Professor David Balfour at the University of Dundee has been appointed Chairman of the European Board of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco - an international society dedicated to the study of tobacco addiction.
Professor Balfour will hold the office for one year until November 2004. He will also be one of three theme plenary lecturers at the Society's main annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona next month. The meeting attracts around 1,000 US and worldwide delegates and is one of the principal international meetings on nicotine and tobacco research in the world. Professor Balfour will deliver his plenary lecture on "recent advances in our understanding of the preclinical neuroscience underlying tobacco addiction".
David's research focuses on the biology of addiction to tobacco smoking, a major cause of serious illness and early death in Scotland.
David explains: "It is widely accepted that nicotine is a principal addictive component of tobacco smoke and that the majority of smokers find it difficult to quit their habit because they have developed a strong dependence upon this drug. Research in our laboratory focuses on the evidence that dependence is a consequence of biochemical and molecular changes within the brain caused by repeated exposure to an addictive drug. We believe that these changes cause both the craving for cigarettes, that smokers find so difficult to resist, and the unpleasant withdrawal effects that most experience when they try to quit. A primary aim of our work is to identify drug treatments that will help many more smokers quit successfully and, thus, avoid the serious illnesses that we know are caused or made worse by smoking.
By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk