The College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is hosting the first in a series of Mini-Symposiums on Drug Abuse and Addiction to bring together community practices and addiction science to better understand drug abuse and addiction in Tennessee and its impact on overall health outcomes. The first meeting will be held Friday, December 6, from 9 a.m. -12 p.m. in the 910 Madison Building, Room 755.
The half-day symposium will feature information and best practices from a community perspective, as well as findings and models from multiple research projects being conducted at UTHSC with grant support from the National Institutes of Health. Both the research models and clinical research presentations will focus on drug abuse involving oxycodone, cocaine, and prenatal alcohol. Among speakers will be John Woods, MD, medical director of the UTHSC Center for Addiction Science, and community activist Charles Caswell.
As reported recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, longevity decreased for the 25-60 age range nationally between 2010-2017 due to increased deaths from drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and suicide.
The presentations will take place from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., with a 30-minute discussion segment to follow hosted by Scott E. Strome, MD, executive dean of the College of Medicine. Burt Sharp, MD, the symposium organizer, sees this event as the first in a growing series of symposiums that will create a framework and foster discussion around strengthening addiction research and addiction outreach programs in Memphis and Tennessee.
Event Agenda:
Mini-Symposium on Drug Abuse and Addiction
Sponsored by the UTHSC College of Medicine
910 Madison Building, 7th Floor, HR Training Room 755
Friday, December 6, 2019
9:00am – 12:00pm (Noon)
Burt Sharp, MD – Symposium Organizer
Van Vleet Professor
Departments of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics and Medicine
President, Dean’s Faculty Advisory Committee
College of Medicine – University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN
Presenters: Mr. Charles Caswell; John Woods, MD; Hao Chen, PhD; Wenlin Sun, PhD; Kristin Hamre, PhD; Karen Derefinko, PhD; Claire Simpson, PhD; and Patricia Little, MD
9:00 am Introduction – Dr. Burt Sharp
9:05 am Community Perspective – Mr. Charles Caswell
9:22 am Treatment of Addiction – Dr. John Woods
9:39 am Modeling Oxycodone Abuse – Dr. Hao Chen
9:56 am Modeling Cocaine Abuse – Dr. Wenlin Sun
10:13-10:23am BREAK
10:23 am Modeling Prenatal Effects of Alcohol – Dr. Kristin Hamre
10:40 am Clinical Research – Dr. Karen Derefinko
10:57 am Clinical Research – Dr. Claire Simpson
11:14 am Clinical Research – Dr. Patricia Little
11:31 am – 12:00pm Discussion – Executive Dean Strome