More than 1,000 scientists will meet June 14-19 in Bal Harbour, Florida, at the Sixty-fifth Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) to discuss their latest findings on drug abuse and addiction.
Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health, will speak at the plenary session at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 15, and also will chair a session on Monday, June 16, about gender differences and addiction titled "Sex Differences in the Addicted Brain."
The conference, partially sponsored by NIDA, will be held at the Sheraton Bal Harbour Beach Resort.
A broad range of research that addresses mechanisms for development of drug addiction, prevention and treatment will be presented. Adolescent drug use, gender differences in effects of drugs, and club drugs are among the many research topics in the meeting agenda.
On Sunday, June 15, at the Plenary Session (Grand Ballroom) achievement awards will be presented to outstanding scientists for their contributions to the field of addiction science. The Addiction Studies Program for Journalists (Wake Forest University) will be cited for training media and journalists on issues of drug abuse, and Dr. Charles O'Brien (University of Pennsylvania) will receive the Nathan B. Eddy Award for lifetime contributions to the field. For his efforts in teaching and training drug abuse researchers, Dr. Charles Schuster (Wayne State University) will be honored with the Mentorship Award. Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to Dr. Frank Vocci (National Institute on Drug Abuse) and Charles O'Keeffe (Reckitt and Colman Pharmaceuticals).
Some of the highlighted presentations include: The Irony of Ecstasy and Novel Medications for Drug Treatment (Sunday afternoon). Immunotherapy for Drug Dependence and Sex Differences in the Addicted Brain are among programs scheduled for Monday morning. A special session on Late Breaking Research is scheduled for Tuesday morning, as is a symposium on Concepts of Drug Addiction from Science to Policy. A workshop on Prescription Drug Abuse is scheduled for Tuesday evening. The effects of cues on drug use and the actions of inhalants will be discussed in sessions on Thursday morning. These are only a few of the hundreds of reports that will be presented at the conference.
For a full program listing and times and locations of presentations, visit the conference web site at http://www.cpdd.org. Media representatives are invited to the scientific sessions. Please pick up a press badge at the meeting registration area (Grand Ballroom Foyer).
In conjunction with the CPDD conference, NIDA is sponsoring the 2003 NIDA International Forum? Building International Research: Emerging Trends and Patterns in Drug Use. The Forum, part of NIDA's ongoing efforts to foster international research on drug abuse, is a series of research symposia, poster sessions, and network-building activities showcasing international research on drug abuse, allowing participants to learn about drug abuse research and policy issues in other countries.
The 2003 NIDA International Forum will begin on June 13 and will run concurrently with the CPDD conference at the Sheraton Bal Harbour Beach Resort.
The College on Problems of Drug Dependence is the oldest independent organization in the United States that supports research on the scientific explanation of drug use and dependence.