Meetings/Conferences

NIDA, in collaboration with NIAAA and the American Psychological Association (APA) Divisions 28 (Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse) and 50 (Addictions) organized a large program of research symposia and other events which were held as part of the APA annual meeting in San Francisco, August 17-20, 2007. In addition to these presentations of NIDA supported research made by NIDA staff and researchers in the field, NIDA, NIAAA and Divisions 28 and 50 sponsored an Early Career Investigators Poster Session and Social Hour. This event provided the opportunity for approximately 65 early career researchers to travel to the conference and present their work to the members of the Divisions and to interact with senior researchers in the field. The program was organized at NIDA by Meyer Glantz, Minda Lynch, Cora Lee Wetherington, Jane Smither, Melissa Racioppo, David Shurtleff, Lula Beatty, Teresa Levitin, Carol Myers, Harold Perl, Paul Schnur, Belinda Sims, and Aria Crump.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in collaboration with the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), and the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) held a meeting "Translating the Science of Addiction to Clinical Practice: The Challenge of Change" on June 10, 2007 at the Wyndham Hotel in Burlington, Vermont. NIDA's Deputy Director, Dr. Timothy P. Condon, presented new research findings in addiction science and Dr. Cindy Miner, OSPC's Deputy Director, provided an update on recently released Blending Team Products including Motivational Interviewing (MIA:STEP) and Motivational Incentives (PAMI).

NIDA awarded 29 Director's Travel Awards for the 69th annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) on June 16-21, 2007, in Quebec City, Canada. These awards are designed to enhance the opportunity for junior investigators to attend and present at the CPDD meeting, as well as to broaden their exposure to different disciplines of drug abuse and addiction research via the NIDA Tutorials Workshop. Drs. Mimi Ghim and Susan Weiss, OSPC, with the logistical support provided by Ms. Usha Charya, OSPC, coordinated the following activities at CPDD: (1) NIDA Tutorials Workshop, chaired by Dr. Ghim, which introduced trainees and fellows to different areas of drug abuse and addiction research in the course of presentations from three NIDA Training Directors; (2) NIDA Grant-Writing Workshop, chaired by Dr. Cindy Miner, where Drs. Cindy Miner, David Shurtleff, Mark Swieter, and Scott Lukas provided an overview on NIDA research training opportunities, program interests, review procedures, and grantsmanship to prospective candidates.

NIDA awarded 30 Women & Gender Junior Investigator Travel Awards for the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), June 15-21, 2007, Quebec City, Canada. These $750 awards, which have been made annually beginning in 2000, are designed to promote entry of junior investigators into drug abuse research on women and sex/gender differences. To further promote research in this field, NIDA published a mini-program book, Focus on Women & Sex/Gender Differences, for the CPDD meeting. Excerpted from the CPPD program book, it contains only those program listings related to women and sex/gender differences. It also contains the CPDD abstracts on women and sex/gender differences, information about the Women & Gender Junior Investigator Travel Awardees, announcement of the travel award program for CPDD 2008, and information on current NIDA program announcements in this area.

The Screening and Brief Intervention for Drug Abuse in Health Care Settings: Building the Evidence Base Through Provider-Researcher Collaborations Meeting took place in Rockville on July 19-20, 2007, in collaboration with SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. The meeting was organized by NIDA's OSPC, DESPR and DCNBR. Screening and brief intervention for substance use has the potential to significantly alleviate an enormous national public health burden, yet little research has been conducted for drugs other than tobacco and alcohol. Thus, there is a need for data and research in this area. This meeting convened researchers and practitioners to review the state of the science and practice in the area of screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for illicit drug use in order to identify promising and important targets for additional research development.

A NIDA-sponsored workshop entitled Developing a Testing Battery for Cognitive Dysfunction in Substance Abuse, organized by Dr. Steven Grant, DCNBR, was held in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on July 12-13, 2007. The goal of the meeting was to determine the need for and scope of a standardized set of cognitive tasks that would be useful in substance abuse research.

A NIDA-sponsored workshop entitled Using Real Time fMRI for Neurofeedback Control of Craving, organized by Dr. Steven Grant, was held in Chevy Chase, Maryland on July 25-26, 2007 to explore how presenting subjects with real time displays of regional brain activity could be used in either research or treatment settings for substance abuse.

A NIDA-sponsored workshop entitled Neuroimaging Research: Implications for the Treatment of Substance Abuse, was part of the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, was organized and co-chaired by Dr. Steven Grant and Dr. Meyer Glantz of DESPR and held in San Francisco, California, August 17-20, 2007.

NIDA's Special Populations Office (SPO), in conjunction with the American Psychological Association, held a Research Development Seminar on May 9-10, 2007 in Bethesda, Maryland. The two-day workshop, coordinated by Pamela Goodlow, SPO, provided scholars underrepresented in the field of drug abuse and addiction with technical assistance on proposal development skills in drug abuse research.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon, Deputy Director, NIDA, presented "It's a Brain Disease: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt--The Neuroscience of Addiction" at the 2007 Florida Drug Court Training Conference, Sixth Florida Statewide Drug Court Conference on April 26, 2007, in Orlando, Florida.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "National Institute on Drug Abuse: Institute Update" at the American Society of Addiction Medicine's 38th Annual Medical Scientific Conference on April 27, 2007, in Miami, Florida.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "Addiction as a Brain Disease: Implications for Health Professionals" at the Federation of State Physician Health Program's Annual Meeting on May 2, 2007, in San Francisco, California.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon chaired the "Testing and Counseling Policy" session at the Drug Abuse and Risky Behaviors: The Evolving Dynamics of HIV/AIDS conference on May 9, 2007, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "Advances in Drug Abuse and Addiction from NIDA: Implications for Treatment" at the 6th Annual Chief Resident Immersion Training (CRIT) Program on May 14, 2007, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "Drug Abuse Treatment Within the Criminal Justice System: Addressing Our Nation's Public Health Needs" and co-chaired a symposium by the same name, at the NIDA/APA research-based program track, "The Science of Addiction: Translating New Insights Into Better Psychiatric Practice," part of the American Psychiatric Association 160th Annual Meeting on May 23, 2007 in San Diego, California.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "The Science of Addiction: What We Have Learned" at the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors' 2007 Annual Conference, "Translating the Science of Addiction to Clinical Practice: The Challenge of Change," on June 10, 2007, in Burlington, Vermont.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "It's a Brain Disease: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt - The Neuroscience of Addiction" at the 2007 Florida Conference of Circuit Judges' Annual Business Program, on June 11, 2007, in Marco Island, Florida.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "NIDA Networking Project, News and Updates" at the NIDA Genetics Consortium, on June 13, 2007, in Rockville, Maryland.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "Addressing the Linkages between HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse" to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS on June 13, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "It's a Brain Disease: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt - The Neuroscience of Addiction" at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals on June 14, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon provided remarks on "Treatment is the Key: Providing Drug Abuse Services in Criminal Justice Settings" before Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA; Chairman, United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security) at the Violent Crime - Prevention and Solutions from the Experts; A Summit on Crime Policy, on June 22, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations" at the National Center for Community Corrections on June 29, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Timothy P. Condon presented "Methamphetamine, Emerging Drug Problems, and Blending Research and Practice" to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on July 13, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Cindy Miner, Deputy Director, OSPC, presented "Neurobiology of Addiction" at the Southern West Virginia Coalfields Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Training Meeting on May 17, 2007 in Beckley, West Virginia.

Dr. Cindy Miner presented an "Overview of Blending Initiative" at Translating the Science of Addiction to Clinical Practice: The Challenge of Change, a NIDA-SAMHSA Meeting in Collaboration with NASADAD on June 10, 2007 in Burlington, Vermont.

Dr. Cindy Miner presented "Blending Team Product: Promoting Awareness of Motivational Incentives (PAMI)" at Translating the Science of Addiction to Clinical Practice: The Challenge of Change, a NIDA-SAMHSA Meeting in Collaboration with NASADAD on June 10, 2007.

Dr. Cindy Miner presented "Highlighting NIDA Research Priorities and Funding Opportunities" at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry K12 Retreat on June 14-16, 2007 in Quebec City, Canada.

Dr. Cindy Miner chaired a Grantwriting Workshop at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) 69th Annual Meeting on June 19, 2007 in Quebec City, Canada.

Dr. Susan Weiss, Chief, Science Policy Branch, OSPC, participated in the Research Colloquium for Junior Investigators, sponsored by the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education (APIRE) in San Diego on May 20, 2007. She presented information on research training and funding opportunities available at NIDA to encourage psychiatrists to pursue research careers and become independent investigators.

Dr. Gayathri J. Dowling, Deputy Chief, Science Policy Branch, OSPC, NIDA, delivered the Banquet Address entitled "The Science of Addiction," at the Annual Wisconsin State Prevention Conference on July 25th, 2007, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Dr. Gayathri J. Dowling, Deputy Chief, Science Policy Branch, OSPC, NIDA, gave a presentation entitled "The Science of Addiction" at the National Network for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Semi-Annual Professional Development Conference on August 1, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Nicolette Borek, DCNBR, moderated a symposium on "Prenatal Nicotine Exposure: How Does it Relate to Developmental Vulnerabilities?" at the 160th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Diego, CA, May 19-24, 2007.

Dr. Nicolette Borek moderated the session "Prenatal Drug Abuse and Adolescent Developmental Trajectories" at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Neurobehavioral Teratology Society in Pittsburgh, PA, June 23-27, 2007.

Dr. Wilson Compton, Director, DESPR, presented to the SAMSHA Screening, Brief Interventions and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) grantees on "Developing a Research Agenda for SBIRT", May 10, 2007.

Dr. Wilson Compton presented on "Drug Abuse and Addiction: Preventable and Treatable Diseases" at the Wisconsin state substance abuse provider meeting in Madison, May 14, 2007.

At the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Diego, Dr. Wilson Compton presented on "Methamphetamine Epidemiology" and "Dimensional Approaches to Nicotine, Marijuana and Alcohol Use Disorders" as well as serving as discussant in a panel on adolescent substance abuse treatment.

At the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research in Washington, District of Columbia, Dr. Wilson Compton co-chaired a panel on "Measurement of Community-Level Change Processes" on May 31, 2007.

Dr. Wilson Compton presented in sessions on "National Prevention and Treatment Best Practices" and "The NIATx Action Campaign" at the State Associations of Addiction Services National Conference for Executive and Senior Managers in Addiction Services held in Chicago, Illinois on July 9, 2007.

On July 24, 2007, Dr. Compton participated in the American Psychiatric Association DSM-V Task Force meeting, Arlington, Virginia.

On August 3, 2007, Dr. Wilson Compton presented "Drug Abuse Epidemiology" at the meeting of the Safe and Drug Free Schools program in Washington, DC.

Dr. Redonna Chandler, DESPR, co-chaired a symposium "Drug Abuse Treatment within the Criminal Justice System: Addressing Our Nation's Public Health Needs" at the American Psychiatric Association 160th Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, May 19-24, 2007.

Dr. Redonna Chandler, DESPR presented, "It's a Brain Disease beyond a Reasonable Doubt" at the National Association of Drug Court Professional's 13th Annual Drug Court Training Conference held in Washington, DC, June 13-16, 2007.

In June 2007 Dr. Yonette Thomas, DESPR, presented a poster at CPDD on "Trajectories of Drug Use and Contextual Factors among Minority Youth" based on data from the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY). Her co-authors were Drs. Marsha F. Lopez, DESPR, Zhiqun Tang and Robert G. Orwin, WESTAT.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson, DESPR, presented a session on the NIH grants process at the 2007 W. T. Grant Foundations Summer Scholars meeting, in Snowbird, UT on June 23, 2007.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson participated in a two day meeting of the Basic Career Knowledge Taskforce of the Society for Prevention Research on July 10 and 11, 2007 in Arlington, VA.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson participated on the Technical Consultation Group for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration's National Outcome Measures (NOMs) and Evidence Based Practices (EBPs) Workgroup on August 1st and 2nd, 2007 in Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Redonna Chandler, Ph.D., DESPR, participated in the 7th Annual Meeting for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Science to Services and Services to Science: The Identification & Adoption of Effective Practices for Substance Abuse Treatment pre-meeting satellite session of the CPDD 69th Annual Scientific Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, CA, July 16-21, 2007.

Dr. Elizabeth Ginexi, DESPR, and Dr. Eve Moscicki of NIMH helped to plan and participated in a Pre-conference Workshop at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Prevention Research titled "Underlying Mechanisms in Liability for Dysregulatory Behaviors." The focus of the workshop, which took place on May 29, 2007, was on clarifying how genetic and environmental factors operate together and to discuss the relevance to prevention research. NIDA/NIMH Travel awards were offered to 14 Early Career investigators to attend the meeting. Presenters included Jenae Neiderhiser (George Washington University), Diana Fishbein (RTI), Michael Vanyukov (University of Pittsburgh), Leslie Leve (Oregon Social Learning Center), Joan Kaufman (Yale University), Sara Jaffee (University of Pennsylvania), and Ken Dodge (Duke University).

Dr. Jessica Chambers, DESPR, chaired a scientific symposium on children of drug abusers at the Society for Prevention Science Meeting held in May 2007 in Washington, DC.

Dr. Augusto Diana, 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.

Dr. Aria Crump, DESPR, represented NIDA/NIH at the HHS-sponsored Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders' Consultation Meeting in Carson, CA on April 23-24, 2007.

Dr. Aria Crump presented on DESPR research priorities at the NIDA Special Populations Office Research Development Seminar Series Meeting co-sponsored by the American Psychological Association that was held on May 9-10, 2007.

Drs. Aria Crump and Belinda Sims, DESPR, co-chaired a session entitled "Spotlight on Data Sharing: New Opportunities for Advancing Research with Existing Data Sets" for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research on May 30, 2007.

Dr. Aleta Meyer, DESPR, chaired an organized paper symposium titled "Thinking about the Role of Peer Norms in School-Based Interventions to Prevent Aggression and Violence" at the 15th Annual Society for Prevention Research meeting in Washington DC on May 30, 2007.

Dr. Elizabeth Ginexi, DESPR, served as the Discussant for a Paper Symposium at the annual meeting for the Society for Prevention Research in Washington, DC on May 31, 2007 titled "The Role of Peers in Substance Use Risk and Substance Use Prevention." Drs. Philip Costanzo of Duke University, Thomas Valente of the University of Southern California, and Valerie Johnson of Rutgers University presented papers.

Drs. Aria Crump, Belinda Sims, and Richard Jenkins organized and participated in a multi-IC update on NIH policy and programmatic priorities for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research on May 31, 2007.

Drs. Belinda Sims and Aria Crump co-chaired a Poster Forum entitled "At the Intersection of Health Disparities in Drug Abuse and the Research Pipeline: Minority Researchers Advancing the Science," at the May/June 2007 Society for Prevention Research Meeting in Washington, DC, which included presentations from researchers at various levels of early career development--undergraduate through assistant professor/research scientist.

Dr. Belinda Sims participated in a roundtable discussion on "Integrating and Coordinating Care across Levels of Intervention in School-Based Services: Research Strategies and Practical Considerations," during the May/June 2007 Society for Prevention Research annual meeting, in Washington, DC.

Drs. Eve Reider and Belinda Sims co-chaired a symposium "Is Early Prevention Intervention Later AIDS Prevention?" at the American Psychological Association annual meeting in San Francisco, CA on August 20, 2007. The panel of presenters included David Olds, University of Colorado, Karl Hill, University of Washington, and Kenneth Griffin, Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Deborah Capaldi, Oregon Social Learning Center, was the discussant for the symposium.

Dr. Richard Denisco, DESPR, served on the planning committee and was the contact person for the Pain, Opioids, and Addiction: An Urgent Problem for Doctors and Patients, March 5-6, 2007 at Natcher Auditorium NIH, Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Richard Denisco represented NIDA at The Tufts Health Care Institute Program on Opioid Risk Management on March 29-30, 2007 in Boston, MA.

Dr. Dionne Jones, DESPR, 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. Richard Denisco presented an abstract "Effect of 12-Step Meeting Attendance on Drug Positive Status at One Year" at the College on Problems of Drug Dependency, in Quebec City on June 21, 2007.

Dr. Dionne Jones organized and chaired a panel presentation, "Drug Abuse and Homelessness Among Women at Risk for HIV" at the American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, August 17-20, 2007.

Dr. Peter Hartsock, DESPR, moderated a session titled "Drug Abuse in South African Youth Research Panel" at the NIDA-sponsored conference, "Southern Africa Initiative: Research Progress and Perspectives," Bethesda, MD, April 17, 2007.

Derrick Prather, SPO, presented a talk on "Substance Abuse; Risk Factors and the Social Impact" to teens attending the Health Education Camp at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2007.

Flair Lindsey, Program Analyst, Special Populations Office, coordinated the 11th annual Summer Research with NIDA program, which enabled high school and undergraduate students to engage in drug abuse research with various NIDA grantees for 8-10 weeks over the summer. This year, 52 students and 30 investigators participated.

Dr. Mark Swieter, OEA, made the presentation, "Update on Electronic Grant Submission and Process for Foreign Investigators" on June 16, 2007 at the NIDA International Forum in Quebec City, Canada.

Dr. Mark Swieter made the presentation, "Research Grants and the Peer Review Process" on June 19, 2007 at the Grant Writing Workshop at CPDD in Quebec City, Canada.

Dr. Meena Hiremath and Dr. Mark Swieter both of OEA and Dr. Gail Boyd from the Center for Scientific Review Co-chaired a workshop entitled "What's New at NIDA and NIH: Electronic Submission of Applications and More" on June 17, 2007 at CPDD in Quebec City, Canada.

Dr. Mark Green, OEA, conducted a mock grant application review training session for new investigators at the Society for Prevention Research on May 31, 2007.

Dr. Teri Levitin, Director, OEA, co-organized and co-presented with other NIDA staff a grant writing workshop at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting in May 2007. The purpose of the workshop was to help participants become more familiar with the research funding process at the NIH and to learn how to be more proactive in the preparation and submission of their own applications.

Dr. Teri Levitin participated as an invited panelist in a workshop called "Show Me the Money: Grant-getting for Graduate Students and New Faculty" at the Association for Psychological Science in May. Her presentation focused on opportunities for psychologists at NIDA.

Dr. Teri Levitin has been on the planning committee for NIDA activities at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting, and, with Dr. Harold Perl, co-organized and co-taught a continuing education course on grant writing at that meeting in August 2007. This four-hour workshop provided an overview of NIH extramural policies and procedures as well as NIDA and NIAAA program areas.

Dr. David Thomas, DBNBR, chaired a session titled, Mechanisms and Management of Neuropathic Pain, at the NIH Pain Consortium's 2nd annual meeting, Advances in Pain Research, held at the NIH main Campus Masur Auditorium, May 1, 2007.

Dr. David Thomas co-chaired a workshop titled, "Bridging Basic Pain Research, Conventional Pain Treatments and VR Pain Treatments" at the Cybertherapy 2007 meeting held in Alexandria, VA on June 11, 2007.

Dr. David Thomas chaired a session titled, "Pain" at the Cybertherapy 2007 meeting held in Alexandria, VA on June 12, 2007.

Dr. David Thomas made a presentation on the NIH grant process at a session titled, New Investigator Guide to the NIH Grant Process, Training Programs, and Funding Opportunities, at the American Pain Society meeting May 4, 2007, in Washington, DC.

Dr. David Thomas co-chaired and made a presentation at a session titled, "Alternative and Complementary Medicine," held June 28, 2007 at the American Peptide Society annual meeting in Montreal, Canada.

Dr. Rao S. Rapaka, DBNBR, co-organized a symposium on "Epigenetic Applications to Drug Development" at the Annual Meeting for the National Biotechnology Conference (NBC) of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), San Diego, June 2007.

Dr. Rao S. Rapaka co-organized a symposium on "Alternative and Complementary Medicine: Applications to Peptide Research" at the 20th American Peptide Symposium, Montreal, June 28, 2007.

Drs. Hari Singh and David Shurtleff, both of DBNBR, organized and co-chaired a workshop session on "An Overview of NIDA Drug Supply & Analytical Services Program" at the 2007 CPDD meeting in Quebec, Canada on June 19, 2007.

Dr. Christine Colvis and David Shurtleff, DBNBR, organized and co-chaired a symposium entitled: "On the Road to Chemical Ligand Development for Drug Abuse Research" at the 2007 CPDD meeting in Quebec, Canada on June 17, 2007.

Drs. Paul Schnur and David Shurtleff, DBNBR, organized and co-chaired a NIDA sponsored symposium entitled "Extinction Learning: Application to Drug Addiction" at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco CA on August 19, 2007.

Dr. David Shurtleff gave a Division 28 Fellow presentation entitled "A Role for Psychopharmacology in Understanding Individual and Genetic Vulnerability to Drug Addiction" at the 2007 meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco CA on August 18, 2007.

Drs. Allison Chausmer and Cora Lee Wetherington, DBNBR, co-organized and co-chaired the symposium, "A Translational Approach to Understanding Gender, Adolescence and Vulnerability to Nicotine Addiction," at the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco, February 21-24, 2007, Austin, TX.

Dr. Cora Lee Wetherington presented the workshop, "Sex/Gender Matters in Drug Abuse," at the Virginia Summer Institute for Addiction Studies, July 16- 20, 2007, Williamsburg, VA.

Dr. Susan Volman, DBNBR, participated in an NIH funding workshop with representatives from other NIH ICs, at University of Maryland on May 3, 2007.

Dr. John Satterlee, DBNBR, gave a presentation describing the major aspects of the Epigenetics Roadmap Initiative to the trans-NIH Genomics Workgroup June 7, 2007.

Dr. John Satterlee attended and participated in the NCI-sponsored "ChIP-chip Workshop" on Chromatin Immunoprecipitation, Bethesda, MD July 9, 2007 and the NCI-sponsored workshop "Innovative Research at NIH: Finding What Works" on methods for identifying and fostering innovative research, Bethesda, MD June 21, 2007.

Drs. Jonathan Pollock and John Satterlee, both of DBNBR, co-chaired "Genes, Microarrays and Addiction Workshop", Bethesda, MD May 31-June 1, 2007.

Drs. Frank Vocci and Ahmed Elkashef, DPMCDA, co-chaired two workshops at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Diego in May 2007. The first workshop was entitled Promising Medications for the Treatment of Cocaine Addiction. Drs. Ahmed Elkashef, Kyle Kampman, Bankole Johnson, and George Koob presented at the workshop. The second workshop was entitled: Methamphetamine Abuse and Addiction: Prevalence and Treatment. Drs. Wilson Compton, William Haning and Trevor Robbins spoke at the workshop.

Drs. Ivan Montoya and Frank Vocci, DPMCDA, co-chaired a symposium at the CPDD meeting in Quebec, Canada in June 2007 entitled: Where there's smoke there's fire: Understanding vulnerability to tobacco and marijuana use in schizophrenia. Drs. Danielle Piomelli, Sherry Leonard, Cyril D'Souza, and Ivan Montoya made presentations at the symposium. Dr. Tony George was the discussant.

Drs. Ahmed Elkashef and Frank Vocci co-chaired a workshop at CPDD entitled: Pharmacotherapies for Stimulant Addiction. Drs. Eklashef, Kimmo Kopppasalmi, and Jason White presented. Dr. Frank Vocci was the workshop discussant.

Dr. Frank Vocci spoke on Cognitive Deficits Produced by Stimulants at the University of Arkansas on August 13, 2007.

On June 19, 2007, at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence 67th Annual Scientific Meeting, Drs. Ahmed Elkashef and David McCann, DPMCDA, chaired a workshop entitled "Issues in Medications Development for Relapse Prevention." Presentation were as follows: Dr. Charles O'Brien presented "The Importance of Relapse Prevention in Drug Addiction Treatment;" Dr. Jane B. Acri, DPMCDA, presented "Animal Models of Relapse: An Overview;" Dr. McCann presented "Use of Extinction/Reinstatement Rat Models of Relapse in Medications Discovery; " Dr. Anna Rose Childress presented "Human Laboratory Models of Relapse: Approaches, Pitfalls and a View to the Future;" and Dr. Elkashef presented "Considerations in the Design of Clinical Trials for Assessing the Efficacy of Relapse Prevention Medications." Dr. Frank Vocci served as the discussant. A brief summary of the presentations and discussions will be published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

On June 12, 2007, at the 12th Annual CyberTherapy Conference, "Transforming Health Care through Technology," Dr. Nathan M. Appel, DPMCDA, co-chaired the symposium entitled, "Addictions." Presentations were as follows: B. Girard and V. Turcotte, "A Virtual Arm to Stop Smoking, A Perceptual Learning Experiment;" R. Astur et al., "Establishing Preferences to Virtual Environments using Cocaine;" S-M. Kwak and J-H Lee, "Avoiding Coping Strategy User's Attentional Bias and Emotional Change to Appearance-Related Stimuli;" H.L. Copp et al., "Using Virtual Reality to Investigate Cross-Cue Reactivity and Environmental Cues in Nicotine Dependent Problem Drinkers;" and M.Z. Rosenthal et al., "Virtual Reality for Cue Exposure and Cell Phones as Cue Extinction Reminders in Treatment for Crack Cocaine Dependence." Dr. Appel was the symposium discussant. Dr. Appel also served on the Conference Program Committee.

Kevin Conway and Ivan Montoya co-chaired a symposium at the APA meeting in San Diego about the directionality of substance use disorders and mental disorders in May 2007.

Ivan Montoya and Frank Vocci co-chaired a symposium 'Comorbidity of Nicotine and Cannabis Use Disorders and Schizophrenia' at the CPDD meeting in Quebec City. Ivan Montoya made a presentation about the development of medications for the treatment of that triple comorbidity in June 2007.

Ivan Montoya participated in the NIDA International Satellite meeting and met with Hispanic investigators to discuss the development of an international web portal.

Dr. Nora Chiang, DPMCDA, and Dr. Michael Owens, University of Arkansas co-organized and co-chaired a symposium entitled "Newly Engineered Antibodies and Enzymes Therapies for Treating Drug Abuse" at the CPDD annual meeting in Quebec City, Canada, June 2007.

On June 18, 2007, at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence 67th Annual Scientific Meeting, Dr. Jane B. Acri presented in a workshop entitled "Computational Modeling of Complex Systems in Problems of Drug Dependence: A New Research Solution." Her presentation was entitled "The Complexities of Drug Dependence: Why We Might Need Computational Models." A brief summary of the presentations and discussions will be published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Dr. Joseph Frascella, Director, DCNBR, co-chaired with Dr. Nora Volkow a symposium entitled "Insights on Obesity and Drug Addiction from Brain Imaging" held at the American Psychiatric Association in San Diego, CA on May 21, 2007.

Dr. Laurence Stanford, DCNBR, presented a talk on grant writing strategies at the NIDA Special Populations Office Research Development Seminar Series in May, 2007.

Dr. Laurence Stanford co-chaired a symposium at the 160th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Diego, CA in May, 2007 entitled "A Picture of the Development of the Adolescent Brain: A Structural and Functional Assessment".

Dr. Joseph Frascella gave a presentation at the National Hispanic Science Network Summer Research Training Institute on Hispanic Drug Abuse entitled "NIH Proposal Writing and Research Mechanisms" at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas on June 6, 2007.

Drs. Laurence Stanford, Joseph Frascella, and Steven Grant, all of DCNBR, participated in an Association of American Medical Colleges Symposium on the Scientific Basis of Influence and Reciprocity in June, 2007.

Dr. Joseph Frascella attended a meeting hosted by the Rudd Center at Yale University on Food and Addiction in New Haven, Connecticut on July 9-10, 2007.

Dr. Woody Lin, DCNBR, represented NIDA at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association held in San Francisco, California, August 17-20, 2007.

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

CCTN staff/contractors participated in the 28th annual meeting of the Society for Clinical Trials that was held in Montreal, Canada, May 20-23, 2007 as follows:

Dr. Paul Wakim chaired an Invited Session on "Effect Size in Sample Size Determination: Clinical versus Statistical Significance". The session included 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 chaired a symposium titled, "Safety Monitoring in Behavioral Trials: Challenges and Opportunities" that presented an overview of the 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 included 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.

Jeng-Jong (JJ) Pan and David Liu, presented a poster entitled, "Analysis of Adverse Events in Clinical Trials Using Data Mining."

DCRI, the Data and Statistics Center for CTN, presented a paper titled "Challenges of Establishing a Public Share Data Web Site", in the contributed paper session.

Janet Levy delivered an oral presentation entitled "Sizing Simple Trials to Develop Adaptive Treatment Strategies". Coauthors included 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 presented a symposium on the results of three HIV protocols completed in the CTN in 2006. There were other CTN presentations by Drs. Maxine Stitzer, George Woody, Dan Polsky, and other CTN members.

CCTN-Related participation in the 115th annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) held August 17-20 in San Francisco, CA included the following:

The CTN Gender Special Interest Group (SIG) presented a symposium entitled, "Women's Issues in Substance Abuse Treatment." The symposium was co-chaired by Susan Gordon (Delaware Valley) and Carmen Rosa (NIDA). Participants were Theresa Winhusen (Ohio Valley Node), Susan Tross (Long Island Node), and Denise Hien (Long Island Node); Kathleen Brady (Southern Consortium) was the discussant.

The CTN HIV Special Interest Group presented a symposium on the past and present HIV related studies conducted in the CTN. Dr. Don Calsyn (Lead Investigator CTN 0018) chaired the session entitled, "HIV/AIDS Related Research in the NIDA Clinical Trials Network." The session included 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 discussed 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 presented a symposium entitled, "Practical Challenges Integrating Evidence-Based Practices Into Addiction Treatment Programs." Participants included 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 Fixsen (consultant to the RUC).

Harold Perl (with Teresa Levitin [NIDA OEA]) taught a half-day technical assistance workshop titled, "Inside the Black Box at NIH (NIDA & NIAAA): Grant Writing Tips They Didn't Teach You in Graduate School," on August 15, 2007.

Dr. Peter Grundt, IRP, gave the NIDA-IRP Seminar series lecture on April 17, 2007 and was invited to give a lecture at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in June 2007.

Drs. Peter Grundt, Noel Paul and George Cyriac, IRP, were invited to participate in the NIH Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Summit on June 21, 2007, in Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Roy Wise, IRP, presented a seminar entitled "Conditioned and Unconditioned Reward-related Input to the Dopamine System" at the Neural Pathways Reward Symposium at the Columbia University, Manhattan, New York on May 10, 2007.