Program

Description

The purpose of the Addiction Studies Program is to provide both journalists and policy-makers with an understanding of the science that underlies drug abuse and addiction. The program is aimed at helping journalists attain the highest standards of scientific accuracy in reporting about drug addiction in the print, broadcast, and electronic media. The program seeks to help state governments create policies that will be effective because they are based on science that shows what works.

The Addiction Studies Program was founded for journalists in 1999 by Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and National Families in Action, a drug-prevention organization in Atlanta, Georgia, and funded by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The institute refunded the journalists’ program in 2004 for an additional five years and awarded a third grant in 2005 to extend the program to state legislatures and legislative staff. That year, the Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the National Conference of State Legislatures in Washington D.C. joined Wake Forest University School of Medicine and National Families in Action as co-sponsors of the Addiction Studies Program.

To achieve its purpose, the program seeks to build ongoing relationships between scientists and journalists and between scientists and state governments by implementing the following goals.

1. It conducts several workshops for journalists and legislators and legislative staff each year.
2. It maintains an Internet web site for journalists and for state legislatures with links to co-sponsors’ web sites for further information.

A faculty consisting of scientists from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the Treatment Research Institute, and other academic institutions and experts from National Families in Action and the National Conference of State Legislatures conducts the program workshops.

Founding Director
David P. Friedman, Ph.D.
Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Founding Co-Director
Sue Rusche
National Families in Action

Co-Director
A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D.
Treatment Research Institute

Co-Director
Allison C. Colker, J.D., Esq.
National Conference of State Legislatures

Scientists
Herbert D. Kleber, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
Director, Division on Substance Abuse
Columbia University
New York, New York

Michael J. Kuhar, Ph.D.
Charles Howard Candler Professor
Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar
Emory University
Yerkes Regional Primate Center
Atlanta, Georgia

Federal Liaison
Timothy P. Condon, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Science Policy
Director, Office of Science Policy
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland

Journalists
Jon Franklin
2-time Pulitzer Prize Winner
Raleigh News & Observer
Raleigh, North Carolina

Tom Linden, M.D.
Glaxo Wellcome
Distinguished Professor of Medical Journalism
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Legislators
The Honorable Peter Batula
House of Representatives
New Hampshire State Legislature

The Honorable Pat George
House of Representatives
Kansas State Legislature

The Honorable Mark Smith
House of Representatives
Iowa State Legislature

David P. Friedman, Ph.D.
Deputy Associate Dean for Research
Professor
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Sue Rusche
Chairman, President, and CEO
National Families in Action
Atlanta, Georgia

A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D.
Director
Treatment Research Institute
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Allison C. Colker, J.D., Esq.
Senior Policy Analyst
Forum for State Health Policy Leadership
National Conference of State Legislatures
Washington D.C.

David Altman, Ph.D.
Professor
Section on Social Sciences and Health Policy
Department of Public Health Sciences
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Lawrence S. Brown, Jr., M.D., MPH, FASAM
Senior Research and Treatment Corporation
Associate Professor of Public Health
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Brooklyn, New York

Frank J. Chaloupka, Ph.D.
Director
ImpacTeen
University of Illinois
Chicago, Illinois

Robert DuRant, Ph.D.
Professor
Vice Chair
Department of Pediatrics
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Brian R. Flay, D.Phil.
UIC Distinguished Professor
Institute for Health Research and Policy
University of Illinois, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Marc Galanter, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
Director
Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
New York University School of Medicine
New York, New York

Marjorie A. Gutman, Ph.D.
Director
Prevention Research
Treatment Research Institute
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Herbert D. Kleber, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
Director
Division on Substance Abuse
Columbia University
New York, New York

Michael Kuhar, Ph.D.
Yerkes Regional Primate Center
Robert Woodruff Health Science Center
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia

Jennifer Logan, Ph.D.
Co-Director
Genetic Science Learning Center
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah

Bertha Madras, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychobiology
Department of Psychiatry
Harvard University Medical School
Chair, Division of Neurochemistry
New England Primate Research Center
Southborough, Massachusetts

Douglas B. Marlowe, J.D., Ph.D.
Director
Section on Criminal Justice Research
Treatment Research Institute
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Joseph O. Merrill, M.D., M.P.H.
Acting Instructor
General Internal Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington

Lisa R. Metsch, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Epidemiology & Public Health
University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, Florida

Lorraine Midanik, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Professor
School of Social Welfare
University of California, Berkeley
Berkley, California

Karen A. Miotto, M.D.
Associate Clinical Professor - Associate Director
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Neuropsychiatric Institute
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Charles P. O'Brien, M.D., Ph.D.
Kenneth Appel Professor
Vice Chair of Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Wallace Pickworth, Ph.D.
Intramural Research Program
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Baltimore, Maryland

Susan Rook
Director
Communications and Outreach
Faces and Voices of Recovery
Alexandria, Virginia

Hank Samson, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Neurobehavioral Study of Alcohol
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Rochelle “Shelly” Schwartz-Bloom, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina

Zili Sloboda, Sc.D.
Senior Research Associate
Institute for Health and Social Policy
The University of Akron
Akron, Ohio

James E. Smith, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Research
Chair
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Jim A. Steele
Media Relations Manager
Public Relations and Marketing
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Jack Strandhoy, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Frank Vocci, Ph.D.
Director
Division of Treatment Research and Development
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland

Nora D. Volkow, M.D.
Director
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland

Kent E. Vrana, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Director of Graduate Studies
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Robert W. Williams, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology
The University of Tennessee
College of Medicine
Memphis, Tennessee

Mark Wright
Director
News Media, Public Relations, & Marketing
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Website Authors

Unless otherwise noted, all material published on this website has been written by Sue Rusche and Curtis Meek of National Families in Action.

Policy on Confidentiality of Data

The Addiction Studies Program collects no personal medical or health information about any individual. Personal stories of addicts are reported by people who volunteer to recount their experiences with drug abuse and drug addiction. Press accounts of celebrities who struggle with addiction are occasionally included in case studies.

Funding

The Addiction Studies Program is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one of the National Institutes of Health.

Advertising Policy

The Addiction Studies Program internet website does not advertise.

Permission to Reproduce Graphic Images

Unless otherwise indicated, journalists may reproduce all graphic images that appear on the pages of the Addiction Studies Program, provided that copyright information is included with each image.