Planned Meetings

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is collaborating with the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to hold a major research based track at the APA Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, May 19-24, 2007. The first major NIDA/APA track was held at the 1998 APA meeting in Toronto and then again at the 2004 APA meeting in New York City. NIDA has organized a number of sessions for the upcoming track, including 5 symposia, 5 workshops, a forum for residents and medical students on Substance Abuse in Your Patients: Beyond What is Taught in Your Residency and a major lecture featuring NIDA Director, Nora Volkow, M.D. on The Neurobiology of Free Will in Addictive Disorders. NIDA anticipates another highly successful program at the meeting in 2007.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will again sponsor the "Grant Writing Workshop" and the "Tutorials Workshop" at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Annual Scientific Meeting. This year's conference will be held in Quebec City, Canada, on June 16-21, 2007. The "Tutorials Workshop" provides junior investigators with fundamental information from a variety of scientific disciplines representing the breadth of drug abuse and addiction research. Speakers for this workshop are selected from amongst NIDA's T32 Training Directors to each give a presentation on a research topic within their field of expertise. The "Grant Writing Workshop" is designed to orient new research investigators to NIDA and the grant application process. NIDA will also be offering a limited number of travel awards to partially defray the cost of attending this conference.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is organizing a program at this year's American Psychological Association (APA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, August 17-20, 2007. A number of NIDA staff throughout the Institute are involved in organizing and/or presenting on a wide range of session topics. NIDA will also co-sponsor an Early Career Investigator Poster Session with APA's Divisions 28 and 50 and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) as part of the two Divisions' Social Hour.

Dr. Lisa Onken of DCNBR is taking the lead on planning a meeting with other NIDA colleagues on Social Neuroscience and the Development of Behavioral Interventions. The meeting is planned for October 2007.

Dr. Steven Grant is leading the planning efforts for a workshop titled Developing a Testing Battery for Cognitive Dysfunction in Substance Abuse to be held in Chevy Chase, Maryland on July 12-13, 2007.

Dr. Steven Grant is leading the planning efforts for a workshop titled Using Real Time fMRI for Neurofeedback Control of Craving to be held in Chevy Chase, Maryland on July 25-26, 2007.

Dr. Harold Gordon organized and will chair a mini-symposium titled Understanding the Neurobiology of Drug Addiction by studying Sleep Disturbances and Circadian Rhythms at the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience to be held in San Diego, CA, November 3-7, 2007.

Drs. Belinda Sims, Elizabeth Robertson, Eve Reider, and Aria Crump, PRB, DESPR are collaborating with staff from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Mental Health, the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, the Administration for Children and Families, and the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration to plan a meeting entitled Intervening Early: Progress and Opportunities in Child Service Settings, scheduled for September 18-19, 2007. The purpose of this meeting is to review existing prevention programs for children 0-5 and their families that are designed to improve child, parent and family outcomes in a variety of domains (e.g., social and emotional development, mental health, education, parenting, substance use, family functioning), with a particular focus on programs delivered within child service settings. Goals of this meeting include identifying critical research gaps that need to be addressed to 1) foster novel program development through the translation of basic research on self-regulatory processes, and 2) increase the uptake and implementation of effective preventive interventions for young children and their families within child service settings, including setting characteristics.

The 28th annual meeting of the Society for Clinical Trials will be held in Montreal, Canada, May 20-23, 2007. Dr. Paul Wakim will chair an Invited Session on "Effect Size in Sample Size Determination: Clinical versus Statistical Significance". The session will include three speakers: Gordon Lan (Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D), Carl Pieper (Duke University Medical Center) and Christopher Coffey (University of Alabama at Birmingham), and a discussant (Paul Wakim). Carmen Rosa will chair a symposium titled, "Safety Monitoring in Behavioral Trials: Challenges and Opportunities" that will present an overview of he design and safety monitoring of behavioral trials, a discussion of adverse events, and a discussion of challenges from the perspective of the principal investigator. The session will include four speakers: Kathleen Carroll (Yale University, New England Node), Greg Brigham (Maryhaven Inc., Ohio Valley Node), Felix Gyi (CEO, Chesapeake Research Review, Inc.); and Kenzie Preston (Acting Chief, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse). NIDA CCTN staff, Jeng-Jong (JJ) Pan and David Liu, will present a poster entitled, "Analysis of Adverse Events in Clinical Trials Using Data Mining." Jeng-Jong (JJ) Pan is a co-author of the paper titled "Challenges of Establishing a Public Share Data Web Site", which will be presented in the contributed paper session. Janet Levy will deliver an oral presentation entitled "Sizing Simple Trials to Develop Adaptive Treatment Strategies". Coauthors include Susan Murphy of the University of Michigan and Carl Pieper of the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

At the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) annual meeting in Quebec City, June 17-21, 2007, Don Calsyn and other CTN members will present a symposium on the results of three HIV protocols completed in the CTN in 2006.

The 115th annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) will be held August 17-20 in San Francisco, CA. The CTN Gender Special Interest Group (SIG) will present a symposium entitled, "Women's Issues in Substance Abuse Treatment." The symposium will be co-chaired by Susan Gordon (Delaware Valley) and Carmen Rosa (NIDA). Participants are Theresa Winhusen (Ohio Valley Node), Susan Tross (Long Island Node), and Denise Hien (Long Island Node); Kathleen Brady (Southern Consortium) will be the discussant. The CTN HIV Special Interest Group will present a symposium on the past and present HIV related studies conducted in the CTN. Dr. Don Calsyn (Lead Investigator CTN 0018) will chair the session entitled, "HIV/AIDS Related Research in the NIDA Clinical Trials Network." The session will include five speakers: Robert Booth (Lead Investigator CTN 0017), Susan Tross (Lead Investigator CTN 0019), Don Calsyn, James Sorensen (California/Arizona Node PI), and Lisa Metsch (Lead Investigator CTN 0032). Presenters will discuss the primary outcome findings from their trials and challenges involved in conducting HIV risk reduction research protocols in community treatment programs, many who have not previously been involved in research studies. Member and affiliates of the CTN will present a symposium entitled, "Practical Challenges Integrating Evidence-Based Practices Into Addiction Treatment Programs." Participants include Joan Zweben (California/Arizona Node), Greg Brigham (Ohio Valley Node), Michael Levy (Northern New England Node), Dan Kivlahan (Washington Node), and Harold Perl (NIDA) and Dean Fixon, who is well known to the CTN. Janet Levy, NIDA/CCTN, will present a poster entitled "Biostatistical Versus Psychological Approaches to Longitudinal Clinical Trial Data Analysis." Dr. Paul Wakim is a coauthor.

The next National CTN Steering Committee Meeting is planned for September 23-28, 2007 in Rockville, Maryland.