Sixth Annual Aspen Brain Forum: The Addicted Brain and New Treatment Frontiers

 描述：尽管神经回路和行为方面的研究进展提高了我们对成瘾潜在过程的理解，但在开发新的生物或药物疗法、基于神经科学的行为治疗和监测方法以及获得护理策略方面仍存在差距。为了解决这些未得到满足的需求，纽约科学院将与Aspen Brain Forum Foundation和《科学转化医学》杂志一起，于2016年5月18日至20日在纽约市举办为期2.5天的会议，题为《第六届年度Aspen Brain论坛：成瘾大脑和新治疗前沿》。这次会议将召集大约250名与会者--包括学术界、工业界和政府的基础科学家和临床研究人员；医生和其他成瘾治疗专家；制药战略家；以及立法者--努力更好地了解成瘾的神经生物学。这次活动将包括关于神经可塑性、神经发育和社会政治问题的讨论，目标是开发新的靶点，改进目前的行为和药物治疗。这次会议的三个主要目的是：(I)通过讲座、主旨演讲、互动辩论和网络活动提供一个中立的论坛，讨论成瘾的神经生物学图景、治疗前景和成瘾持续存在的社会政治环境；(Ii)通过简短的演讲、海报演示、旅行奖学金、职业指导活动和折扣登记，展示和鼓励早期职业、女性和代表性不足的少数群体调查人员的参与；以及(Iii)促进来自所有部门的国际调查人员之间的合作，促进将研究转化为更有效的成瘾治疗方法。会议的目标与国家药物滥用研究所(NIDA)的使命非常一致，即支持在成瘾行为潜在的神经生物学和行为过程方面的新知识的进步，并将信息转化为干预措施，最终可能减少药物滥用。此外，NIDA传播有关成瘾和研究进展信息的具体目标将通过在《纽约科学院年鉴》上发表一份会议后、持久、开放获取、符合第508条款的会议报告和一份名为eBriefing的在线多媒体报告来实现，该报告将向全球研究和医学界传播会议上交流的科学知识和思想。考虑到神经生物学研究的最新进展和物质法律的变化(例如，美国许多州扩大大麻使用合法化，以及努力改革毒品犯罪政策)，这次会议尤其及时。在所有成瘾利益相关者中协作检查这一新信息，对于指导该领域的研究--特别是关于潜在的创新治疗方法--具有重要价值。

 DESCRIPTION: Although research advances in neural circuitry and behavior have improved our understanding of the processes underlying addiction, gaps remain in the development of new biologic or pharmacologic therapies, neuroscience-based behavioral treatment and monitoring methods, and access-to-care strategies. To address these unmet needs, the New York Academy of Sciences, together with the Aspen Brain Forum Foundation, and the journal Science Translational Medicine will present a 2.5-day conference titled, "Sixth Annual Aspen Brain Forum: The Addicted Brain and New Treatment Frontiers," on May 18 - 20, 2016, in New York City. This conference will convene approximately 250 attendees - including basic scientists and clinical investigators in academia, industry, and government; physicians and other addiction treatment specialists; pharmaceutical strategists; and lawmakers - in an effort to better understand the neurobiology of addiction. The event will include discussions on neuroplasticity, neurodevelopment, and socio-political issues, with the goals of developing new targets and improving current behavioral and pharmacological treatments. The three central aims of this conference are to: (i) provide a neutral forum through lectures, a keynote presentation, interactive debates, and networking activities for discussing the neurobiological landscape of addiction, therapeutic prospects, and the socio-political environment within which addiction persists; (ii) showcase and encourage the participation of early career, female, and underrepresented minority investigators via short talks, poster presentations, travel fellowships, career mentoring activities, and discounted registration; and (iii) foster collaboration among international investigators from all sectors to promote the translation of research into more effective addiction therapeutics. The conference goals align well with the mission of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to support the advancement of new knowledge on the neurobiological and behavioral processes underlying addictive behaviors, and the translation of information into interventions that may ultimately reduce substance abuse. In addition, NIDA's specific goal of disseminating information about addiction and advances in research will be met through the publication of a post-conference, enduring, open-access, Section 508- compliant Meeting Report in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences and an online, multimedia report known as an eBriefing, which will distribute the scientific knowledge and ideas exchanged at the meeting to the global research and medical communities. This conference is especially timely given recent advances in neurobiology research and changes to substance laws (e.g., expanded legalization of marijuana usage within many U.S. states and efforts to reform drug criminalization policies). A collaborative examination of this new information among all addiction stakeholders is of significant value for guiding research forward in the field - particularly with respect to potential innovative therapeutic approaches.