NIDA Avenir Program: Fundamental Mechanistic Research in Addiction Science

Avenir, the French word for "future," reflects NIDA's commitment to developing the next generation of leaders in addiction science. Since 2015, the Avenir Program has supported exceptionally creative early stage investigators (ESIs) in launching innovative research programs. NIDA is now expanding this program to support bold mechanistic research across a broader range of addiction science, including genetic, epigenetic, molecular, cellular, circuit, chemical, pharmacological, behavioral, and cognitive processes relevant to Substance Use Disorders (SUDs).

This initiative is intended to catalyze high-risk, high-reward research and attract outstanding new investigators, including those from outside the addiction field. Applications proposing novel, unconventional, or interdisciplinary wet-lab and/or data science approaches to advance understanding of the mechanisms underlying SUDs are encouraged. The Avenir Program is designed for ESIs who may lack the preliminary data needed for an R01 application but propose high-impact research and show strong potential to become future leaders in fundamental mechanistic addiction science.

Grant authorities that allow NIDA to forecast this opportunity are 42 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 284.