Columbia's School of Social Work has established the Center for Intervention and Prevention Research on HIV and Drug Abuse through a five-year, $2.1 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). The facility seeks to conduct intervention and prevention research and faculty training to combat drug addiction and HIV.

"Working in drug treatment programs, welfare agencies and communities, social workers are on the front lines in the fight against drug abuse and HIV," said Nabila El-Bassel, a Columbia social work professor who serves as the center's director. "The field of social work has a strong commitment to research focused on highly vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. The center will merge these research and delivery components to better combat several of our country's contemporary social problems."

Columbia is the nation's second university to receive a NIDA grant to develop a research and training infrastructure to battle drug abuse and HIV. Washington University in St. Louis was the first.

"Training in social work research is well-suited to design and test effective intervention and prevention models to reduce drug abuse and HIV and to increase the spread of effective interventions to drug treatment programs and communities," said El-Bassel.

Mary McKay, co-director of the center, said, "Social work researchers target factors that predict substance abuse and HIV risk by examining not only individual behavior, but also, interactions between individuals and their environment. The new center will be a tremendous asset in enhancing this approach."