Posters - NCDEU: An Annual Meeting Sponsored by ASCP

Wednesday, May 30, 2012
8:30 am – 9:30 am Plenary - Institute Directors’ Report
(continued) Frank Lloyd Wright Salon E-F
9:00 am – 9:30 am Common Targets across Brain Diseases: New
Opportunities to Treat Substance Use Disorders
(SUDs)
Phil Skolnick, Ph.D., D.Sc., National Institute on Drug
Abuse
Currently, there are no medications approved to treat
either stimulant (e.g. cocaine, methamphetamine)
or cannabis dependence, and approved
pharmacotherapies to treat other SUDs (e.g.,
opiates, tobacco) are far from ideal. For example,
no more than 20% of smokers are able to sustain
“long term” (12 month) abstinence, despite the
availability of therapeutic options to treat tobacco
dependence (nicotine replacement therapies,
bupropion, and varenicline). The pharmaceutical
industry has largely neglected the development
of medications to treat SUDs. The result of this
indifference is that significant therapeutic advances
are most likely to emerge from an understanding of
the neurobiological processes common to SUDs
and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Successful
translation of this knowledge relies predominantly
on the use of repurposed molecules. Based on this
principle, molecules currently in either mid or latestage
clinical development that may represent new
pharmacotherapies to treat SUDs will be described.
9:30 am – 10:00 am Medications Development for Alcohol
Dependence: A Vision for the Next Decade
Kenneth R. Warren, Ph.D., National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Alcohol Use Disorders (alcohol abuse and
dependence) are among the most prevalent mental
health disorders found in the world today. More than
76 million people worldwide are estimated to have
diagnosable alcohol use disorders. Pharmacotherapy
offers promising means for treating alcohol
dependence, and significant progress has been made
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