The Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research (DEPR) of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) is pleased to announce the initial release of its Strategic Planning Document.

The document reviews the epidemiology and prevention research literature and identifies questions that we believe merit research priority.

The NIAAA Institute-wide Strategic Plan was posted on the NIAAA website earlier this year. The DEPR Strategic Plan is the first Division Plan to be posted on the web. The DEPR Strategic Plan can be found on the NIAAA website at www.niaaa.nih.gov where you will find a link to the plan under "What's New."

The document was reviewed by NIAAA's Extramural Advisory Board (EAB) on August 16-17, 2006. On the basis of its review, the EAB will present a series of recommendations to the NIAAA National Advisory Council in February 2007.

We also welcome observations and recommendations from epidemiology and prevention researchers and others interested in this area of research. Please send any comments or suggestions to Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., Division Director, at rhingson@mail.nih.gov by December 8, 2006.