The Public Health Service (PHS) is the principal health agency of the Federal Government and is one of five operating divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). PHS awards grants and cooperative agreements in support of research to increase the knowledge of disease and health problems. PHS agencies are responsible for the award, administration, and monitoring of these programs under a variety of regulations, policies, and procedures. They award funds to a wide range of recipients, including nonprofit organizations.

As a (501)(c)(3) organization, Friends Research Institute, Inc. (FRI) is presently administering funds for 16 federal grants funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in the areas of drug abuse, medications development, addiction treatment for female inmates, HIV infection, and AIDS throughout the Country. FRI's present overhead rate for federal grants and contracts is 20% on the East Coast and 21.5% on the West Coast, as agreed to by negotiations with the Division of Cost Allocation. This rate agreement is re-negotiated every two years based on modified total direct costs (MTDC).

In addition to administring funds for grants from NIDA, FRI is also administering four research projects for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).  The projects research the area of treatment for methamphetamine users, therapies for gay male stimulant abusers, and evaluation of an outpatient substance abuse treatment program for adolescents.  In the recent past, FRI also administered a research project for CSAT entitiled "Technical Assistance and Logistical Support to Maintain the opioid Addiction Treatment Improvement Project"  (OATIP).

FRI is presently administering funds for the National Cancer Institute (NCI).  The grant involves research dealing with smoking cessation in methadone users.

FRI has also received funds from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to conduct an eight year research project concerning twins with schizophrenia.

State/Local Grants & Contracts

FRI administers funds from state and local agencies for Epoch Counseling Center (Epoch). Epoch is a comprehensive outpatient treatment program, serving Baltimore County, designed to provide counseling to people whose lives have been affected by drugs and alcohol. They provide a variety of therapeutic, supportive, and educational services to teenagers, adults, and their families. Services include individual, group, family, and couples counseling; drug and alcohol education, prevention services, school presentations, community workshops, and drug and alcohol screening. Epoch receives its funding through grants from the State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration, Baltimore County Office of Substance Abuse, the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention, the Office of Community Conservation, and the Baltimore County Board of Education.

Private Foundation Contracts

FRI also administers funds for private foundations. FRI is administering funds received from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey, which is presently funding a two-year project entitled "Naltrexone for Alcoholism:  Factors Influencing the Use of a New Pharmacotherapy." This research is being conducted in Los Angeles, California.

The Stanley Foundation, founded by Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Stanley, in conjunction with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), is presently providing funds to FRI investigators at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. to do research in the area of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.

The Baltimore branch of The Open Society Institute, a New York based foundation, has awarded FRI a two-year grant to support an evaluation of a drug treatment intervention for heroin-dependent prisoners.