Lecture presenters (L to R): Professor Malcolm Horne, convenor, Dr Andrew Lawrence, Dr Murat Yücel, Dr Adrian Dunlop, Dr Nick Walsh

14 March 2006 at the University of Melbourne Under Construction: Drugs and the Teenage Brain Presented by ANNA and Sponsored by The International Brain Research Organization, Howard Florey Institute, Neurosciences Australia.

The adolescent brain is nearly adult size, but it is not yet fully mature. This means that many young people are experimenting with drugs at a time when their brains are still developing.

This lecture examines youth drug use in Australia from socio-cultural and biological perspectives with a focus on how the immature brain influences drug use and how drug use affects the maturing brain.

15 March 2005 at the University of Melbourne

Addiction and Mental Illness: How research is revealing
the brain connections that underlie brain and mind disorders.

Presented by ANNA and Sponsored by the Mental Health Research Institute.

Convenor: Professor George Fink, Director, Mental Health Research Institute.

Welcome	Professor William Hart, Neurosciences Victoria CEO and National Neuroscience Facility
Substance use and mental illness:   unravelling co-morbidity.	Dr Dan Lubman, ORYGEN Research Centre
Drug addiction-is it compulsive?	Dr Murat Yücel, ORYGEN Research Centre and Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre
Co-morbid depression and alcoholism:   lessons from animal models.	Dr Andrew Lawrence, Howard Florey Institute
Madness and Marijuana: investigating the   link between cannabis and schizophrenia.	Dr Suresh Sundram, Mental Health Research Institute
Concluding remarks	Professor George Fink, Director, Mental Health Research Institute

ANNA seminar at the APSAD 2004 National Conference Beyond the Drug
- Fremantle, Western Australia 15 November 2004

Drs Peter Dodd from the University of Queensland and Alfreda Stadlin from the Chinese University of Hong Kong presented talks on their research involving the study of genotypes associated with drug abuse, dependency, and brain damage among ethnically diverse populations in the Asia Pacific region.
"Genetics Research on Substance Use: Asia-Pacific Network" - Alfreda Stadlin
"Genes and Gene Expression in Alcoholic Brain"- Peter Dodd

17 March 2004 at the University of Melbourne Addiction: It's all in the brain What the brain tells us about addiction and what is being done about it. presented by ANNA sponsored by the Howard Florey institute and the National Neuroscience Facility.

Lecture presenters (L to R): Professor Fred Mendelsohn, Dr David Taylor, Dr Andrew Lawrence, Dr Dan Lubman, Professor Malcolm Horne.

The lecture covers why drugs make us feel so good, and how euphoria turns into craving, a single-minded need to take the drug that has nothing to do with pleasure. You will hear about the brain on alcohol and illicit drugs, and how these substances hijack the brain's natural motivation/reward circuits so that seeking and using the drug becomes the individual's top priority. You will learn how imaging studies of the brain are helping scientists visualise addiction, and how neuroscience is making an impact on the treatment of addiction now and how it may shape future treatment.

Professor Frederick AO Mendelsohn, Director, Howard Florey Institute convenor.

Welcome - Professor William Hart, Neurosciences Victoria CEO and National Neuroscience Facility

Introduction - Professor Frederick AO Mendelsohn, Director, Howard Florey Institute

The Addicted Brain - Dr David Taylor, Monash University

Alcohol: Friend or Foe? - Dr Andrew Lawrence, Howard Florey Institute

Changes in the Brain Influence Drug - Seeking Behaviour-Professor Malcolm Horne, Deputy Director Howard Florey Institute

Chasing the Dragon: Visualising the Brain Systems that Underlie Addiction - Dr Dan Lubman, ORYGEN Research Centre, University of Melbourne

The launch was followed by a scientific program, Frontiers in Addiction Neuroscience in Australia. The papers covered human and animal research with topics ranging from behavioural to genetic studies of the mechanisms underlying addiction.