The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is holding a two day meeting to explore wide-ranging issues related to drug abuse, impaired decision making, and HIV/AIDS.
Drug Abuse and Risky Behaviors: The Evolving Dynamics of HIV/AIDS will provide a broad understanding of the multiple ways that drug abuse and addiction affect the spread of HIV/AIDS and how research can inform public health policy.
Presentations will focus on the successes, research challenges, and opportunities for addressing the evolving HIV/AIDS pandemic. Attendees will be drawn from the research community, public health organizations, Federal agencies, and drug abuse and HIV/AIDS organizations.
Drug abuse and addiction continue to fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States and abroad. To address this significant public health threat, research is examining every aspect of HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, and addiction, including risk behaviors associated with both injection and non-injection drug abuse, how drugs of abuse alter brain function and impair decision making, and HIV prevention and treatment strategies for diverse groups. The meeting is being held in collaboration with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
WHAT:Drug Abuse and Risky Behaviors: The Evolving Dynamics of HIV/AIDS
WHEN:Tuesday, May 8, 2007 8:15 a.m. ? 4:30 p.m.Wednesday, May 9, 20078:30 a.m. ? 12:15 p.m.
WHERE:Natcher Conference CenterNational Institutes of Health9000 Rockville PikeBethesda, MD 20892
WHO:Featured Speakers
Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director, NIDADr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director, NIAID
INFO:Topics that will be covered include, but are not limited to, the following:
How drugs of abuse alter brain function, leading to impaired decision making and risky behaviors, which in turn can facilitate the acquisition and transmission of HIV;
How and to what extent substance abuse influences sexual risk behaviors;
How substance abuse affects HIV/AIDS risk in diverse populations (e.g., adolescents, minorities, those involved with the criminal justice system); and
How testing and counseling can be incorporated as a key component of HIV prevention strategies for drug-abusing populations.
A full agenda and speaker list is available at: http://conferences.masimax.com/riskybehaviors/agenda.cfm