#DrugScience2017 – Conference
07. – 09. SEPTEMBER 2017 · CAMPUS CHARITÉ MITTE · BERLIN
SPEAKER
Learn more about the speakers and workshop instructors at the #DrugScience2017 conference
#DrugScience2017
Research, practice and global change in 21st Century research about psychoactive substances
Drug science is a newly developed discipline of substantial importance. A wealth of perspectives intersect in this field of action, among these are neurobiology, clinical pharmacology, psychotherapy, addiction treatment, social sciences and political sciences. #DrugScience2017 aims at stimulating the development of transdisciplinary approaches towards an integrative practice of drug research.
- Which are the current innovations and challenges at hand in the clinical treatment of addictive disorders?
- Which are the most recent neuroscientific findings and perspectives on research in the field of drug research? Which are the new technologies that will possibly become available in prevention?
- In how far could the employment of serotonergic psychoactive substances play a role in the treatment of psychiatric disorders?
- Which are the changes that can be anticipated in both national and international drug policy in the 21st Century, and which of them are necessarily required, based on scientific evidence?
- In which way does the internet have an influence on the trade and availability of drugs? In how far does this affect the attitude held by the larger public?
The connection between previously separated fields of research has initiated a particular dynamic between the natural and social sciences, and humanities. At this conference you will be familiarized with innovations from online-drug communities, you will try and understand in cooperation with researchers from the field of addiction, prevention, neuroscience, and medicine where we stand at the beginning of the 21st Century, and what needs to change.
We can offer 12 Continuing Education (CE) units for psychologists and medical doctors.
Speaker
Program
Thursday, 07th September 2017
Friedrich-Kopsch Hörsaal |
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| 16:00 - 17:00 | Registration / Anmeldung | |
| 17:00 - 17:15 | Conference opening #DrugScience2017 - committee | |
| 17:15 - 17:25 | Greeting / Begrüßung Jörg Pietsch, Dr. jur. (Leiter Arbeitsstab der Drogenbeauftragten der Bundesregierung) / (Head of Unit, Office of the Federal Drug Commissioner) |
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| 17:25 - 17:55 | Opening Lecture / Eröffnungsvortrag Andreas Heinz, Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. |
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| 17:55 - 18:25 | Discussion | |
Pause |
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| 19:30 – 21:00 | Rausch im Bild – Bilderrausch: Filmfestival | |
Friday, 08th September 2017
Saturday, 09th September 2017
Tracks
Addiction medicine
The understanding of substance-related dependency disorders within the field of action of biological and psycho-social disorder models has advanced. This includes an improved understanding concerning biological correlates of addiction, which entails findings in medical imaging and basic research in pharmacology. These news findings will be presented in the track ‘addiction treatment’. Moreover, derived options in treatment as well as further strategies will be introduced that are not limited to abstinence-orientation, but adhere to the principles of harm reduction.
Prevention
We have made major advancements in the field of prevention research over the past 20 years. How can we succeed in passing this knowledge on to practitioners and decision makers on the communal national scales? The track ‘Prevention’ will provide you with an overview and perspectives on the practical and systemic aspects of prevention. In doing so, we will present flagship projects such as the Universal Prevention Curriculum (UPC), but will also pedagogical questions in connection with treatment and prevention.
Drug Policy
Both on a national and an international level drug policy faces considerable challenges. The emergence of new psychoactive substances that are not covered by UN conventions, an increased use in amphetamine-type stimulants among others, and an increasingly aggravating set of problems in human rights on a global scale. People suffering from addiction disorders remain insufficiently and inadequately provided with measures oriented towards health (harm reduction, substitution, therapy) and large parts of the world population are have no access to suitable pain medication altogether. The UNGASS 2016 elucidated that the global political consensus is being raised to question. Individual nations are turning to new models of regulation (decriminalization, legalization of cannabis), whereas others demand an intensification of the so-called ‘War on Drugs’. Which are the findings that science is able to contribute to a reformulation of drug policy?
Psychoactive Substances and the Internet
A wealth of psychoactive substances, both new and old, are available on the internet. Among these are numerous preparations, oftentimes designed to enhance performance, or to substitute pharmaceuticals that are prescribed by psychiatrists. We will report on the state of research concerning online drug markets and communities, as well as the recent phenomenon of drug video channels, in which the consumption of a plethora of legal and illegal psychoactive substances is on public display on platforms such as youtube. To what degree do these present harm reduction or risks? In which way should this trend be regulated and how can it be assessed?
Neuroscience
The recent years have delivered a number of spectacular neuroimaging studies pertaining to the effects of substances such as LSD and psilocybin. The value of these studies for fundamental neuroscientific research is increasingly recognized. Methodologically developed, these sets of data make an important contribution to existing information on neuronal mechanisms in consciousness alteration, which also occurs in numerous pathologies. In this track we will present to you the latest data records on the effects of hallucinogens. An exceptional future perspective consists in transdisciplinary comparisons and all the while we are working on the way meta-analyses regarding altered states of consciousness open up novel transnational perspectives.
Psychedelic Medicine
The clinical employment of serotonergic psychoactive substances (‘psychedelics’ and ‘entactogens’) such as LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, or MDMA has increasingly returned to the focus of scientific interest. Research activities that have dealt extensively with the therapeutic potential of these substances, particularly in the 1960s and 70s, were forced into a multi-decade halt by strict legal regulation. Yet, in recent years, serotonergic psychoactive substances have been re-evaluated for the treatment of psychiatric disorders in various indications. Among these are addictions disorders, existential anxiety in the case of life-threatening physical diseases, posttraumatic stress disorder, and affective disorders. The track ‘psychedelic medicine’ focuses on reason, as well as old and new approaches, the safety profile, and evidence in psychotherapy with serotonergic psychoactive substances.
#DrugScience2017 – Call for Posters
Poster-presentations are an important part of #DrugScience2017
Students and Early-Career-Researchers are invited to submit their abstracts about their research in the field of Drug Science.
- The best three posters will be honored and receive a price.
- Presenters will get free entry.
Deadline is 01.08.2017.
Chair: Dr. Larissa J. Maier
Social Events
Friday
Celebration
17:45 – 19:00 Uhr
Join other conference delegates in a relaxed atmosphere and celebrate with us the publication of the Handbook Psychoactive Substances and the kick-off of the scientific platform “Altered States Database”. An artistic evening program awaits you afterwards at the #DrugScience2017 party with impressive video installations and accompanying live music.
Free entry for conference participants.
Friday
#DrugScience2017 – Party
20:00 – 02:00 Uhr
Presented in partnership with Musik Hackspace Berlin, let us share with you an evening of music & audiovisual arts designed to both stimulate & captivate, with content curated to match the themes of #DrugScience2017 by award-winning digital artist Adam John Williams. Featuring live performances, including music created from the recorded brainwave activity of test subjects in Imperial College London’s pioneering LSD brain imaging study, this will be a conference party like no other, and an invigorating way to blow off some steam in great company.
Free entry for conference participants.