From left to right: Dennis S. Charney, MD, Nora Volkow, MD; Yasmin Hurd, PhD; Sabina Lim, MD, MPH; and Eric Nestler, MD, PhD.
On October 30, the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai hosted a full day of lectures, posters, and discussions by prominent scientists, clinicians, and policymakers tackling addiction from all angles: across the lifespan, psychosocial, epidemiology, policy, neurobiology, neuroimaging, prevention, treatment, big data, and more, with a focus on addiction solutions.
Yasmin Hurd, PhD, Director of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai (AIMS), opened the day with a welcome address setting the scene for the day’s discussions. “The health care system for addiction is under siege,” she said. “Today is about solutions. Our objective is to start a dialogue between scientists, policymakers, and clinicians, holding everyone’s feet to the fire so we can create more opportunities to collaborate and work in tandem toward developing more effective treatment strategies, support structures, and policy infrastructure for people and families struggling with addiction.”
Her remarks were followed by introductions from Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System, and Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean of Academic and Scientific Affairs and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Ultimately, the management of an illness—indeed, its perception by the public—is driven by a fundamental understanding of its causes,” said Dr. Nestler. “Society’s view of an illness depends on what we know about it, and we can rebrand addiction when we can explain it better and develop definitive treatments.”
Nora Volkow, MD, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), gave the keynote lecture on drugs and addiction in the United States. “When I first came to Washington, D.C., as director of NIDA, one of the most frustrating things was my naïve perception that policy would be guided by science—and it’s not,” she said. “So what do we need to do make sure it’s not ignored? What can we, as scientists, do to increase the likelihood that our evidence-based findings are implemented into policy?”
Dr. Volkow giving her keynote on drugs and addiction in the United States.
She emphasized the critical importance of adolescence, as this is a time of life when the brain is undergoing rapid and major development while exposed to many experiences and influences. She discussed studies showing that social and emotional deprivation increases risk for substance abuse and mental illnesses and that early drug use can modify brain development, which is why the National Institutes of Health has funded the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. The study examines how experiences (such as playing sports, using social media, and smoking) affect developing brains and lifelong health and wellbeing. She also showed that pain, depression, and opioid addiction are connected—16 percent of adults in the United States have a mental health disorder (mostly mood disorders) and receive more than 50 percent of prescribed opioids. She concluded by emphasizing the power of language to reduce stigma, and also highlighted that loneliness is a huge factor. “Addiction isolates, and the isolation is one of the highest hurdles that people suffering from addiction have to jump,” she said.
After the keynote, the event featured four “showcases” consisting of talks from experts followed by panel discussions: taking addiction policy into the 21st century; early predictors of addiction; objective assessment of addiction symptoms and treatment outcomes; and new frontiers in addiction treatment.
Dr. Hurd’s closing remarks included a call for translating the day’s concepts to action. “Today’s discussion provided a foundation of focused topics for future town halls, workshops, and conferences. I hope that today is just the beginning of our work in taking a more integrated and multipronged approach toward confronting addiction,” she said. The day concluded with a networking reception with posters on science, policy, and care.