The primary objective of the proposed workshop is to provide an intense dialogue of the fundamentals, state-of-the-art advances as well as major gaps in our knowledge of cell and molecular biology of drug addiction. Targeted to new or experienced investigators, the workshop will combine formal presentations and informal discussions to convey the merits and excitement of cellular and molecular approaches to drug addiction research. The workshop will stress the significance of this approach not only to the most costly neuropsychiatric disorder, addiction, but its applicability to learning, memory, neurochemical correlates of reward, perception and other disciplines of neuroscience. Research of the molecular and cellular changes that occur in response to drugs is critical for clarifying whether adaptive processes are diverse for each stage of addiction and for each drug of abuse. With the advent of genomics and proteomics, an extraordinary opportunity now exists to develop models of neuroadaptative processes fundamental to addiction, craving, and relapse to drug use. The workshop will provide attendees with a spectrum of disciplines that can contribute to developing comprehensive models of each stage of drug addiction. The course is divided into these segments. 1. an overview of addiction; 2. the contribution of noninvasive brain imaging to identifying drug targets and adaptive processes to drugs; 3. neuroadaptation and neural pathways; 4. tolerance sensitization and adaptation at the molecular and cellular level; 5. genotyping, phenotyping and relevance to susceptibility and drug response; 6. neuroinformatics. This workshop will provide an integrated view of current state-of-the-art research on neuroadaptive responses to addiction, foster discussion on collaboration and integration, provide critical information needed to construct a model of addiction as a disease and novel molecular targets for biological treatments. Beyond the plane of scientific endeavor, the information is vital for formulating public policy and for enlightening the public on the neurobiological consequences of drug use and addiction. The proposed workshop will generate intense interest in this approach, open conduits for collaborations and novel routes to investigating the neurobiology of addiction.
