Bridging the gap between research and practice — National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network: The first decade.

This 12-page brochure provides an overview of the first decade of research in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. The CTN was started in 1999 to help bridge the gap between research and practice in the drug and alcohol abuse field, helping move evidence-based treatments into adoption in community treatment centers. The CTN’s innovative approach blends the skills and experience of community treatment providers and academic researchers in collaborative partnerships (“Nodes”) that offer patients better access to scientifically tested treatments. In the first 10 years, the CTN has fueled a cultural shift toward evidence-based care for substance abuse treatment, showing that rigorous and relevant clinical research can be carried out directly in CTPs and can address a broad range of addictive disorders. Some of the most effective protocols include those about buprenorphine, a pharmacotherapy for opiate addiction; contingency management/motivational incentives; and motivational interviewing.

The brochure also describes several CTN-related projects, such as the NIDA/SAMHSA Blending Initiative, which has developed several products to assist in the dissemination and training for some of the CTN’s successful treatment protocols, and the CTN Dissemination Library, which is a digital repository of resources and downloadable materials by and about the CTN. The CTN will continue to evolve and is poised to examine a variety of innovative approaches in its next decade, all with the ultimate goal of getting the best treatments to those who need them.