42 U.S.C. § 285n — Purpose of Institute

(a) In general: The general purpose of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is to conduct and support biomedical and behavioral research, health services research, research training, and health information dissemination — all about preventing alcohol abuse and treating alcoholism. (b) Research program: The Institute's research program covers the social, behavioral, and biomedical causes of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, plus their mental, physical, social, and economic consequences. To run this program, the Director may: (1) collect and share, through publications and other means (including building curriculum materials), information about the research and other activities in the program; (2) make Public Health Service research facilities available to public officials, health officials, and scientists doing special studies; (3) make grants — recommended by the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism — to universities, hospitals, labs, other nonprofit institutions, and individuals, giving special attention to research on: (A) the link between alcohol abuse and domestic violence; (B) the effects of drinking during pregnancy; (C) how alcoholism and alcohol abuse affect families, workplaces, and health-care delivery; (D) the connection between alcohol abuse and abuse of other drugs; (E) how social pressure, laws about alcohol, its cost, and users' economic status and education affect how much alcohol abuse and alcoholism happen; (F) how alcohol use interacts with other health problems; (G) comparing the cost and effectiveness of different treatment methods, and how well prevention and intervention programs work; and (H) alcoholism and alcohol abuse among women; (4) bring in experts, scholars, and consultants from the United States or other countries as needed; (5) coordinate the Institute's research with similar work by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and other agencies, organizations, and individuals — including all NIH research connected to alcoholism, alcohol abuse, families affected by it, or its effect on other health problems; (6) run its own in-house program of biomedical, behavioral, epidemiological, and social research — including research on the most effective treatment and service-delivery methods, and research involving human subjects — as long as that research is (A) done at an institution that can provide all necessary medical care, including round-the-clock diagnostic services, acute and intensive care, emergency care, psychiatric care, and any other care needed for people with alcoholism or alcohol abuse, and (B) that institution is connected to an accredited medical or research training institution; (7) admit and treat people at Public Health Service institutions, hospitals, and stations for study purposes, even if they wouldn't otherwise qualify for treatment there; (8) give technical advice to health officials, scientists, and institutions on applying statistical and other scientific methods to health and medical studies; (9) sign contracts under this subchapter without following certain general federal contracting rules (31 U.S.C. § 3324(a) and (b), and 41 U.S.C. § 6101); and (10) adopt, when the National Advisory Council recommends it, any other means the Director thinks are necessary to carry out this section's purposes. (c) Collaboration: The Director must work with the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, focusing on the Institute's services research and sharing its results with health professionals and the public.