2008 Joint Scientific Meeting of the
Research Society on Alcoholism and the
International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism






Symposia Session I

Ethanol and Receptor Gated Ion Channels: A Memorial to Dr. Maharaj Ticku
Organizers/Chairs: Fulton T. Crews and Antonio B. Noronha

New Findings on Alcohol Use Disorders in the U.S. General Population
Organizer/Chair: Deborah Hasin Co-Chair: Bridget Grant

Cytokines and Signaling Pathways in Alcoholic Liver Disease
Organizers/Chairs: Bin Gao and George Kunos

GABA(B) Receptor: A New Target for Effective Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Dependence?
Organizer/Chair: Kimberly A. Leite-Morris Co-Chair: Giancarlo Colombo

Ethanol and Brain Function: Relieve, Damage, and Repair
Organizer/Chair: Eri Hashimoto Co-Chair: Kimberly Nixon

Mechanisms of Change in Brief Interventions for Young Adult Drinking
Organizer/Chair: Scott T. Walters

Epigenetic Approaches to the Study of Alcoholism and Alcohol Effects
Organizers/Chairs: Feng C. Zhou and Subhash C. Pandey

Genetic Determinants of Subjective and Physiological Responses to Ethanol and the
Risk for Alcohol Use Disorders in Asians
Organizers/Chairs: Susumu Higuchi and Victor Hesselbrock

Symposia Session II

Towards an Individualized Treatment in Alcohol Dependence: Results from the US-COMBINE
Study and German PREDICT Study – In Honor of past work of Dr. Jack Mendelson
Organizers/Chairs: Karl F. Mann and Raymond F. Anton

Progression of Alcoholic Liver Disease
Organizer/Chair: Steven Dooley Co-Organizer: Katja Breitkopf

Alcohol and Injury in the Emergency Room: International Findings from the ERCAAP
and WHO Collaborative Study
Organizer/Chair: Cheryl J. Cherpitel

Endocannabinoid Participation in Alcohol’s Effects on Neurophysiology and Behavior
Organizers/Chairs: Loren H. Parsons and Marisa Roberto

Systems Biology Approaches to the Study of Alcohol-Induced Tissue Damage and Repair
Organizers/Chairs: Jan B. Hoek and Samir Zakhari

Symposia Session III

Understanding and Treating Patients with Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis: An Update
Organizers/Chairs: Giovanni Addolorato and Lorenzo Leggio

Molecular Nuggets Mined from INIA-West Transcriptomes: Determinants of Excessive
Alcohol Consumption
Organizer/Chair: George Koob Co-Chair: Adron Harris

Acetaldehyde-Induced Cancer Risks: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms
Organizers/Chairs: R.K. Rao and Helmut K. Seitz

Translating Research into Practice: Evaluating Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention
Demonstrations in Large Population Areas
Organizer/Chair: Thomas F. Babor

Ethanol and Glia-Neuron Interactions
Organizer/Chair: Suzhen Chen Co-Chair: Michael E. Charness

Alcohol-Induced Brain Damage: New Findings from the Asian-Pacifi c Region
Organizer/Chair: Toshikazu Saito Co-Chair: Ting-Kai Li

Alcohol Dependence: Integration of Neuroimaging and Genetic Approaches
Organizer/Chair: Kent Hutchison

Pre & Post Treatment Interventions for Youth with AOSUD: Is the Whole Greater than the
Sum of Its Parts?
Organizers/Chairs: Yifrah Kaminer and John F. Kelly

Symposia Session IV

Effects of Smoking Interventions on Alcohol Drinking: Preclinical through Public Policy
Investigations
Organizer/Chair: Stephanie S. O’Malley

Ethanol Actions on the Glycine Receptor: No Longer GABA’s Little Brother
Organizers/Chairs: Daryl L. Davies and Luis G. Aguayo

Parent Involvement in Preventing High-Risk College Student Drinking: Emerging Evidence
from Etiological, Efficacy and Effectiveness Studies
Organizer/Chair: Rob Turrisi

Neurobiological Mechanisms Contributing to Alcohol-Stress-Anxiety Interactions
Organizer/Chair: Jeff Weiner

The Role of Dynorphin and Kappa Opioid Receptors in Alcohol Abuse
Organizers/Chairs: Brendan Walker and Rainer Spanagel

Innate Immunity in the Progression of Alcohol-Related Organ Injury
Organizers/Chairs: Kenichi Ikejima and Gavin E. Arteel

Alcoholic Cardiac Injury: From Basic Research to Cure
Organizer/Chair: Emanuel Rubin Co-Chair: Alvaro Urbano-Marquez

Brain Banking for Alcohol Research: Past, Present and the Future
Organizers/Chairs: Clive Harper and Therese Garrick

Symposia Session V
Current Findings on Gender and Alcoholism: Biology, Epidemiology and Treatment
Organizers/Chairs: Michie N. Hesselbrock and Susumu Higuchi

Emerging Targets at the GPCR Signaling Complex: Implications for Ethanol Reinforcement?
Organizer/Chair: Wolfgang Sommer Co-Chair: Boris Tabakoff

Pharmacological Targets for Treatment of Alcoholism: Basic Studies
Organizers/Chairs: Kalervo Kiianmaa and Jorgen A. Engel

Genetics of Alcoholism: Recent Findings Add More Pieces to the Puzzle
Organizer/Chair: Mary-Anne Enoch Co-Chair: David Goldman

The Role of Calcium-Dependent Small and Large Conductance Potassium Channels in Ethanol
Tolerance and Plasticity
Organizer/Chair: Judson Chandler

Adolescent Brain Development: Ethanol Induced Cellular and Molecular Changes
Organizers/Chairs: Antonio B. Noronha and Fulton T. Crews

Theory-Based Prevention Interventions with Alcohol-Using Adolescents at High-Risk for HIV
Organizers/Chairs: Wendee M. Wechsberg and Robert C. Freeman

Optimizing Treatment for Alcoholism Complicated with Bipolar Disorder: Current Advances
and Future Directions
Organizers/Chairs: Ihsan M. Salloum and Conor K. Farren

Symposia Session VI

New BeginnINGS: Diverse Roles of Growth Factors (BDNF, Insulin, IGF, NGF and GDNF) in
Ethanol’s Actions in the Brain
Organizer/Chair: Dorit Ron

Drinking and Symptom Trajectory Classes: The Next Step Drinking Phenotypes
Organizer/Chair: Robert A. Zucker

Neuroimaging of Animal Models of Alcoholism: Second Report from the Integrative
Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism
Organizers/Chairs: Edith V. Sullivan and Kathleen A. Grant

Alcohol and Retinoic Acid-Dependent Stem Cell Growth Control
Organizers/Chairs: William F. Bosron and Svetlana Radaeva Co-Chair: Abraham Fainsod

HIV and Alcohol: International Perspective
Organizer/Chair: Jeffrey H. Samet Co-Chair: Evgeny Krupitsky

Involvement of Infl ammatory Mediators in Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury
Organizer: Carol A. Casey Co-Chairs: Patricia Eagon and Amin Nanji

Implementation of Alcohol Interventions in Surgical Patients: Interdisciplinary Challenges
and Opportunities
Organizers/Chairs: Peter Miller and Claudia Spies

The Importance of Glucocorticoids and Alcohol Dependence and Neurotoxicity
Organizer/Chair: Hilary Little

Symposia Session VII

Doctors Will Do This: Strategies for Motivating Physicians to do Brief Interventions
Organizer/Chair: J. Paul Seale Co-Chair: Daniel C. Vinson

Ethanol and Lipid Rafts
Organizer/Chair: Cynthia F. Bearer Co-Chair: Consuelo Guerri

Alcohol and Risk Taking Behavior: A Bi-Directional Relationship
Organizer: Anna E. Goudriaan and Joris C. Verster Chair: Kenneth J. Sher

Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis Resulting from Alcohol Consumption
Organizers/Chairs: P.J. Brooks and Helmut Karl Seitz

Stress-Induced Negative Affect Associated with Withdrawal and Abstinence from Ethanol:
Contributing Sites and Mechanisms
Organizers/Chairs: George R. Breese and Rajita Sinha

Alcohol Biomarkers: Guidelines for Their Measurement and Use
Organizers/Chairs: John Whitfi eld and Anders Helander

Methylation Reactions in Alcohol-Mediated Organ Damage
Organizer/Chair: Kusum K. Kharbanda Co-Chair: Cheng Ji

Factors or Policy Measures that May Cause the Changes in Alcohol Consumption and Related
Harm: Experiences in the Asian-Pacifi c Region
Organizers/Chairs: Dongyul Oh and John B. Saunders

Read Symposia Abstracts (PDF)
______________________________________________________________