SRNT Newsletter February/March 2006, Volume 12, Number 1

FEB/MAR 2006
Volume 12 - No. 1

President's Column

Past President's Reflections

From the Editor

Research Activities at a Featured Program

Developing Countries
Research Needs

Book Review

In the Spotlight

Member Publications

Position Openings

Meeting Calendar

Society Information

  

SRNT Newsletter

Advancing Science & Health

February/March 2006, Volume 12, Number 1

Highlights from SRNT's 12th Annual Meeting
Orlando, Flordia, USA, February 15-18, 2006

by Suzanne Colby, Eric Donny, & Jennifer Tidey

 

The 12th Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco was held in Orlando, Florida, USA, at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort from February 15-18, 2006. A total of 755 registrants from 22 countries attended the meeting.

On February 15, two pre-conference workshops were held. The first was entitled National Cooperative Drug Discovery Groups for Nicotine Addiction - A NIDA Synthesis Meeting. This NIDA-sponsored meeting featured a full day of in-depth presentations highlighting the range of ligand discovery and development research from basic science to clinical trials currently funded under the National Cooperative Drug Discovery Groups (NCDDG). The second meeting was an afternoon session entitled Addressing Tobacco in Health Care National Forum - Translating Health Services Research into Practice and Policy. This meeting was coordinated by the Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care National Program Office and funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Attendees were provided with the opportunity to discuss two emerging opportunities in systems changes and tobacco control: the upcoming PHS Guideline update and applying lessons from tobacco to other health risk behaviors.

Later that evening, an opening reception was well-attended, arranged by our Local Host Committee, chaired by David Drobes, Ph.D., who also served as SRNT Program Chair in 2005. The formal scientific program began on February 16, covering pre-clinical, clinical, and public health/epidemiological research topics on nicotine and tobacco. Featured lecturers, symposia, and oral paper sessions were balanced across these themes, with a number of sessions emphasizing integration across levels of analysis.

(L-R) Keynote Speaker Robert West and SRNT Past President David Balfour
 
SRNT President David K. Balfour began the meeting, first welcoming attendees and then introducing our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Robert West. Dr. West, Director of Tobacco Studies and Professor of Health Psychology, Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Unit, University College London, delivered the keynote address, entitled What Use Are Theories and Models in Understanding and Combating Nicotine Dependence? Dr. West offered a critique of existing theories of drug dependence generally and nicotine dependence specifically, and delineated the need for an integrative theory in order to make progress beyond what can be accomplished by relying on simple empiricism or narrowly circumscribed theories. Several other prominent researchers were featured theme lecturers at the conference. Dr. Caryn Lerman, (Mary W. Calkins Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Annenberg Public Policy Center and Director of the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania), delivered the clinical theme lecture entitled Pharmacogenetic Approaches to Nicotine Dependence Treatment. Dr. Trevor Robbins, (Fellow of the Royal Society and Professor of Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, delivered the pre-clinical theme lecture entitled Neuropsychological Models of Psychomotor Stimulant Use, Abuse, and Addiction. Dr. Prabhat Jha, (Canada Research Chair in Health and Development, Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto; Director, Centre for Global Health Research, and St. Michael's Hospital Research Scholar, McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine), delivered the Public Health/Epidemiology theme lecture entitled Tobacco Use and Global Poverty: Evidence and Action.

The Program Committee reviewed twenty-one symposia submissions, and those considered the timeliest, of the highest quality, and most integrative across the diverse interests among SRNT members were included in the scientific program. The titles of those symposia presented at the meeting were as follows:

  1. Alcohol-Nicotine Interactions: Are Women like Men?
  2. CHRNA4 and Tobacco Dependence: From Cell Culture to Nicotine Replacement Therapy Outcomes
  3. Innovative Smoking Cessation Interventions for Adolescent Smokers
  4. Novel Channels and Media for Delivering Smoking Cessation Services
  5. Prenatal Smoking Effects on Behavioral Dysregulation: Methodological Issues and Novel Approaches
  6. NIMH Workgroup Report on Tobacco Use and Cessation in Psychiatric Disorders
  7. Perspectives on Light and Intermittent Smoking
  8. Physiology, Cognition, Affect, and Behavior: Effects of Anti-Tobacco Advertising on Youth, Young Adults, and Adults
  9. Impulsive Behavior: Acute-Nicotine Effects and Relations to Cigarette Smoking
  10. New Data on Gradual Cessation Treatments
  11. Tobacco Control in a Complex Adaptive Environment: Modeling to Improve Strategic Planning
  12. Science and the Building Blocks for Tobacco Product Regulation

Applying similar criteria, twelve oral paper sessions were organized around the following themes:

  1. Smoking and Psychiatric Comorbidity
  2. Health Care Providers: Training and Interventions
  3. In Utero Exposure to Nicotine: Effects and Reduction
  4. Mechanisms Underlying Nicotine Reward and Dependence
  5. Mechanisms and Treatment of Craving and Withdrawal
  6. Distress Tolerance and Affect Regulation
  7. Development and Efficacy of Treatments in US Minority Populations
  8. Tobacco Control
  9. Pharmacotherapy Trials and Mechanisms
  10. Other Tobacco Use: Trends, Attitudes, and Intervention
  11. Quitlines and Computer-Based Interventions
  12. Adolescent Smoking Progression

(L-R) Ken Perkins, 2006 Langley Award recipient Bill Corrigall, and Neal Benowitz, (SRNT Awards Committee Chair)

Photo: Courtesy of Darlene Brunzell
There were also three poster sessions, with 360 presentations that spanned the breadth of nicotine and tobacco research. The poster sessions provided an excellent format for discussing research in a less formal setting, with increased opportunity for interaction and professional networking. Posters were arranged in a manner designed to increase interaction across disciplinary boundaries at the conference. Rapid response posters communicating late-breaking findings were presented in the third poster session, which was held on Saturday.

The accomplishments of several SRNT members were recognized at the meeting. The 2006 Langley Award for Basic Research on Nicotine and Tobacco was presented to Dr. William Corrigall, who provided a career retrospective and directions for future research in his address entitled Nicotine Addiction: Discovery Research Then and Now during the Awards Presentation session on Saturday, February 18. Judith Wilkenfeld, J.D., (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids) was awarded the John Slade Prize, which recognizes outstanding contributions to public health and tobacco control through science-based public policy and policy advocacy.

(L-R) Mitch Zeller, John Slade Award recipient Judith Wilkenfeld, and Neal Benowitz
 
Dr. Bernard Le Foll received the 2006 Young Investigator Award, and he presented an address entitled Targeting Conditioning Processes to Reduce Tobacco Smoking. That address was delivered within the Young Investigator Paper Session, which was chaired by Dr. Darlene Brunzell, last year's recipient of the New Investigator Award. In addition to Dr. Le Foll's address, the New Investigator Travel Award recipients also gave presentations in this plenary session. The Travel Award recipients were Dr. Elizabeth V. Gifford (Palo Alto VA), Dr. Dennis Trinidad (University of California, San Diego), and Dr. Cindy Tworek (Center for Tobacco Independence, Maine Medical Center Research Institute).

(L-R) Rachel Tyndale, 2006 Young Investigator Award recipient Bernard Le Foll, and Neal Benowitz
 
Several workshops were held in conjunction with this year's meeting. These included a workshop conducted by the SRNT Training Committee, organized by Dr. Dennis McChargue (Chair of the Training Committee), and run by Dr. Lee Cohen. General topics included the different grant mechanisms that are appropriate for young investigators, the inner workings and communication with NIH, strategic planning and operating as a PI for the first time. The other two workshops were coordinated by SRNT members Matt Barry (Science and the Courts) and Jenny White (Tobacco Research using Human Subjects: Ethical Issues).

The SRNT Member's Meeting included a Presidential report by Dr. David Balfour, who provided a review of the proposed by-law changes and answered several questions raised by members in attendance. A review of the SRNT budget and fiscal policy was provided by Secretary/Treasurer Dr. Laura Cousino-Klein. The Chair of the SRNT Nominations Committee, Dr. Neil Grunberg, announced that the incoming President-Elect is Dr. Raymond Niaura (Brown Medical School and Butler Hospital) and the incoming European Member Delegate is Dr. Jacques Le Houezec (Amzer Glas, France). In addition, Dr. Abu Abdullah has stepped down as Africa, Asia, Oceanna, Latin America (AAOLA) member delegate because he is now living in the U.S.; Dr. Mira Aghi (India) will replace him on the Board.

During the last session of the meeting, the SRNT Presidency was transferred from Dr. David Balfour to Dr. Ellen Gritz. Dr. Gritz and Dr. Eric Donny (2007 SRNT Program Chair) both promoted our next annual meeting, to be held in Austin, Texas.

In summary, the 2006 SRNT meeting was extremely successful in bringing together nicotine and tobacco researchers from diverse disciplines, scientific perspectives, and geographic regions. Colleagues from academia, government, and industry interacted with one another and heard about the latest and most important research findings in the nicotine and tobacco field. Sessions were well-attended, and participants collectively expressed enthusiasm for the plenary lecturers and other sessions. The Coronado Springs Resort proved a very good setting for the meeting; its conference facilities were complemented by outstanding sunny weather throughout.

Audio recordings of all of the meeting sessions (CD and MP3 formats) are available for purchase at www.mobiltape.com. The entire conference in MP3 format is only $99.99.

The 13th Annual Meeting of SRNT will be held in Austin, Texas, February 21-24, 2007, at the Hilton Austin. In addition, the 9th Annual SRNT European meeting will be held September 23-26, 2006 at the Pine Bay Resort in Kusadasi/Ephesus, Turkey. Plan to attend! As always, be sure to check out www.srnt.org for up-to-date conference information.

About the Authors
Suzanne Colby, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University. She conducts laboratory-based research on tobacco withdrawal and the reinforcement value of smoking in adolescents, as well as clinical treatment outcome trials for adolescent tobacco dependence.

Eric Donny, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. He conducts animal and human laboratory research on the factors that influence the emergence of nicotine self-administration and dependence.

Jennifer Tidey, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Center for Alcohol and Addictions Studies, Brown University. She conducts laboratory research on biological and environmental factors that affect smoking in people with serious mental illness, and treatment trials that incorporate contingency management and pharmacologic components.

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SRNT Meeting Highlights • President's Column • Past President's Reflections • From the Editor • Research Activities at a Featured Program • Developing Countries Research Needs • Book Review • In the Spotlight • Member Publications • Position Openings • Meeting Calendar • Society Information