ARLINGTON, Va. (May 10, 2013) – The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and APA have collaborated to organize a special track, Advancing Psychiatric Practice Through the Science of Addiction, at the APA Annual Meeting. The APA meeting, the world’s largest psychiatric meeting, will run Saturday, May 18 to Wednesday, May 22, 2013 in San Francisco at the Moscone Convention Center.
We have seen “decades of stunning advances in neuroscience, findings that collectively provide the most detailed picture yet of the underlying risks, mechanistic triggers, and functional correlates of addiction at multiple levels: molecular, neurochemical, brain circuitry, and environmental. These scientific advances are helping to generate better drug abuse prevention and treatment strategies for intervening across all stages and with all ages,” noted Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Dilip Jeste, M.D., APA President, in their introduction to the track.
NIDA’s special track will highlight a wide range of topics to advance psychiatric practice through addiction science. NIDA Director Nora Volkow will speak on Substance Use Disorders: New Scientific Findings and Therapeutic Opportunities, and Robert K. Moyzis, Ph.D., with the University of California, Irvine, will speak on Evolutionary Explorations of the Human Genome. Other session topics include the clinical implications of changes in the revised DSM-5; comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders and the implications for early identification and treatment; and advances in pharmacotherapies for substance use disorders.
This year’s meeting will again feature NIDA’s innovative Addiction Performance Project, a unique educational event featuring a dramatic reading from Long Day’s Journey into Night by Emmy Award-winning actress Mare Winningham and other award-winning actors. It is designed to break down the stigma associated with addiction and educate clinicians about their role in helping patients at-risk for, or struggling with addiction, to get the treatment they need. The Addiction Performance Project is an interactive event including expert panel reaction and audience discussion. Panelists will include Nora Volkow, M.D., Roger Weiss, M.D., Steven Batki, M.D., and Congressman Patrick Kennedy.
Source: APA.
