With strong core capabilities in the statistical, social, physical, and life sciences, RTI researchers collaborate across scientific boundaries. Using expertise in more than 115 disciplines, they expand scientific knowledge and provide clients with in-depth R&D and technical services. RTI had significant multidisciplinary achievements in 1999, including those in pharmaceuticals, substance abuse, child health and development, and urban redevelopment.

Substance Abuse
RTI researchers attacked the problems of tobacco, drug, and alcohol abuse. RTI chemists are developing RTI-112, a compound to treat cocaine addiction, while epidemiologists and health policy analysts and their clinical colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that two new medications—naltrexone and acamprosate—show promise in treating alcoholism. RTI social scientists are collaborating with researchers at UNC-CH to learn more about the nature and extent of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention programs in our nation's middle schools. And to provide extensive information about the problem of drug and alcohol abuse nationwide, RTI survey scientists are conducting the National Household Drug Abuse Survey for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Pharmaceutical Research
RTI excels in pharmaceutical discovery, development, and outcomes. In 1999, teams of our chemists, toxicologists, economists, and statisticians completed over 50 projects for leading pharmaceutical companies, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Insitutes of Health.

In discovery, RTI chemists designed new compounds to treat cocaine addiction and improve reproductive health. Developers of the anti-cancer drugs Taxol® and Camptothecin™ screened numerous plant materials for biological activity to find new natural product compounds with therapeutic effects.

In drug development, RTI toxicologists and chemists improved techniques for determining the safety and efficacy of potential new drugs. For example, they developed methods of testing a range of drug delivery systems—including dermal patches, intravenous injection, subcutaneous infusion, and inhalation of vapors. They also conducted drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies and performed enzyme assays to help predict drug-drug interactions.

RTI chemists working with pharmaceuticals, natural products, and materials derived from the biotechnology industry, maintained their leadership in chromatography and mass spectrometry. Using state-of-the-art technology, they evaluated, developed, and validated various methodologies, and used those methodologies to support manufacturing and development of various therapeutic agents.

In outcomes research, RTI's multidisciplinary staff of economists, statisticians, epidemiologists, and quality of life researchers continued to expand their work in product value assessment. Their work involves a range of cost-effectiveness, quality of life, burden of illness, and product safety analyses based on both primary patient data collection and modeling techniques. RTI also established a European base in Manchester, England, to better serve clients who require multinational outcomes research.

Child Health and Development
Across RTI, researchers are working to improve the quality of children's health. From reducing infant mortality to examining children's exposure to environmental chemicals to providing professionals with up-to-date information about children, RTI is involved.

In the nation's capital, RTI worked on an innovative approach to reduce infant mortality. As part of the National Institutes of Health's D.C. Initiative to Reduce Infant Mortality, RTI served as the data coordinating center. In this role, RTI assisted with study design, the development of data collection instruments, data collection and management, and analysis of study findings. Out of these efforts, RTI and its collaborators produced publications on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Adolescent Health, American Journal of Health Behavior, and Pediatrics.

In 1999, survey specialists, chemists, and early childhood educators at RTI studied children's exposure to pollutants. They examined chemicals, particles, and dosage level from both an environmental and epidemiological perspective to determine health effects. The researchers developed new personal exposure monitors, videotaped the eating habits of small children to learn about their intake of contaminants, and worked with the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey program on methodology for examining particle transfer to humans by all routes, including through the air and through transfer of particles from surfaces to the skin.

RTI maintains the Early Childhood Resource Center to provide training and consultation to professionals who work with young children and their families. The goal of the center is to assist practitioners and policymakers in planning and implementing effective child- and parent- focused programs. RTI researchers also are serving as the project coordinating center for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Legacy of Children, a set of longitudinal studies of at-risk newborns and their families.

Urban Redevelopment
Across the nation, cities and municipalities are looking at ways to build their communities and curb urban sprawl. Many are looking at the possibility of redeveloping brownfields. These idle or underutilized properties suffer from real or perceived environmental contamination, and the redevelopment process overwhelms many communities. RTI has assembled a team of scientists who help with all aspects of redevelopment, including environmental, business, technology, planning, and community outreach. In 1999, RTI helped the cities of Burlington and Durham, North Carolina, with their redevelopment needs and held a forum for municipalities to discuss brownfields redevelopment in North Carolina.