The 2025 Alabama Summit on Addiction and Pain will be held September 2-3, 2025, at the Marnix E. Heersink Institute for Biomedical Innovation Conference Center located in the Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building.
The program will feature oral presentations, poster presentations, updates on CAPPI activities, and a Keynote Speaker presentation from Nora Volkow, MD, Director of National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Volkow's lecture will be on Tuesday, September 2, from 1-2 p.m. The poster session will be held from 4:15-5:30 p.m.
Registration and Abstract Deadline: August 21, 2025 at 5 p.m.
Submit your abstract for consideration for inclusion in the poster session to cappi@uabmc.edu. Register for the summit below.
Agenda
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
| 8:30-9:00 | Check-in / Registration and Breakast | ||
| 9:00-9:15 | Center Directors | Karen Cropsey, PhD | "Center for Addiction and Pain Prevention and Intervention (CAPPI) updates" |
| 9:15-9:30 | Jeremy Day, PhD | “How the CNC supports addiction and pain research” | |
| 9:30-9:45 | Tina Kempin Reuter, PhD | "Institute for Human Rights updates" | |
| 9:45-10:00 | Nichole Dawsey, Addiction Prevention Coalition | "Thinking Upstream" | |
| 10:00-10:15 | Pain | Edwin Aroke, PhD | "Thriving Through the Years: A New Perspective on Aging, Resilience, and Chronic Low Back Pain" |
| 10:15-10:30 | Hailey Bulls, PhD | "Reducing Stigma in Cancer Pain Management: A Patient-Centered Approach" | |
| 10:30-10:45 | Novel Therapeutics | Angela Carter, PhD | "Microbial regulation of psychostimulant use disorders" |
| 10:45-11:00 | James Kobie, PhD | “Restoring immune homeostasis in the setting of substance use” | |
| 11:00-11:15 | Jasper Heinsbroek, PhD | "The 5-HT2A receptor as a therapeutic target for comorbid pain and opioid use disorder" | |
| 11:15-11:30 | Andrew Hardaway, PhD | "Endogenous and Exogenous GLP-1 Regulation of Psychostimulant Actions" | |
| 11:30-11:45 | Peter Hendricks, PhD | "Psilocybin in the Treatment of Cocaine Use Disorder" | |
| 11:45-12:00 | Aurelio Galli, PhD, DSc | "Radiolytic Neuromodulation of Cell Activity and Fate" | |
| 12:00-1:00 | Trainees lunch with Dr. Volkow | ||
| 1:00-2:00 | Featured Keynote lecture | Nora Volkow, MD | "Science at the Interaction of Pain and Addiction" |
| Introduction: Karen Cropsey, PhD | |||
| 2:00-2:15 | Sleep and Addiction/Pain | Rui Zhang, PhD | “Sleep-wake patterns in opioid use disorder” |
| 2:15-2:30 | Karen Cropsey, PhD | "Circadian rhythms and variability in everyday smoking and sleep" | |
| 2:30-2:45 | Michael "Alec" Owens, PhD | "Rest and Recovery: Treating Insomnia to Address Pain and Substance Use" | |
| 2:45-3:00 | break | ||
| 3:00-4:15 | Street Outreach Panel | Will Rutland, MD, JD, MPH | "Street Outreach" |
| Gordon Sullivan, One Roof | |||
| Dani Sims, Recovery Resource Center | |||
| Emma Kay, PhD, MSW | |||
| Ellen Eaton, MD | |||
| Audrey Lloyd, MD | |||
| 4:15-5:30 | Poster reception | ||
| 5:30 | End of Day 1 | ||
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
| 8:30-9:00 | Registration and Breakfast | ||
| 9:00-9:20 | 3 Minute one slide thesis | ||
| 9:00-9:05 | Anastasiia Caangay | “Complex Spinal Mechanisms Underlying Stress-Induced Bladder Hypersensitivity in Hemopexin Depleted Mice” | |
| 9:05-9:10 | Fiona Besem Atem | "Diet, Inflammation, Epigenetic Aging, and Central Sensitization in Adults with Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain" | |
| 9:10-9:15 | Rachel Antenucci | "Perception of fentanyl harm" | |
| 9:15-9:20 | William Wagner | "Effects of cannabis and cigarette dual use on sleep quality and fatigue" | |
| 9:20-9:30 | break | ||
| 9:30-9:45 | CAPPI Awardees | Will Bradford, MD | "Attitudes Toward and Prevalence of Xylazine Among People who use Illicit Opioids" |
| 9:45-10:00 | Akanksha Singh | "Evaluation of Client Outcomes and Net Impacts of a Peer Support System for Opioid Recovery" | |
| 10:00-11:00 | Human Rights Panel: The Right to Pain Management | Tina Kempin Reuter, PhD | "The Human Right to Pain Management” |
| Kathryn Anthony, MD | |||
| Kristen Watts, PhD | |||
| Lisa Gezon, PhD | |||
| Fanicy Sears, eMotion Therapy | |||
| Davina Patterson, Disability Resource Network | |||
| 11:00-11:15 | break | ||
| 11:15-11:30 | Addiction | Jeremy Day, PhD | “Next-generation tools for targeted manipulation of drug-activated neuronal ensembles” |
| 11:30-11:45 | Li Li, MD | "Early life stress links with opioid overdose through inflammatory factors" | |
| 11:45-12:00 | Lillian Brady, PhD | “Sex-specific regulation of dopamine release mechanisms underlying reward learning: Implications for substance use disorder” | |
| 12:00:00 PM | Box Lunch and End of Day 2 | ||