Unravelling Addictions & Brain Reward Systems
Organised by: Aidan Gilligan, Founder, CEO SciCom - Making Sense of Science; Member of the Governing Board of Euroscience. Co-Organised by: Wilson M. Compton, M.D., M.P.E., Deputy-Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health Former Director, Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research.
A Revolution of the Mind - European Science Open Forum (ESOF), Copenhagen
12h00 – 13h15, Tuesday 24 June 2014 (Malting Hall)
Session Description
Wouldn't it be wonderful to attribute our compulsion for addictive damaging activities, such as overeating, taking illicit drugs or smoking, wholly to our genetic make up? Then we could blame our parents for everything! We know it is bad for us but we still do it. Why? This session explores the latest scientific evidence behind compulsive behaviour. Personalised medicine provides plenty of research linking genetics and disease. But establishing a relationship between genetic variation and behaviour is trickier. How does over-consumption of high-fat food trigger addiction-like neuro adaptive responses in our brain-reward circuitry?
Resolving Our Greatest Public Health Challenges Via Science Diplomacy
Organised by: Mr. Aidan Gilligan, Founder, CEO SciCom - Making Sense of Science; Member of the Governing Board of Euroscience Co-organised by: Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, UN Secretary General’s Ban-Ki Moon’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia; Former Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis & Malaria.
Science Policy - European Science Open Forum (ESOF), Copenhagen
16h30 – 17h45, Tuesday 24 June 2014 (Pompeii Hall, Carlsberg Academy)
Session Description
Countries large and small, developed and developing, express a clear interest in implementing science diplomacy through politics. This is for the purpose of representation, cooperation, resolving disputes, improving systems, and securing the right to science for citizens and our most vulnerable populations. The same applies to global companies and institutions operating in a complex matrix of technical and relational challenges.
Tackling the World’s Drug Problem as Splits Deepen Between Repressive & Health-Focused Countries & the EU Dithers
Organised by Aidan Gilligan, Founder, CEO SciCom - Making Sense of Science; Member of the Governing Board of Euroscience.
High-level Topical Session on Global Drug Policy Developments European Science Open Forum (ESOF), Copenhagen
10h30 - 11h45, June 23, 2014 (Malting Hall)
Session Description
As the world debates the ‘war on drugs’ and what to do next, this session weighs-up the global scorecard which makes pretty dim reading for some, including Brussels.
Despite good intentions, the international drug enforcement regime has failed to reduce the use and harm caused by drugs. Most independent studies show problematic drug use increasing. This prohibitionist approach has been a mainstay of global diplomatic relations for decades, known as the ‘war on drugs’. It costs tens of billions of Euros to run. More difficult to estimate are the health and social costs associated with addiction, mass incarcerations and the emergence of a vast criminal controlled trade. The now fragile consensus around prohibition as a global framework for drug control is increasingly being questioned by reform-minded opinion leaders.
Health Science 2020: How Health Diplomacy Drives Business & Innovation
Organised by: Seema Kumar, Johnson & Johnson and Daan Du Toit, South African Department of Science and Technology; Co-organised by: Aidan Gilligan, Founder, CEO SciCom - Making Sense of Science; Member of the Governing Board of Euroscience.
Science to Business - European Science Open Forum (ESOF), Copenhagen
09h00 – 10h15, Monday 23 June 2014 (Malting Hall)
Session Description
Health is big business – and a lynchpin of development-based foreign policy. This roundtable brings together global leaders in medical research from public and private sectors to discuss the best ways of working together for the benefit of people worldwide.
