Meetings/Conferences

The NIH/NIDA/AMA jointly-supported meeting titled: Pain, Opioids and Addiction: An Urgent Problem for Doctors and Patients was held at the Natcher Auditorium, NIH, on March 5-6, 2007 and attended by over 500 participants. The purpose of this meeting was to bring together the research and clinical practice communities - through its co-sponsorship with the American Medical Association (AMA), and supported by the NIH Pain Consortium - to draw attention to the risk of prescription opioid misuse by patients with chronic non-malignant pain conditions. The goal of the meeting was to inform practitioners and scientists on the emerging research on pain and addiction and what we are learning about how to most effectively and compassionately treat these conditions, while minimizing the risk of abuse and addiction in these patients. The web cast of this meeting can be accessed though the link http://videocast.nih.gov/PastEvents.asp?c=1.

The NIH/NIDA meeting titled: Drug Abuse and Risky Behaviors: The Evolving Dynamics of HIV/AIDS was held at the Natcher Auditorium, NIH, on May 8-9, 2007. Drug abuse and addiction continue to fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States and abroad. To address this significant public health threat, research has focused on the multiple ways that HIV/AIDS and drug abuse are entwined, including: risk behaviors associated with both injection and non-injection drug abuse; how drugs of abuse alter brain function and impair decision making; and HIV prevention and treatment strategies for diverse groups. This conference provided a broad understanding of the multiple ways drug abuse and addiction impact HIV/AIDS and how research can inform public health policy. Presentations focused on successes, research challenges, and opportunities for addressing the evolving HIV/AIDS pandemic. Collaborators included: the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NIDA provided support through the Genes and Environment Initiative for the GWAS to Sequencing: Sequencing Think Tank and Training Workshop for the Genes and Environment Initiative (GEI) meeting in Bethesda on January 18-19, 2007. Dr. Joni Rutter, DBNBR, was the lead organizer and co-chair for the meeting along with NHGRI.

Drs. Cecelia Spitznas, Melissa (Racioppo) Riddle, and Lisa Onken, all of DCNBR, organized a meeting on Augmenting HIV Prevention using Information Technology which was held on March 1 & 2, 2007 in Washington D.C. The meeting was sponsored by the Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC). A major purpose was to stimulate application development on community friendly HIV prevention interventions and combined behavioral treatment and HIV prevention using information technology for use in settings that treat drug abuse.

CAPT Steve Oversby, Psy.D., DPMCDA, convened a workshop on March 8-9, 2007 on Pharmacotherapy Research for the Treatment of In Utero Substance Exposed Neonates: Advances and Future Directions". The workshop brought together experts in the field to develop ideas, concepts, and research questions addressing new pharmacotherapy research for the treatment of in utero substance exposed neonates. Ivan Montoya, M.D., DPMCDA, gave a presentation on "The Public Health Scope of In Utero Drug Exposure" and Jamie Biswas, Ph.D., DPMCDA, gave a presentation on "In Utero Substance Exposure and the Division Portfolio".

NIDA's Special Populations Office hosted the Southern Africa Initiative: Research Progress and Perspectives Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland on April 16-17, 2007. The two day meeting convened U.S. principal investigators and their South African collaborators to discuss the impact of NIDA funding on research capacity development in South Africa. Research topics encompassed Neuroscience, Social and Behavioral Science, Drug Abuse Prevention/Intervention, and HIV. Attendees addressed the barriers encountered, success stories, and provided recommendations to NIDA for future research studies. Dr. Nora Volkow gave a welcoming presentation to the meeting attendees. Other members of NIDA senior staff also made presentations.

The National CTN Steering Committee Meetings were held March 19-22, 2007 in Bethesda, MD. The following meetings/committees convened:

• Members of the Study Teams: START (CTN 0027) and STAGE-12 (CTN 0031)
• Special Interest Groups: Health Services Research, Pharmacotherapy, Behavior/ Psychosocial and HIV
• CTP and PI Caucuses
• Executive Committee
• Research Utilization Committee
• Research Development Committee
• Node Coordinator Workgroup
• Steering Committee
• Two workshops: Exploring Collaborating Opportunities - what's new in NIMH, NIAAA and CSAT? (CTN Platform) and Adaptive Treatment Strategies
• Brief Study Report - CTN 0017
• DCRI Data & Statistics Center (DSC) Demos: The DSC and CTN Working Together

Dr. Timothy P. Condon, Deputy Director, NIDA, presented an "Update on the Blending Initiative: The Partnership Between the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)," at the Enhancing State Capacity to Foster Adoption of Science-Based Practices conference on November 20, 2006, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon provided opening remarks and a brief overview at the National Institute on Drug Abuse sponsored "Substance Abuse, Criminal Justice and HIV in African Americans: Research Development Workshop" on December 11, 2006, in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon provided opening remarks at the Consequences of Marijuana Use on Brain and Behavioral Development meeting on December 15, 2006, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "Translational Addiction Research and the AAPI Community" at the Asian American and Pacific Islander Scientific Conference/Workshop on February 12, 2007, in Santa Monica, California.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "NIDA's Blending Initiative" at a Friends of NIDA Congressional briefing held on February 22, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon addressed members of the press at the National Inhalants and Poison Awareness Press Conference on March 15, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon delivered the plenary presentation entitled "Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations" at the 2007 North Carolina TASC Conference on Community, Crime and Addiction on March 26, 2007, in New Bern, North Carolina.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented the keynote address entitled "Advances in Drug Abuse and Addiction from NIDA: Implications for Treatment" at the Pennsylvania Certification Board 8th Annual Conference on April 16, 2007, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Cindy Miner, Deputy Director, OSPC participated in the PRISM Nomination Review Committee for the 2007 PRISM Awards on January 27-28, 2007 in Los Angeles, CA.

Dr. Cindy Miner participated in a panel presentation on "Methamphetamine Abuse and Addiction" at the Midwest/Great Lakes Regional Methamphetamine Legislative and Policy Planning Conference on February 1, 2007 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Dr. Cindy Miner presented a workshop on the "Neurobiology of Addiction" at CADCA's National Leadership Forum on February 15, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Cindy Miner attended and presented on funding opportunities at a planning session for the Development of a National Strategy for Drug Endangered Children on April 4-6, 2007, in Boulder, Colorado.

Dr. Cindy Miner presented "Neurobiology of Addiction" at the NIMH Outreach Partnership Program Annual Meeting on April 25, 2007, in Portland, Oregon.

Dr. Denise Pintello, OSPC, delivered a presentation addressing: Sources of Support for Social Work Doctoral Education and Dissertation Research at the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR) and the Action Network for Social Work Education and Research (ANSWER) in Washington D.C., on April 25, 2007.

Dr. Lula Beatty, Chief, Special Populations Office, participated as a panelist at a session on conducting research in racial/ethnic minority populations at the National Multicultural Summit in Seattle, Washington in January 2007.

Dr. Lula Beatty served as a moderator and presenter at the Translational Addiction Research: Bench, Bedside, Community and Back conference in Santa Monica, California in February 2007. The title of her presentation was "NIDA/NIH Support for Minority Research and Researchers."

Dr. Lula Beatty was an invited speaker at the Southeastern Psychological Association meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana in February 2007. The title of her presentation was "Making a Difference through Drug Abuse Health Disparities Research."

Dr. Lula Beatty attended a meeting, The Federal Initiative on Juvenile Justice Health, sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, held in Northern Virginia at George Mason University in March 2007.

Dr. Lula Beatty presented a pre-conference workshop on grant development at the Lonnie Mitchell HBCU Substance Abuse conference in Washington, DC in March 2007.

Dr. Lula Beatty organized a panel on "African Americans, Drugs and Criminalization" with representatives from NIDA, CSAT, and CSAP at the Lonnie Mitchell HBCU Substance Abuse conference in Washington, DC in March, 2007.

Dr. Lula Beatty and Derrick Prather, SPO, hosted a roundtable on the Special Populations Office and health disparities at the Addictions, Infectious Diseases and Public Health conference held in Baltimore, Maryland at Johns Hopkins University in April 2007.

Dr. Lula Beatty provided an overview of NIDA programs at the HHS African American Healthy Marriage Initiative Agency Partners Roundtable in Washington, DC in February 2007.

Ana Anders, M.S.W., Senior Advisor on Special Populations, attended and presented at the Translational Addiction Research: Bench, Bedside, Community and Back held in Santa Monica, California in February 2007.

Ana Anders attended a Steering Committee meeting of NIDA's National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse in Miami, Florida on February 20-22, 2007 for the purpose of planning the annual conference in September 2007.

Ana Anders participated as a member of the CSAT Hispanic Stakeholders meeting in Los Angeles, California.

Ana Anders participated in a meeting representing NIH Hispanic employees called by the NIH Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management in April 2007.

Dr. Donald Vereen, M.D., M.P.H., Special Assistant to the Director, NIDA, gave a keynote address at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 14, 2007.

Dr. Don Vereen, M.D., M.P.H. delivered Grand Rounds to the Department of Psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA on February 28, 2007.

Dr. Don Vereen, M.D., M.P.H. gave the Keynote Address at the Indiana Judicial Center Court Alcohol and Drug Program in Indianapolis, IN on March 1, 2007.

Dr. Vereen gave a presentation on drug abuse and addiction and its treatment and prevention at the Tufts Dean's Gathering in Baltimore, MD on March 4, 2007.

Dr. Vereen delivered the Keynote Address and conducted a workshop on the developing adolescent brain and drug abuse at the Brain Development Conference in Portland, OR on March 23, 2007.

Dr. Vereen gave the Keynote Presentation at the George Washington School of Medicine Annual Research Day in Washington, DC on March 26, 2007.

Dr. Vereen presented an overview of NIDA treatment research with a special emphasis on vigabatrin to the National African American Drug Policy Coalition in Washington, DC on March 29, 2007.

Dr. Vereen gave a presentation at the St. Louis Science Center as part of a series in collaboration with the Dana Foundation in St. Louis, MO on April 26, 2007.

Dr. Vereen presented an overview of drug abuse research to The Sheridan School in Washington, DC on May 3, 2007.

Dr. Vereen gave a presentation on drug abuse, addiction, and brain development at the Saturday Academy in Washington, DC on May 5, 2007.

Dr. Vereen gave a presentation to the Arlington County Committee of 100, sponsored by Vanguard Services at Marymount College in Arlington, VA on May 9, 2007.

Dr. Allison Chausmer, DBNBR, was an invited presenter at a workshop entitled "Applying for and Obtaining a Job: Perspectives from Academia, Medical Centers, and Industry", held at the Feb 2007 annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in Austin, TX.

Drs. Allison Chausmer and Cora Lee Wetherington, DBNBR, co-organized and co-chaired a symposium entitled "A Translational Approach to Understanding Gender, Adolescence and Vulnerability to Nicotine Addiction" at the February 2007 annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in Austin, TX.

Dr. Allison Chausmer, DBNBR, and Debbie Grossman, DCNBR, co-organized and co-chaired (with Cathy Backinger, NCI, and Catherine Jo from the American Cancer Society), "The Future of Youth Tobacco Cessation Research", a meeting sponsored by the ACS, NCI and NIDA on May 7-8, 2007 in Rockville, MD.

Dr. Nancy Pilotte, DBNBR, served as a discussant to the Stress and Sensitization session at the Spring Brain Conference in Sedona, AZ, in March 2007.

Dr. Joni L Rutter, DBNBR, presented an overview of the NIDA Genetics Programs to the Pennsylvania State University on February 28, 2007.

Drs. Joni L. Rutter and John Satterlee, DBNBR, along with other NIH staff, were co-organizers of a session entitled "Environmental Influences on Complex Genetic Traits" in the Systems Medicine Workshop held by NHLBI on January 30-February 1, 2007 in Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Joni L. Rutter and Dr. Kevin Conway, DCNBR, presented a talk entitled, "The Genes, Environment, and Development Initiative in Addiction: The GEDI Approach" at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) meeting in Washington DC on February 14, 2007.

Dr. Jonathan D. Pollock, DBNBR, and Dr. George Uhl, IRP, organized the panel, entitled, "Cell Adhesion Molecules and Addiction" at the 40th Winter Conference on Brain Research, Snowmass, CO, January 31, 2007.

Drs. John Satterlee, Joni L. Rutter and Christine Colvis, all of DBNBR, are NIDA's representatives to the Epigenetics Roadmap 1.5 Workgroup.

Drs. Jonathan D. Pollock and Christine Colvis, DBNBR, are NIDA representatives to the Proteome Roadmap 1.5 Workgroup.

Drs. Christine Colvis and Chris Pierce organized and chaired the panel, "Epigenetics of Cocaine Addiction" at the 40th Winter Conference on Brain Research, Snowmass, CO, January 28, 2007.

John Satterlee, Ph.D., DBNBR, NIDA, Susan Volman, Ph.D., DBNBR, NIDA, Andrea Beckel-Mitchner, Ph.D., NIMH, and Laurie Tompkins, Ph.D., NIGMS organized and co-chaired the NIH workshop, Genetics and Genomics of Social Behavior, Bethesda, MD. January 4-5, 2007.

Dr. Satterlee attended a Gordon Conference entitled "Quantitative Genetics and Genomics", Ventura, CA, February 19-22, 2007.

Dr. Rao Rapaka, DBNBR, visited the University of Kentucky, Lexington to the NCDDG spring retreat to participate and follow the progress on drug development for treatment of nicotine addiction.

Dr. Rao Rapaka participated in the discussions on "Drug Discovery and Design Intiative" organized by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS).

Dr. David Shurtleff, Director, DBNBR, gave a key note address on "Research Priorities and Directions for the Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research (DBNBR): Determining the Basis of Drug Addiction" at the Current Trends in Drug Abuse Research 5th Annual Symposium at the Center for Drug Discovery, Northeastern University; March 27, 2007.

Drs. David Shurtleff, Lynda Erinoff, Diane Lawrence, and Woody Lin organized and co-chaired two session on "HIV/HCV Research in China: Opportunities and Challenges" at the 13th annual meeting of the Society for NeuroImmune Pharmacology, April 11-12, 2007.

Dr. David Shurtleff gave a presentation on "Navigating the NIH System: How to Write Competitive Applications' at the 13th annual meeting of the Society for NeuroImmune Pharmacology, April 14, 2007.

Dr. Paul Schnur, Deputy Director, DBNBR, represented the Division t the 2007 National Scientific Conference planning committee meeting of the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse in Miami, FL, on February 21-23, 2007.

Dr. Paul Schnur presented a NIDA Grants Workshop at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Lincoln Nebraska, April 12-14, 2007.

Dr. Kevin Conway, DCNBR, serves as the NIDA representative on the NIH Roadmap 1.5 Phenotype Working Group. Dr. Ruben Baler, OSPC, serves as alternate representative.

Dr. Kevin Conway, DCNBR (and Kay Wanke, DESPR), continue to serve as NIDA's representative(s) on the Exposure Biology Program for the NIH Genes and Environment and Health Initiative (GEI).

Dr. Kevin Conway, DCNBR, continues to serve as the NIDA representative on the NIH Blueprint Committee on Neuroepidemiology.

Dr. Joseph Frascella, Director, DCNBR, gave a presentation of the division's programs at the "NIDA Centers for Excellence for Physician Information" meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 23, 2007.

Dr. Joseph Frascella, DCNBR, participated in the "Asian American and Pacific Islander Scientific Conference" and also presented a talk entitled The Myths and Realities of Writing an NIH Grant. This meeting was held in Santa Monica, CA on February 12-13, 2007.

Drs. Nicolette Borek and Karen Sirocco, DCNBR, co-organized and presented talks at the session "Grants 201 for Mid-Career and Senior Level Scientists: Mentoring the Next Generation of Child and Adolescent Researchers" at the Society for Research on Child Development meeting March 28th - April 1, 2007 in Boston, MA .

Dr. Nicolette Borek, DCNBR presented a talk on Consulting with NIH Program Officials at the Society for Research on Child Development meeting March 28th - April 1, 2007 in Boston, MA.

Dr. Nicolette Borek, DCNBR, presented a talk on Measurement and Outcomes of Prenatal Drug Exposure at the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) network meeting, March 12-13th, Arlington, VA. Dr. Borek also participated as a NIH scientific collaborator at the meeting.

Dr. Nicolette Borek, DCNBR presented a talk on Opportunities for Conducting HIV/AIDS Research at NIDA at the spring meeting of the Adolescent Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions April 25th-April 27, 2007 in Vienna, VA.

Dr. Lisa Onken spoke about evidence-based treatments for drug abuse with the Behavioral Therapy Interest Group of the NIDA Clinical Trials Network at the CTN Steering Committee meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 20, 2007.

Dr. Lisa Onken participated in the planning of a joint IAPAC-NIMH-NIDA 2nd International Conference on Adherence to HIV Treatment. She moderated a panel on adherence to ART within the context of substance use and abuse. The meeting took place in Jersey City on March 28-30, 2007.

Drs. Steven Grant, DCNBR, represented NIDA at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society that was held in New York, New York, May 5-8, 2007.

Dr. Wilson Compton, Director, DESPR, attended the American Psychopathological Association Annual Meeting in New York City, March 1-3, 2007. The theme of this meeting was gene environment development interactions in psychiatric illnesses. Along with multiple NIDA colleagues, Dr. Wilson Compton chaired a panel and participated in the meeting on Pain, Opioids, and Addiction: An Urgent Problem for Doctors and Patients at the Natcher Center at NIH, March 5-6, 2007.

On March 21, 2007, Dr. Wilson Compton presented Grand Rounds at Temple University Department of Psychiatry. His presentation was titled: "Uncertainty & Discovery in the Neuroscience of Addiction".

On April 2, 2007, Dr. Wilson Compton presented a keynote address to the Johns Hopkins University epidemiology workshop on "Uncertainty and Discovery in Linking Drug Abuse Public Health Research to Neuroscience".

On April 11-12, 2007, Dr. Wilson Compton participated in the DSM-V Task Force Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

On April 18, 2007, Drs. Wilson Compton and Yonette Thomas co-chaired and presented at the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting in San Francisco. This presentation was conducted jointly with Drs. Ivan Cheung and Douglas Richardson of the AAG.

On April 23, 2007, Dr. Wilson Compton presented a keynote presentation to the NIATx Summit in San Antonio, Texas.

Dr. Wilson Compton presented on the epidemiology of stimulant abuse at the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) meeting in Miami, Florida.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson, DESPR, presented a talk at the Pride Conference, convened in Lexington, KY on April 11, 2007. Her talk was titled: "Caution: Brain Under Construction."

Drs. Gina Hijjawi and Eve Reider, DESPR, co-chaired a symposium "Children of Parents Involved in the Criminal Justice System" at the Society for Research in Child Development biennial meeting in Boston, MA on April 1, 2007. The panel of presenters included Rebecca J. Shlafer and Julie A. Poehlmann (University of Wisconsin, Madison); Lew Bank (Oregon Social Learning Center); Mary Byrne (Columbia University School of Nursing) with J. Mark Eddy (Oregon Social Learning Center) as the discussant.

Dr. Elizabeth Ginexi, DESPR, served as a planning committee member and panel chair for the USC-IPR/NIH Conference on Interdisciplinary Science, Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Hosted by University of Southern California Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research (IPR) May 2-3, 2007 at the Westin Pasadena, California. This conference was support by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Office of the Provost and the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Jessica Campbell Chambers presented on NIDA funding opportunities in two symposia held at the Society for Research on Child Development biennial meeting, March 29-April 1, 2007.

Dr. Augusto Diana, PRB, DESPR delivered a keynote address entitled "Prevention and Methamphetamine - What Do We Know?" to the 2nd Annual Drug Endangered Child Conference held from February 21-23, 2007, at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Dr. Diana also facilitated a series of follow-up workshops at the conference, focused on the same topic. The conference was organized around juvenile substance abuse and juvenile crime and included participants from a wide variety of state and local agencies charged with addressing youth crime and substance abuse, representatives from Drug Courts, many local service provider agencies, health care providers, and many others.

Drs. Belinda Sims, Aria Crump, and Elizabeth Robertson, DESPR, participated in a Discussion Hour on NIH Research Priorities for Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and Addictions Research, at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development in March/April 2007.

Dr. Belinda Sims, DESPR, presented at the SAMHSA/CSAP Prevention Fellowship Program, for second year fellows, on NIH/NIDA Research Opportunities, in March 2007.

Dr. Aria Crump presented a talk entitled "An Update on Extramural Program and E-Submission" at the Society for Research on Child Development Meeting on March 31, 2007.

Dr. Belinda Sims, DESPR, participated in a Discussion Hour on Mentoring and Training Priorities at NIDA, at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, in March/April 2007.

Dr. Dionne Jones presented on a panel "Drugs, African Americans and Criminal Justice Research: Implications for Career Choices and Job Excellence" at the Lonnie Mitchell Annual Conference, Washington, DC, March 29-31, 2007.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson of DESPR is a member of the Society for Prevention Research Task Force on Basic Career Knowledge Development. The Task Force is currently developing guidelines for researchers and practitioners.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson of DESPR is NIDA's representative to the IOM study titled "Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders."

Drs. Belinda Sims, Elizabeth Robertson and Eve Reider of DESPR served on the ACF Planning Committee for the meeting titled "The Application of Effect Sizes in Research on Children and Families" convened on March 5, 2007, in Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson of DESPR serves as the NIDA Liaison to the Strategic Prevention Framework-State Incentive Grant Program administered by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. She attends monthly meetings of the Internal Workgroup.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson is the NIDA liaison to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's Strategic Prevention Framework-State Incentive Grant Program (SPF-SIG) Internal Work Group.

Dr. Frank Vocci, Director, DPMCDA, Dr. Kathy Backinger of NCI, and Dr. Caryn Lerman of the University of Pennsylvania co-organized and co-chaired a NCI/NIDA workshop on Translational Medication Development for Nicotine Dependence in Chevy Chase, MD, January 8-10, 2007.

Dr. Frank Vocci spoke at the Roskamp Institute on January 12, 2007 in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Vocci presented on addiction, medications, and new molecular targets for treatment of addictive disorders.

Dr. Frank Vocci organized, co-chaired, and presented at a NIDA symposium on treatments for stimulant dependence at the American Society of Addiction Medicine in Miami, Florida on April 28, 2007. The speakers included Drs. Nancy Petry, Kathleen Brady, Richard Rawson, Walter Ling, Ahmed Elkashef, Charles Dackis, Wilson Compton, and Kyle Kampman.

Dr. Frank Vocci attended the Consumer Demand Roundtable conference on May 3-4, 2007 in Washington, D.C. The goal of the conference was to develop innovations in building consumer demand for tobacco cessation products and services.

Dr. Jag Khalsa, DPMCDA, participated in the Annual Meeting of the Society of NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP), Salt Lake City, Utah, April 11-15, 2007, and presented NIDA's International Research Program and also served as a Mentor for young travel awardee researchers.

Dr. Jag Khalsa presented a symposium on Neurobiology, Clinical Consequences and Treatment of Cannabis Dependence at the 38th Annual Conference of the ASAM, in Miami, April 29, 2007. Dr. Vocci presented on neurobiology of marijuana and Dr. Elkashef presented on treatment of cannabis dependence.

Dr. Petra Jacobs, CCTN, participated in the AATOD Workshop Committee Meeting on April 13, 2007.

Dr. Rita Liu, OEA, chaired a Research Career Development Session at the First Scientific Conference for Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), held from February 12 to 14, 2007, in Santa Barbara, CA. The session's topics included peer review, international support and health diversity issues that were presented by Drs. Joe Frascella, Steve Gust and Lula Beatty, while Dr. Liu's presentation was on mechanisms of support.

Dr. Gerald McLaughlin, OEA, presented three lectures for a 2007 FAES graduate course on the proteomics and genomics of mitochondria, and serves as a reviewer for J. Proteomics.

At the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Dr. Levitin, Director, OEA, joined other NIH staff on a symposium on mentoring the next generation of child and adolescent researchers. Her presentation focused on what reviewers of training applications look for in assessing the quality of mentoring proposed in fellowship and career development applications. She also was a discussant on a symposium she helped organize entitled "The Ethics of Giving Away Child Development Research: Opportunities, Problems, and Pitfalls". Dr. Levitin continues to serve on the SRCD Ethics Committee.

Dr. Amy Newman, IRP, was invited to give a lecture at Pfizer, Inc. in Groton CT in February, 2007.

Dr. Peter Grundt, IRP, was invited to give lectures in the Departments of Chemistry at Stevens Institute of Technology and New Jersey Institute of Technology in March 2007.

Dr. Roy Wise, IRP, presented a seminar entitled "The Role of Dopamine in Reward and Motivation" at the Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA on November 20 - 22, 2006.

Dr. Yavin Shaham, IRP, presented a lecture on "Recent Research on Relapse to Food Seeking in a Rat Model" at the New York University School of Medicine on December 18, 2006.

Dr. Roy Wise presented a seminar entitled "The Normal Roles of Dopamine in Reward and Motivation" at the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington on March 5-7, 2007.

Dr. Yavin Shaham chaired a session entitled "Orbitofrontal Cortex and Addiction" with NIDA Director, Dr. Nora Volkow at the NYAS Orbitofrontal Cortex Conference in New York, NY on March 11-14, 2007.