The broad objectives of this Institute of Medicine project will be to determine mechanisms for the effective transfer of information from the research communities to community-based drug treatment centers. Additionally, it will explore mechanisms for transfer of information from the treatment community back to the researchers. The committee will explore barriers that might hinder this transfer and integration of knowledge, and develop strategies for increasing technology transfer in this bidirectional manner. The committee will seek input through a variety of mechanisms, such as a review of the relevant literature; site visits to geographically dispersed community treatment programs; commissioned papers; and two workshops. Individuals involved in the research and treatment communities will be invited to participate in the workshops, including clinical researchers, health services researchers, experts in program evaluation, clinicians from a range of drug abuse treatment modalities, state and local health department personnel, administrators of community-based treatment programs, and experts in management information and decision support systems. The committee will:

• identify relevant treatment strategies and promising research approaches, including the development of a typology linking specific treatment strategies with amenable research approaches;

• identify mechanisms by which community-based treatment programs are participating in research, including subsequent use of that research;