmane, M.A.
Karen Seymour
Chon-Han Shieh
Jaclyn Smith, Ph.D.
Jason Sousa, Ph.D.
Marisa Srivareerat, Ph.D.
Daniel Stimson, J.D., Ph.D.
Shelley Su, Ph.D.
Geetha Subramaniam, M.D.
Alicia Tague
Edward Townsend, Ph.D.
Anne Tsai, Ph.D.
Vasundhara Varthakavi, D.V.M, Ph.D.
Kiran Vemuri, Ph.D.
Sarah Jane Vidal, Ph.D.
Hoa Vo, Ph.D.
Yvonne Walker
Qishawn Wallace
Jia Bei Wang, Ph.D.
Candace Webb, M.P.H.
Ericka Wells
Diek Wheeler, Ph.D.
David White, Ph.D.
Tisha Wiley, Ph.D.
Jennifer A Wong, Ph.D.
Sudhirkumar Yanpallewar, M.D.
Meysam Yazdankhah, Ph.D.
Ming Zhan, Ph.D.
Julia Zur, Ph.D.
 

Non-Federal Employees Present
John Mantsch, Ph.D. – Medical College of Wisconsin

Closed Portion of the Meeting - May 13, 2025

  1. Call to Order     
    This portion of the meeting was closed to the public in accordance with the determination that it was concerned with matters exempt from mandatory disclosure under sections 552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., and section 1009(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1014).

    Dr. Nora Volkow, Director, NIDA, called the meeting to order and welcomed the Council and staff. She reminded those present that the Federal Advisory Committee Act applies to Council meetings and that this portion of the meeting was closed to the public.

    Dr. Susan Weiss, Executive Secretary, summarized relevant NIH policies, provided detailed instructions on Council review procedures, and reminded those present about NIH confidentiality and conflict of interest policies.
  2. Application Reviews     
    Drs. Tristan McClure-Begley, Carlos Blanco, Elena Koustova, and Iván Montoya, Directors of NIDA’s Division of Neuroscience and Behavior (acting), Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research, Office of Translational Initiatives and Program Innovations, and Division of Therapeutics and Medical Consequences presented their Division’s/Office’s assigned and peer-reviewed applications for consideration by the Council. For each application, Council provided unanimous en bloc concurrence with the initial scientific review. Three administrative supplements, two ESI MERIT nominations, and six Special Council Review Applications were presented to Council; Council concurred with program assessments. The initial review of all Trans- NIH Initiatives, including NIH Common Fund, Blueprint, and BRAIN applications, as well as foreign applications and applications with a secondary assignment to NIDA, also received Council concurrence. In total, Council concurred with the initial review of 1,537 applications requesting $748.3 million in first-year direct costs.

    Council and staff were recused from the Council meeting during the discussion of, and voting on, individual applications from their own institutions or other applications for which there was a conflict of interest, real or apparent. Conflicts of interest statements were signed by each member of the Council. Members were not required to leave the room if an application in conflict with that member was acted upon en bloc.
  3. Report to Council from the Board of Scientific Counselors
    Dr. John Mantsch, the Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC), provided an overview to Council on the most recent BSC review of the NIDA Intramural Research Program (IRP).
  4. Adjourn
    The 149th meeting of the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse was adjourned at 10:15 a.m.

Certification

I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are accurate and complete.

  • Nora D. Volkow, M.D.
    Director, NIDA
    Chair, National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse
  • Susan Weiss, Ph.D.
    Executive Secretary, National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse

Council Roster

Note: Informational materials provided to the public at the open session of the meeting may be obtained from the Executive Secretary.