Addictions institute to merge with UB
Proposal to make RIA part of university awaits approval by New York State Legislature

By LOIS BAKER
News Services Editor
The Research Institute on Addictions (RIA), currently an arm of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), is slated to become part of UB as soon as the New York State Legislature approves.

Having RIA integrated into UB will strengthen the university's research in addictions and broaden its opportunities for graduate education in the field, said Dale M. Landi, UB vice president for research.

"Addiction is one of the great problems facing us in the next century. It is becoming more serious and more costly. Conducting the research necessary to learn how to deal with this problem is one of the national imperatives of our time," Landi said. The proposal calls for RIA to function as a freestanding research institute within UB, reporting to the provost. It would retain its identity and remain at its present location at 1021 Main St., Buffalo. Administration of its sponsored programs would be transferred from the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene to the SUNY Research Foundation.

The proposed legislation was approved by the SUNY Board of Trustees on Nov. 17, and a memorandum of understanding between UB and OASAS was signed Dec. 8 by President William R. Greiner and Jean Somers Miller, OASAS commissioner. Landi briefed the Western New York legislative delegation on the proposal late last week.

Landi said Gov. Pataki has introduced the bill and made appropriate provision in his executive budget to provide for the integration. "We don't expect any opposition," he said.

The proposed legislation on integrating the two entities stipulates that RIA personnel currently employed by the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene - about 100 people - would become SUNY Research Foundation employees, with comparable classifications and compensation. The approximately 45 RIA employees on the state payroll would be transferred to SUNY without change in compensation or accrued benefits, the proposal states.

"All parties affected by this are excited about the prospect of a merger and everything it has to offer," said Gerard J. Connors, Ph.D., RIA director and UB research professor of psychology. Conners said the institute would continue to focus its research on alcohol use and disorders, but hopes to expand its emphasis to include compulsive gambling and drugs other than alcohol.

The merger will bring RIA back to its roots. It was established at UB in 1968 by the state Department of Mental Hygiene to conduct research into alcoholism and potential treatments. Cedric Smith, UB professor of pharmacology and toxicology, was RIA's first director, serving until 1979.

"The institute came into existence because of 15 years of effort by citizens here and across New York who thought the state should be involved in meaningful research into alcohol use," Smith related. "UB got it because the university was able to put together the best proposal."

Through a series of changes in administration, both at UB and at the state level, the RIA ended up under the administrative jurisdiction of OASAS, he said, but the two institutions maintained close research and educational ties.

This collaboration has resulted in various joint research programs, the most ambitious of which is a five-year study of the relationship of alcohol use and chronic diseases, funded by an $8 million federal grant awarded in 1993 jointly to RIA and the UB Department of Social and Preventive Medicine.

The RIA currently pumps $6 million a year in federal research dollars into the local economy, in addition to expending a state budget of $3.2 million, Landi said.

When Pataki proposed in 1995 to consolidate addiction research downstate - which would have taken research personnel and dollars out of Western New York - then-RIA director Howard Blane, now retired, and Ross MacKinnon, then dean of the UB Faculty of Social Sciences, submitted a proposal to integrate RIA into the university.

Since then, a transition task group has been working out the details. Landi said all operational elements will be in place by the time the bill is passed, so the changeover can take effect quickly.