Keynote Speakers
Dr. Olubusayo Akinola: Sharing perspectives on community-led interventions in the addiction field in African contexts with a special focus on Nigeria
Dr. Olubusayo Akinola serves as the Head of the Social Welfare, Drug Control, and Crime Prevention Division at the African Union. She brings significant expertise in designing and implementing multicomponent community-based interventions, as well as recovery and social integration strategies for individuals with substance use disorders. Dr. Akinola works closely with civil society organizations to advance grassroots initiatives and advocates for the development of age-appropriate, gender-sensitive policies to address substance use challenges affecting women, children, and adolescents across Africa. Her contributions include involvement in various international and national projects focused on drug policy evaluation, and she plays a key role in facilitating inter-agency collaboration and real-time information exchange within the Pan African Epidemiology Network on Drug Use. Dr. Akinola holds a PhD in public health with a specialization in epidemiology from Walden University, a Master’s degree in public health from the University of East London and a Bachelor of pharmacy degree. She is also a Fulbright Alumna from Virginia Commonwealth University, USA, and a recipient of the Walden University Presidential Award for Research Dissemination.
M.D., Ph.D. Zhao Min: Neuromodulation for Addiction: Clinical efficacy and application research
Zhao Min, M.D., Ph.D., Consultant Psychiatrist, Professor, is the President of Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the director of the National Center for Mental Disorders (China). She is a member of International Advisory Group a member of the expert group and Field Studies Coordination Group of the ICD-11, and a member of the Informal Scientific Network of UNODC. She is the Chair of WADD (World Association on Dual Disorders), Member of International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) Global Experts Network (ISAM-GEN) China Chapter, President of Chinese Psychiatric Hospital Association, Vice-president of Chinese Society of Psychiatry and Chinese Psychiatrist Association. She has also been granted more than 20 projects by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, WHO, NIH, etc. She has published more than 200 papers, and over 40 books and chapters. She is an expert receiving the special allowance from the State Council, and has been rewarded with many international and national awards, such as NIH/NIDA Outstanding Scientist Award for International Collaboration. National Distinguished Doctor, Wuzhou Women's Science and Technology Award, etc.
Prof. Dr. Anju Dhawan: Adolescent Substance Use: Management across different settings in India
Prof. Dr. Anju Dhawan (MBBS, MD Psychiatry) is a Professor at the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. Her primary focus is on the management of adolescent substance use treatment services, epidemiologic work in the area of adolescent substance abuse, including the study of street children and school-based studies. In addition, she is involved in opioid substitution treatment, community services, addiction psychiatry education and meditation research.
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rehm: National regulatory approaches to substance use – universal outcomes?
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rehm is Senior Scientist in the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research and in the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at CAMH. He is Professor and was the Inaugural Chair of Addiction Policy in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and he also holds other professorships and positions in Canada, Germany and Spain. Dr. Rehm has been a leader in generating and analyzing the scientific data needed to inform clinicians and policy-makers of strategies to reduce alcohol-, tobacco-, and other drug-attributable harm. His recent research has increasingly included interactions between socio-economic status, poverty and substance use, including analysis of policies and interventions with respect to reducing or increasing inequalities. His work has been awarded with numerous awards and prizes, most importantly, the Jellinek Memorial Award (2003), the European Addiction Research Award (2017) and the (Inaugural) Kettil Bruun Society Award for Advancement of International Research Collaboration (2021).
Dr. Vítor Tardelli: Stimulant use: A perspective from South America
Dr. Tardelli (MD, MS, PhD) is an addictions psychiatrist with clinical training in Brazil and Canada. He is currently an associated researcher at the Instituto Américo Bairral, in Itapira, Brazil. Dr. Tardelli is also a member of the UNODC and European Union expert groups on treatment of stimulant use disorder. His research has focused on the epidemiology and clinical treatment of stimulant use disorder, particularly with agonist-based therapy. Dr. Tardelli also conducts research on social determinants of drug harmful use, such as race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual/gender identity. Dr. Tardelli has a Master’s degree in Clinical Research Methods from Columbia University, in the US, and a clinical fellowship in addictions psychiatry from the University of Toronto, Canada. His interests include medication-assisted therapy, harm reduction and drug use by minorities.