Symposium on Motivation at UNL focuses on tobacco dependence

The 55th annual Nebraska Symposium on Motivation will focus on smoking and nicotine dependence, the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. The conference, hosted by the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will be April 12-13 on the UNL City Campus.

"This is an exceedingly relevant topic for Nebraskans," said Rick Bevins, professor of psychology at UNL and co-coordinator of the symposium. "Right now, we're in the process of debating and implementing smoking bans. Nebraska falls right on the average in terms of smoking rates in the country. And, Nebraskans spend a lot of tax money taking care of the sick, or dealing with lost work hours from smokers who become ill. It's a big issue, and I thought it was an important issue to bring to the symposium."

Bevins said he expects that more than 200 clinicians, researchers and practitioners will descend on Lincoln from around the country to tackle the problem of nicotine dependence. Traditionally, the UNL symposium is widely attended; it's the world's longest continuously running psychology series, and it attracts the field's most distinguished scholars. Because of its reputation, Bevins said, it is easy to recruit high-caliber speakers.

This year's event will feature presenters from numerous disciplines, including geneticists, pharmacologists, behaviorists, and clinicians. The gamut of research on nicotine dependence -- from pre-clinical animal research on the addiction process, to the search for medical treatments, to clinical research on relevant interventions -- will be explored at the symposium. A representative from the National Institutes of Health will also attend, to address future directions for research and treatment.

The symposium will be at the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., rooms to be posted. In addition to speakers and discussion sessions, it will feature a display of posters on drug abuse and addiction issues, created by researchers from across the country.

CONTACT: Rick Bevins, Professor, Psychology, (402) 472-1189