2024 Faculty

Chief, Clinical Research Grants Branch (CRGB), DTMC, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Dr. Will Aklin is Chief of the Clinical Research Grants Branch (CRGB) within the Division of Therapeutics and Medical Consequences (DTMC) at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). CRGB supports research grants to test medications, behavioral therapies (including digital therapeutics), and device-based treatments for substance use disorders in several key areas: controlled compound assessment clinical pharmacology studies, controlled clinical trials for new treatment agents or new indications for marketed medications/devices and clinical studies of the pharmacological effects; and interactions among experimental addiction medications and medications for associated medical conditions and psychotherapeutic agents. The Branch also supports experimental pharmacotherapy studies to enhance the efficacy of approved marketed medications, and experimental pharmacotherapy studies of psychotropic or other medications used in the treatment of mental disorders in drug dependent individuals including drug-induced or drug-related mental disorders. Dr. Aklin received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland and performed his Clinical Psychology internship at Yale University School of Medicine and a Post-Doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit. Will has directed the Behavioral Therapy Development Program (BTDP) within DTMC since 2015. In this capacity he developed a robust behavioral therapy research program and portfolio focused on integrative interventions that involve the development of behavioral therapies to improve the effect of a pharmacological treatment or therapeutic devices and established strategic plans and research directions for behavioral treatments and digital therapeutics. Will’s program focuses on studies that seek to determine mechanisms of behavior change, within the context of behavioral treatment research (this may include behavioral, cognitive, social, affective, and/or neurobiological targets), as well as the use of neuroimaging tools to investigate the effects of behavioral interventions on the brain. Will is keenly interested in data replicability in treatment studies, behavioral science to inform treatment development, adherence to medications, and the elucidation of the mechanisms of action of successful behavioral and integrative treatments. He is the recipient of the College on Problem of Drug Dependence (CPDD)’s J. Michael Morrison Award and several NIDA and NIH Director’s awards. He has been tapped by NIH and NIDA leadership to coordinate several NIH flagship initiatives, including partnering with NIAAA and NCI on the development and testing of behavioral therapies for drug and alcohol use disorders; Common Fund initiatives, including Science of Behavior Change; Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) Initiative; partnerships with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on digital therapeutics and device-based treatments for substance use disorders; and co-lead of the NIDA Racial Equity Initiative (REI).