Dr. Nora Volkow Discusses Opioid Addiction vs Dependence at NPSC Congressional Briefing

On November 19, 2019 the NPSC and the Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus (ATR) convened a congressional briefing with internationally recognized experts to discuss the dual challenges of addiction and dependence in developing policy responses to the opioid epidemic. Although many people conflate addiction and dependence, they are not the same, and the distinction has important implications for the millions of people who rely on opioid medications for pain management. Our keynote speaker, Dr. Nora Volkow, is currently the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the NIH. Over the past 30 years, she has published more than 770 peer-reviewed articles, more than 95 book chapters, edited four books on brain imaging and addiction and co-edited an Encyclopedia on Neuroscience. She has received multiple awards including membership in the National Academy of Medicine in 2000, the International Prize for Science from the French Institute of Health and Medical Research in 2009. She was named one of Time magazine’s “Top 100 People Who Shape Our World”, “One of 20 People to Watch”, by Newsweek magazine, and “Innovator of the Year” by U.S. News & World Report. Her work as a researcher and as a leader has been instrumental in transforming the paradigm of drug addiction from that of a behavioral choice to that of a treatable brain disease.