NIDA's National Advisory Council Welcomes New Members

NEW MEMBERS WELCOMED BY NIDA (left to right) NIDA Deputy Director Dr. Tim Condon, new National Advisory Council members Drs. Hazel Szeto, Steven Childers, and Xavier Castellanos, NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow, additional new Council members Drs. Anita Everett and Thomas Crowley, and NIDA Office of Extramural Affairs Director Dr. Teresa Levitin.

The National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse introduced five new members at its May 2008 meeting at NIDA headquarters in Rockville, Maryland:

F. Xavier Castellanos, M.D., is director of research at the New York University (NYU) Child Study Center and director of the Phyllis Green and Randolph Cowen Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience. He is also a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Castellanos' research focuses on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and related conditions.

Steven R. Childers, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forest University. His research characterizes how drugs affect neuronal receptors and signaling within cells. Dr. Childers and colleagues study opioids, cannabinoids, and cocaine.

Thomas J. Crowley, M.D., is a member of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, where he is a professor and director of the Division of Substance Dependence. His research addresses co-occurring substance dependence and conduct disorder in adolescents and includes genetic and functional imaging techniques.

Anita S. Everett, M.D., is section chief of community and general psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and a faculty member at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Everett's current research concentrates on the health behavior of individuals with long-term mental illnesses. She is engaged in several international projects, including consultation with the ministries of health in Iraq and Afghanistan on the implementation of mental health services in these countries.

Hazel H. Szeto, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Szeto's team designs and develops peptides that interact with specific opioid, vasopressin, and oxytocin receptors. The research goal is to develop well-tolerated medications for pain, blood pressure, neurodegenerative diseases, and other conditions.

The Council advises NIDA in its efforts to identify, review, and fund scientific research that supports the Institute's mission. The Council is made up of 12 experts in scientific fields, 6 members of the public knowledgeable about research on drug abuse, and ex officio members from other Government entities.

Universities Offer Online Master's Program in Addiction Studies

A consortium of three universities launched a 12-month intensive online program last August that leads to a master's degree in addiction studies. The full-time international program, developed by the University of Adelaide (Australia), King's College London (United Kingdom), and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, prepares participants to assume leadership roles in addiction science and related fields, such as health care, law enforcement, policy, and education.

Courses focus on the scientific basis of addiction, comparative epidemiology, evidence-based interventions (including pharmacological, psychosocial, and public health approaches), research methodology, and addictions policy. Lecturers include leading authorities in these fields. The goal of the International Programme in Addiction Studies is to produce specialists in addiction who will translate research into effective treatment and prevention practices and local, state, national, and international public health policies.

In the program, all online lectures, assignments, and correspondence are conducted in English. For more information about the program, including eligibility requirements, visit www.adelaide.edu.au/addiction/ or contact program officers Dr. Femke Pijlman, femke.pijlman@adelaide.edu.au; Dr. Kim Wolff, kim.wolff@iop.kcl.ac.uk; or Dr. Mary Loos, meloos@vcu.edu.

NIDA Initiates Pediatrics Symposium on Adolescent Health

Adolescence and early adulthood are times of self-definition and increasing autonomy. They are also periods of heightened sensitivity to social influences and vulnerability to the onset of mental problems, including substance use and mood disorders. The physical and mental health of adolescents was the focus of a day-long program, "What's Happening to Me? Inside the Mind and Body of an Adolescent," at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics, held in Boston in October. About 60 pediatricians and scientists who study adolescents attended a symposium, sponsored and organized by NIDA, that described the adolescent brain and cognitive development and considered the impact of drug abuse on young people.

At the symposium, neuroscientists presented findings of imaging studies indicating that the brain continues to mature during adolescence and into young adulthood. They also noted recent findings on the structural and functional changes that occur in the brain as children mature into adolescents; the changing balance between emotional and inhibitory neural circuits that influence an increased tendency toward risk-taking during adolescence; and the negative impact of adolescent marijuana abuse on cognitive abilities, including attention and memory. Researchers also described studies that seek to determine whether individuals exposed prenatally to drugs are more vulnerable to substance abuse and other behavior problems than unexposed peers.

"The primary goal of the session was to update clinicians on the influence of drugs on neurodevelopment from infancy through young adulthood—particularly recent data on adolescent brain development that may shape substance abuse prevention and treatment for teens," said NIDA's Dr. Karen Sirocco, the symposium moderator.

Volume 22, Number 3 (April 2009)