The International Confederation of Addiction Research Associations (ICARA) held its annual meeting at PAHO/WHO Headquarters in Washington D.C., on August 28-30. The aims of the meeting were to discuss capacity building in addiction science; share practical information among research society leaders; consider issues, needs and accomplishments of addiction scientists in Latin America and the Caribbean; and formulate a future agenda for ICARA. The more than twenty contributors included Thomas Babor (ICARA's President), Maristela Monteiro (PAHO), Luis Alfonzo (PAHO), Ludovic Reveiz (PAHO), Carla Saenz (PAHO), Luis Cuervo (PAHO), Vladimir Poznyak (WHO by webex), Niamh Fitzgerald (WHO), Diana Rossi (Argentina), Alfredo Pemjean (Chile), Pernell Clarke (Organization of American States - OAS) and Ralph Hingson (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - NIAAA).
The meeting was also an opportunity to present the findings of the initiative "Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Substance Research in Latin America and the Caribbean: Opportunities, Priorities and Challenges" undertaken by ICARA. This project consisted of a survey designed to gather data on the infrastructure supporting addiction science as well as research, training and funding opportunities in Latin America. The instrument furthermore allowed to identify needs for capacity building and workforce development in the area of addiction research in the Region of the Americas. This survey is one of the first steps taken by ICARA to support future activities and contributions to the field of addiction science.
