International and U.S. Drug Abuse Researchers Meet, Exchange Ideas

November 1, 2010

Drug abuse researchers from Brazil, Mexico, and Taiwan presented their research and sought feedback on upcoming clinical trials during the International Collaboration Workshop held at the recent NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN) Steering Committee Meeting.

The meeting is a featured breakout session of the 3-day NIDA CTN Steering Committee Meeting. International presenters included Ronaldo Laranjeira, M.D., Federal University of Sao Paulo; Ming-Chyi Huang, M.D., Ph.D., Taipei City Psychiatric Center; and Chun-Hsin Chen, M.D., M.S., Taipei Medical University–Wang Fang Hospital.

Dr. Laranjeira discussed plans to launch a clinical trial to examine the effectiveness of two promising pharmacotherapies, baclofen and modafinil, to combat crack addiction in Brazil. Walter Ling, M.D., NIDA CTN Pacific Node, talked about an upcoming trial (CTN-0048) on cocaine use reduction with buprenorphine, CURB. To date, there are no approved pharmaceutical treatments for cocaine abuse; however, buprenorphine shows promise in limited studies.