Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 

 (DARPA) 



Since this agency's mission is to develop long- 

 range "high-payoff" technologies that are not 

 within the purview of specific military services, it 

 does not support basic research for the accumula- 

 tion of abstract knowledge; but it does support a 

 fundamental research program to provide a foun- 

 dation for its major developmental thrusts. 



List of Priorities (short-term) 



• Materials sciences (electronic and 

 electro-optical materials and tech- 

 niques for cutting costs of finished 

 structural components) 



• Information processing techniques 

 (with emphasis on those applicable 

 to command, control, and communi- 

 cations technology). 



Department of Health, Education and 

 Welfare (HEW) 



Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health 

 Administration 



The Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health 

 Administration (ADAMHA) has three institutes to 

 carry out its programs: the National Institute on 

 Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). the 

 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and 

 the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). 

 ADAMHA expects to support research broadly 

 within the areas defined by its member institutes, 

 but the specific subareas must depend upon new 

 advances and developments. 



List of Priorities 



NIAAA 



• Central nervi>us system (effects of 

 alcohol on brain cell membranes, 

 neurochemistry, pharmacokinetics of 

 alcohol) 



• Nutrition and the gastrointestinal 

 tract (damage to the gastric mucosa, 

 malabsorption of vitamins and other 

 nutrients) 



• Endocrine system (hormonal control 

 of water and mineral balance, endo- 

 crine-alcohol research) 



NIDA 



• Endorphin research (mechanisms of 

 action of narcotic drugs, processes 

 that control normal behavior and 

 mental health) 



• Genetic and developmental studies 

 (genetic, mutagenic, and reproduc- 

 tive efTects associated with abuse of 

 drugs) 



• Inhalant abuse (drug interactions, 

 potential interactions with other 

 agents and conditions, e.g., barbitu- 

 rates and malnutrition) 



• Health consequences of chronic mar- 

 ihuana use 



NlMm 



• Basic biological and developmental 

 studies (brain amine systems, en- 

 zyme levels in mental patients, be- 

 havioral genetics, neurological and 

 chemical bases for abnormal psy- 

 chological efTects) 



• Early adolescent psychobiology and 

 development (endocrine and bodily 

 changes of puberty, along with con- 

 comitant emotional and behavioral 

 changes). 



National Institutes of Health (NIH) 



Several areas of basic research in biology and 

 medicine are moving forward rapidly and are gen- 

 erally considered to be very promising. Genetics, 

 immunology, virology, and cell biology are such 

 areas which are basic to our understanding of vir- 

 tually all disease processes, and thus are repre- 

 sented in the research programs of most of the 

 Institutes at NIH. The neurosciences also are re- 

 ceiving more attention in view of their enormous 

 potential. 



List of Priorities 



• Genetics (molecular mechanisms 

 involved in inheritance and transmis- 

 sion of information from parent to 

 offspring, regulation and control of 

 genetic processes, gene mapping on 

 chromosomes, recombinant DNA 

 research) 



• Immunology (structures of antibod- 

 ies, cell generation of antibodies, 

 immunologic aspects of noninfec- 

 tious diseases, e.g., arthritis and 

 cancer) 



• Virology (linkage of viruses to can- 

 cer, degenerative diseases of the 

 central nervous system, biological 

 processes in simple cells) 



••An NIMH task force stated ttiat it would be unwise for 

 NIMH to set specific priorities for researcti such as targeting 

 one type of mental illness over another (see the NIMH section 

 of Part I). 



308 PRIORITIES AND GAP AREAS 



