33nd International Medical Advisory Group Conference

Chicago, Illinois—October 16–18, 2005

The 33rd International Medical Advisory Group (IMAG) Conference was hosted by the ABMRF at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago Illinois. The scientific program was organized into three topical sessions and featured eighteen speakers, almost all of whom had received ABMRF grants. These speakers represented the spectrum of the Foundation community, from senior investigators such as Dr. Arthur Klatsky—whose ABMRF support beginning in 1982 contributed to an ongoing body of work—to more junior researchers developing their careers, like Dr. Heng-Jie Cheng who was funded in 2004. It also included several individuals who have gone on to serve on the Foundation Advisory Councils.

The first conference session was fittingly titled “Research Overviews from Distinguished ABMRF Investigators.” The session began with an introduction by Dr. Robert O. Messing of the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California at San Francisco, who discussed his ABMRF-funded projects and the findings that resulted. Dr. Jacquelyn J. Maher from the University of California at San Francisco then discussed alcoholic liver disease, particularly its potential progression from steatosis to hepatitis and cirrhosis. She also made comparisons between alcoholic liver disease and liver disease resulting from other conditions, such as diabetes and obesity. Next, Dr. Daniel G. Herrera of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University talked about brain development and the effects of alcohol abuse on the formation and survival of neurons. His discussion included not only the mechanisms of alcohol-impaired neurogenesis, but also potential treatments to block the effects. The next presentation, by Dr. Laura E. Nagy of Case Western Reserve University, expanded on Dr. Maher’s talk to examine specific mechanisms of liver disease. She described the basic immune response in the early stages of alcoholic liver disease, as well as strategies for normalizing the inflammatory response to alcohol-related liver injury. 

As the first session continued, Dr. Sherry H. Stewart of Dalhousie University provided an overview of different cognitive behavioral therapy approaches to alcohol use disorders, all based on the premise that maladaptive drinking is a learned behavior and that treatment goals can vary. She then described her own work in developing a personality-matched approach to intervention and treatment, particularly for young people. The final talk of the session, by Dr. Marsha E. Bates of Rutgers University, was titled “Cognitive Variables as Precursors and Consequences of Alcohol Consumption.” This presentation explored the complex relationship between neurocognition and alcohol use, both by how cognitive processes affect the development of alcohol use disorders, and by the neurocognitive changes that result from alcohol abuse.

Dr. Bates’ talk was a fitting transition to the second topical session, entitled “Alcohol and Cognitive Behaviors,” and introduced by Dr. Robert O. Pihl of McGill University. Dr. Pihl provided a context for research in this field, and described some of his own work highlighting the importance of motivation in alcohol-related violent behavior. Next, Dr. Klaus A. Miczek of Tufts University built upon Dr. Pihl’s introduction by describing neurotransmitter systems involved in the relationship between alcohol and aggression. Like previous speakers, he also noted the intricate dynamic between brain chemistry and alcohol-related behavior—both able to affect changes in the other—and how the alcohol-aggression relationship in particular is a potential target for pharmacologic treatments.  Dr. Peter Giancola of the University of Kentucky then continued the discussion in his presentation, “Risk Factors and Mechanisms of the Alcohol-Aggression Relation,” which focused on the acute effects of alcohol in individuals with certain cognitive traits. He described both cognitive risk factors and mediators for the alcohol-aggression relationship, and their complex interaction with environmental factors. In the following talk, Dr. John J. Curtin of the University of Wisconsin used some of his own studies to discuss the behavioral changes that result from alcohol intoxication and alcohol expectancy effects.  In particular, he focused on attention, summarizing cognitive theory on attentional processes, and how these processes interact with alcohol expectancies to produce behavioral impairments.

The next speaker, Dr. Nelson Cowan of the University of Missouri, also discussed attention and presented data to indicate that alcohol affects different attentional processes in different ways. Specifically, it appears that alcohol intoxication can cause impairments to the processing of information more than to memory, or storage of information, which has implications for the ways in which individuals compensate for intoxication effects. The final session presentation was delivered by Dr. Tibor Palfai of Boston University and examined self-regulation of alcohol consumption. Dr. Palfai’s work addresses the mechanisms by which relatively low levels of drinking can affect alcohol-related coping skills, and how understanding these mechanisms might be useful for the development of interventions that encourage self-control of alcohol use.

The third session of the conference, “Alcohol and Cardiovascular Disease: Past, Present and Future Through the Work of ABMRF Grantees,” featured an introduction by former ABMRF grantee and current member of the Medical Advisory Council, Dr. Francois M. Booyse of the University of Alabama. Dr. Booyse gave an overview of research in this area, particularly as related to the potential risks and benefits associated with alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease. This was an appropriate lead in to the first talk, by Dr. Arthur L. Klatsky of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, who gave a more detailed summary of the various aspects of the link between alcohol and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Klatsky described a number of different cardiovascular conditions and explained the current evidence involving the methods by which alcohol can affect these conditions. The next four speakers then discussed various mechanisms of alcohol on the cardiovascular system. Dr. Heng-Jie Cheng of Wake Forest University discussed how theories on alcoholic cardiomyopathy have shifted over the past few decades, and described some of his research aimed at identifying cellular factors that influence the development of alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy. Then, Dr. E. Carolyn Johnson of Washington State University, Spokane, talked about her work investigating the role of endothelial cells in the beneficial cardiovascular effects of moderate alcohol consumption. Specifically, she has found that alcohol significantly affects the vascular endothelial growth factor system and alcohol-induced changes in the two main receptors of this system seem to protect against the development of atherosclerosis. 

The session continued with a talk entitled “Alcohol-Induced Upregulation of Fibrinolytic Activity in Human Monocytes,” given by Dr. Edlue M. Tabengwa of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Tabengwa presented data that further delineated specific cellular mechanisms of the cardioprotective benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, namely alcohol’s role in increased fibrinolysis. In the final talk of the session, Dr. Xi-Long Zheng of the University of Calgary discussed his research, which is attempting to determine the way in which alcohol inhibits the cell cycle of vascular smooth muscle cells. Taken together, the work presented in the session was a broad overview of the various and complex ways in which alcohol affects the cardiovascular system.

The conference concluded with the H. Thomas Austern Memorial Lecture, which is given at North American IMAG conferences and is named for one of the ABMRF’s founders and first legal advisor. Dr. Ross S. Kalucy, Foundation Professor of Psychiatry at Flinders University in Australia, was this year’s Austern Lecturer, with a talk entitled “Reflecting on International Conferences—Small is Beautiful.” In his talk, Dr. Kalucy looked back over his experience with the Medical Advisory and Research Group of the Australian Associated Brewers, and how his involvement enabled him to enrich his work and form significant relationships within the international community of alcohol research and advisory organizations. His lecture was a tribute to the rewards of organizing and participating in smaller research conferences, and a fitting conclusion to the IMAG meeting that, though relatively modest in size, reaches far beyond its immediate scope to touch a wide range of individuals and organizations who have a vested interest in alcohol science.