Planned Meetings

A CCTN-DCNBR joint workshop is scheduled for May 20, 2008. The title of the workshop is Pain, Stress and Healthier Life Choices with an Eastern Approach. The presenters, Drs. Lixing Lao and Kevin Chen (University of Maryland School of Medicine) plan to discuss how acupuncture and/or meditation are useful in 1) coping with pain or stress; 2) a choice for healthier lifestyles; and 3) managing addiction. They plan to also discuss the concerns and challenges in experimental design and project implementation and how evidence-based studies can be carried out.

The next National CTN Steering Committee Meeting is planned for June 3-6, 2008 in Cincinnati, OH.

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 San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 14-19, 2008. 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.

Drs. James Bjork, DCNBR, and Minda Lynch, DBNBR, will co-chair the forthcoming symposium "Adults are from Mars, and Adolescents are from Venus" to be held at the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence on June 16, 2008 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The speakers will be Janet Neisewander (Arizona State University), Sari Izenwasser (University of Miami), Nicole Schramm Sapyta (Duke University), and Yasmin Hurd (Mount Sinai School of Medicine).

A workshop titled: "Implementing Evidence-based Treatments: The CTN and TreatNet Models" is planned for NIDA's international forum on June 14th at the CPDD 2008 annual meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The symposium is co-chaired by Dr. Betty Tai from NIDA and Dr. Juana Thomas Rossello from UNODC.

Drs. Ivan Montoya, DPMCDA, and Marya Hynes from the Organization of American States will co-chair a workshop on Drug Abuse Research Collaboration in Latin America, at the annual NIDA International Meeting in San Juan on June 13, 2008.

Dr. Ivan Montoya and Robert Walsh, DPMCDA, will co-chair a workshop during CPDD in San Juan to discuss the FDA and NIH regulatory aspects of grants involving clinical trials.

Drs. Ivan Montoya and Joni Rutter, DCNBR, will co-chair a symposium on Pharmacogenetics of the Medications for the Treatment of Addictions at the CPDD meeting in San Juan.

NIDA will host its second "Mentored K Awardees Meeting: Making the Transition to Independent Scientist" in North Bethesda, Maryland on July 24-25, 2008. The meeting will offer a forum for mentored K awardees to:

• meet with NIDA program staff, Division Directors, and the NIDA Director and Deputy Director;
• learn strategies that will maximize their likelihood of successfully obtaining RO1 support ("grantsmanship");
• receive practical advice about transitioning to and succeeding in an independent research career;
• showcase their own current research and network with other awardees at similar points in their careers.

Second, third, and fourth year NIDA mentored K awardees are invited to attend.

The American Psychological Association (APA) is holding its annual convention in Boston, Massachusetts, from August 14-17, 2008. As in previous years, NIDA (in collaboration with NIAAA) and APA Divisions 50 (Addictions) and 28 (Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse) are planning a Poster Session/Social Hour focusing on Early Career Investigators. The 2008 session will take place on August 14 from 4-6 pm. Drs. Teri Levitin and Harold Perl will be teaching their popular half-day course on grantsmanship ("Inside the Black Box at NIH (NIDA & NIAAA): Grant Writing Tips They Didn't Teach You in Graduate School"). This free course is open to all, regardless of career status. Dr. Harold Perl will present a talk entitled, "Implementation Science: Transforming Evidence Into Real-World Practice" as part of the seminar "Evidence Based Practice: Cutting Edge Issues", at the APA on Saturday August 16, 2008.

Dr. Steven Grant, DCNBR, will give a presentation titled "Clinical Neuroscience of Addiction: Advances and Prospects" in the symposium "What is the fundamental nature of addiction?" at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association to be held in Boston, Mass on August 14-18, 2008. The symposium will be chaired by Meyer Glantz (DESPR) and the other speakers include Wilson Compton, (DESPR), Kevin Conway (DESPR) and Robert F. Krueger (University of Minnesota).

Drs. Steven Grant, DCNBR, and Minda Lynch, DBNBR, co-organized and will co-chair a symposium titled "Do Drugs of Abuse Produce Cognitive Rigidity?" at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association to be held in Boston, Mass on August 14-18, 2008. The speakers will be Geoff Schoenbaum (University of Maryland), David Q Beversdorf (Ohio State University), Martin Paulus (UCSD), and Hans Breiter (Massachusetts General Hospital).

Drs. Eve Reider and Belinda Sims will co-chair a symposium at the 2008 annual convention of the American Psychological Association, entitled "Potential of Universal Childhood Prevention to Reduce Later Criminal Behavior" through Division 37 (Child and Family Policy and Practice) and the APA Mini-Convention on Interpersonal Violence.

Dr. James Bjork, DCNBR, organized and will chair the forthcoming symposium "Willpower: What really governs our choices?" to be held as part of NIDA's mini-convention "Frontiers in Addiction Research" on Friday November 14, 2008 in Washington, DC. The speakers will be Patrick Haggard (University College, London), Brian Knutson (Stanford University), Paul Glimcher (New York University), and Jonathan Cohen (Princeton University).

Dr. Steven Grant, DCNBR, and Dr. Rita Goldstein, Brookhaven National Laboratory, co-organized and will co-chair a symposium titled "Functional Neuroimaging Evidence for a Brain Network Underlying Impaired Insight (into illness) in Drug Addiction" at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience to be held in Washington, DC on November 15-29, 2008. The speakers will be AD "Bud" Craig (Barrow Neurological Institute), Antoine Bechara (University of Southern California), Hugh Garavan (Trinity College), and Anna Rose Childress (University of Pennsylvania).