Greetings from the Chair — September 2011

As summer comes to a close, the ATOD Section is in high gear preparing the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. We hope you are planning to join us for an impressive program featuring the latest developments in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs fields.

Annual Meeting Highlights — Haven’t registered for the Annual Meeting yet? There is still time to register, but hotel space is filling up fast, so make your travel arrangements and register today! Here are some highlights:

·         Program: Our great program planning team, led by Dr. Lawrence Brown, has assembled a stellar program of oral and poster sessions across the diverse continuum of ATOD interest areas. See Lawrence’s article below to learn more.

·         ATOD Business Meetings: Leadership business meetings will be held on Saturday afternoon (1:00 to 5:00) and Sunday morning (9:00 to 12:00).  The Section’s elected leaders will meet to conduct Section business — please stop by if you’d like to join us and learn more about Section activity!

·         ATOD Awards Ceremony and Reception: Join us Tuesday evening for our annual Awards Ceremony from 6:30 to 8:00.  This year we’ve rolled our evening events into one night, so this will be gala affair! Join us for an evening of friends and colleagues, food, and a celebration of students, practitioners and researchers who have contributed to advancing the ATOD field this year. This is always a fun event, and a great time to meet and mingle with your colleagues from across the country! Thanks to Carol Schmitt for coordinating our events this year.

·         Students Poster Awards: Our next generation of ATOD leaders will present their research in a special poster session on Monday from 10:30 to 11:30. This is a chance for our newest members of the field to showcase their work and be acknowledged for their research. Stop by to see their work, welcome them to the field, and encourage some of our newest talent and energy. Thanks to Andrea Frydl and Justin Byron for coordinating the poster awards this year.

·         Advance ATOD Program Guide: We’re going green!  Many people like our hard copy version of the ATOD Program, but some of you have requested we consider the resources that this document requires — both environmental and economic.  This year our program guide will experiment with going green — but in deference to those who still want the hard copy, we’re providing a mix this year — a hard copy of Sections at a Glance will be available as in past years, at the ATOD Booth, Business Meetings and Sessions. More detailed daily schedules will be available electronically on the ATOD website. All will be emailed out to the full ATOD members list shortly before the program, so you’ll still have the choice to print out a daily schedule, or download it.  We’ll be looking for feedback on our new “greener” program!  Thanks to Amanda French for coordinating the guide this year.

There is still time to donate! Amber Bullock is leading our fundraising efforts this year — time is running short, but there is still time to donate to support this year’s ATOD program and events!!  See her note below — and thanks to the many members who have already made donations.

ATOD Leaders Attended the APHA Midyear Meeting on Implementing Health Reform — The ATOD Section was well represented at the APHA’s first ever midyear meeting, which focused on implementing health reform. Section members provided input on program development and speakers, resulting in a good representation of ATOD issues in the three-day discussion. Section chairs and affiliate reps participated in a post-meeting strategy session, to provide guidance to APHA staff on how the organization can help ensure that this important legislation can be successfully implemented. See articles from Ann Mahony and Kathye Gorosh below with more info on the ACA.

International Collaboration — As ATOD Section chair, I’ve been invited to join discussions contemplating the creation of an international confederation of organizations that focus on ATOD issues sponsored by the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors.  Discussions are under way to consider the merits of an international body that could help support additional research efforts across countries, including supporting research in developing countries. I’ve been asked to lead a discussion on the benefits and challenges for organizations that address multiple issues. Watch for more info in the coming months.

Congratulations & Welcome to our Newest ATOD Leaders — Join me in welcoming our newest elected leaders to the ATOD Section:

·         Sean Haley, Governing Council

·         Linda Frazier, Section Council (re-elected to a second term)

·         Toben Nelson, Section Council

New officers will take office at the end of the Annual Meeting this year. Congratulations and welcome!

Planning for 2012 — Yes, I know, it sounds like a long ways off, but believe it or not, planning for the 2012 APHA Annual Meeting will start during this year’s meeting! It is never too early to start thinking about how you can be involved. Our program and events are the result of an enormous amount of effort from hundreds of volunteers. This began with submitting abstracts in January — so start thinking about what topics you’d like to see be part of the 2012 ATOD program. We’ll also need abstract reviewers again — the importance of this role cannot be overstated!  Each abstract is reviewed by at least three people, meaning it takes over 1,500 individual reviews each year, in a three week period in February or March!  If you reviewed abstracts last year, thank you! You’ll automatically be contacted to see if you are willing to review again this year. If you’re able to review this year (it is usually a commitment of 3 to 5 hours, done any time at your convenience during a three week period), please contact us so we can add you to the list! 

Thank you!  As the Section chair, I see firsthand so many of the efforts made by all of our members to make our Section work. We are all volunteers, and the past year has seen many of us take on additional responsibility and work related to the challenges in the economy. Many more of our members are working with reduced budgets, staff and resources — and many of our members are out of work. I realize this year has been one of new challenges for many of you, and I continue to be moved by the commitment and dedication our members have to our field and the ATOD Section’s work. We are fortunate to have so many fine people in our field who are committed to preventing and reducing the harms related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs in our society. Thank you for all that you do every day on behalf of the ATOD Section and our field!

I look forward to seeing many of you in D.C.!

Sincerely,

Linda M. Bosma, PhD

ATOD Section Chair