MAY/JUNE 2004
Volume 10 - No. 2
SRNT Newsletter
Advancing Science & Health
May/June 2004, Volume 10, Number 2
SRNT's 10th Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona
The 10th Annual SRNT meeting was held in Scottsdale, AZ, USA, from February 19-21, 2004. The meeting was the largest ever for the society, with almost 850 conference registrants. The Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort provided an excellent venue for the meeting. The three-day scientific program emphasized three major areas of SRNT's scientific focus: Pre-Clinical, Clinical, and Epidemiology/Public Health. Plenary theme lectures, symposia, and oral paper sessions were balanced across these themes. In addition, several symposia, paper sessions, and poster sessions emphasized the contributions of
multiple disciplines to major research issues. Nancy Rigotti (SRNT President, Harvard University) opened the meeting by highlighting the growth of the society during the decade since its inception, and John Hughes (University of Vermont) provided an historical perspective of the society.
William Corrigall, Director of the Tobacco Addiction Program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, gave the keynote lecture at this year's meeting. Dr. Corrigall discussed NIDA's research priorities in relation to nicotine and tobacco, emphasizing neuroscience developments and translational research. NIDA has been a strong supporter of nicotine and tobacco research, and will continue to emphasize these areas moving forward.
David Balfour's (University of Dundee Medical School and Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, UK) Pre-Clinical Theme Lecture explored the contribution that pre-clinical studies have made to our understanding of why Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) is not a more successful aid to smoking cessation. Pre-clinical symposia focused on variation in nicotine metabolism among humans and animals, the biological basis for the paradoxical relationship between nicotine and stress, and the neurobehavioral implications of prenatal smoke exposure across development. It will be critical for future SRNT meetings to place additional emphasis on these and other important pre-clinical issues.
The Clinical Theme lecture delivered by Stephen Tiffany (University of Utah School of Medicine) discussed the modern concept of dependence and its relevance for research on cigarette smoking, with a particular focus on problems with a categorical conceptualization of nicotine dependence, as well as advantages of a dimensional, transdisciplinary perspective. Clinical symposia dealt with diverse topics, including new directions in the study of smoking and affective processes, smoking cessation pharmacogenetics, and a multidisciplinary perspective to defining smoking phenotypes with a focus on "hardcore" smokers.
During her Epidemiology/Public Health Theme Lecture, Judith Wilkenfeld (Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids) suggested that the US government has historically relied on good science to support and guide good policy and legislation on tobacco control. She recommended development of a working partnership between researchers and advocates, in order to effectively respond to the changes in tobacco industry tactics and the individualized needs of at-risk populations and countries. Epidemiology/Public Health symposia included discussions of the relationship of science and policy, web-based tobacco interventions, and NRT's potential as a harm reduction strategy. The President's symposium (chaired by Geoffrey Fong and presented by the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey Research Team), discussed the psychosocial and behavioral effects of tobacco control policies that are a part of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
There were nine oral paper sessions organized around Pre-Clinical, Clinical and Epidemiology/Public Health conference themes. These sessions were often multi- and inter-disciplinary in nature, reflecting the degree of interaction and communication that is being fostered between researchers with different backgrounds at this meeting. The paper sessions at this year's conference included:
 Gary Swan and Ovide Pomerleau, 2004 Ove Ferno Awardee |
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There were also four separate poster sessions, with over 400 presentations that spanned the breadth of nicotine and tobacco research being conducted by SRNT members. Posters were arranged by general topic area, rather than by discipline, in order to increase the degree of interaction across tracks at the conference. An increased number of submissions this year required that the Program Committee be more selective in accepting presentations for this and other conference formats, resulting in an overall higher quality of poster presentations.
The accomplishments of several outstanding SRNT members were honored at the meeting. The 2004 Ove Ferno Award for Clinical Research was given to Dr. Ovide Pomerleau (University of Michigan), who gave an award address that described research he has conducted over the past thirty years. In addition, Ronald Davis (Henry Ford Health System) was the second recipient of The John Slade Prize, created in memory of Dr. John Slade, who was dedicated to the pursuit of science that contributes and translates to the improvement of public health.
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Other members receiving awards included Marcus Munafò (Oxford University), who received the Young Investigator Award, and the winners of the New Investigator Paper Travel Awards: Sherry McKee (Yale University), Michele Pergadia (Washington University), Stephanie Collins (University of Miami), and Marcus Munafò (Oxford University). Each New Investigator awardee presented a 15-minute oral paper in plenary session. In addition, ten student travel awards were given by SRNT's Special Populations Committee, and twenty-four SRNT Member Scholarship Awards were given by the SRNT Global Network Committee. Finally, the SRNT Awards Committee was pleased to announce that the Doll/WynderAward for Public Health Research in Nicotine and Tobacco will be presented to Dr. Michael Fiore (University of Wisconsin) at next year's meeting. |
 Nancy Rigotti and Ron Davis, John Slade Prize Awardee |
 Marcus Munafò, Young |
Several evening events were held in conjunction with this year's meeting. These covered a broad range of issues such as the development, implementation, and evaluation of tobacco curriculum for clinicians, tobacco dependence treatment in mentally ill and addicted populations, health disparity research on nicotine and tobacco, career development, and tobacco quitlines.
At the worksop on the role of low nitrosamine smokeless tobacco in reducing tobacco-related disease, a full house saw Dr. Ken Warner (University of Michigan) chair a panel debate among Dr.'s Jonathan Foulds (UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School), Karl Fagerstrom (Fagerstrom Consulting), Dorothy Hatsukami (University of Minnesota) and Elbert Glover (West Virginia University). The debate was followed by a wide-ranging, challenging but good-natured discussion of the many issues raised. Themes included the future of recreational nicotine use, the comparative health effects of specific products, the "gateway" myth, the ethics of consumer information, and the implications for NRT regulation. Dilemmas expressed included the principle of allowing tobacco company products any role in harm reduction, the complexity of communicating a "safer doesn't necessarily mean safe" message to the public, the difficulty of addressing the "burden of proof" for claims of reduced risk, and the question of whether Sweden's natural experiment with snus offers any transferable lessons for other countries. Participants appreciated the open-forum opportunity to explore these issues.
Panelists (l - r): Ken Warner, Karl Fagerstrom, Elbert Glover, Jonathan Foulds, and Dorothy Hatsukami
At the Member's Meeting, Karl Fagerstrom announced that he was resigning as President. Both Board members and the audience thanked Karl for his decision and service. It was announced that Ken Warner would become SRNT President at the conclusion of the 2004 Annual Meeting, with upcoming elections to determine the next SRNT President-Elect. Outgoing board member Harry Lando was thanked for his service, as was outgoing Newsletter Editor Judith Gordon. Marina Picciotto was welcomed as a new Member Delegate, and Karen Saules was introduced as the new Editor of the SRNT Newsletter.
Two exciting 1-day pre-conference meetings were held prior to the Annual Meeting. Well over 300 participants attended at least one of these meetings, including a meeting that described the process and progress of the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Centers (TTURCs), and a separate meeting to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the landmark 1964 Surgeon General's report on Smoking and Health.
The 2004 SRNT meeting was truly the event of the year in the nicotine and tobacco research field. Scottsdale, AZ, provided a wonderful setting for the meeting, with excellent opportunities for colleagues from academia, government, and industry to interact with one another and to hear about the latest and most important research in the nicotine and tobacco field. Next year, the 11th Annual Meeting of SRNT will be held jointly with the 7th Annual European SRNT Meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. The 2005 Program Committee is already planning to make this meeting as productive as possible, while making opportunities to explore the historic city of Prague as convenient as possible
for meeting attendees. The Program Committee is especially eager to hear from the membership about ideas for symposia, paper sessions, and other events for the 2005 meeting, March 20-23 at the Prague Hilton. The abstract submission deadline of September 17th, 2004, is rapidly approaching, so be sure to check SRNT's website (www.srnt.org) for up-to-date meeting and abstract submission information.