NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction

Monday, October 20, 2008

Welcome from your Conference Hosts

In approximately one month, representatives from the scientific community, health care sector, gaming industry and government will convene in Las Vegas for the 9th annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction. The theme of this year’s conference – The Changing Landscape of Treatment, Responsible Gaming and Public Policy – reflects the current scientific and societal trends that are influencing gambling research and responsible gaming initiatives.

As you will see from our conference topics, there are a number of important potential changes underway in the field of disordered gambling research. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in our opening session this year, which will explore whether new research suggests the need for a revised clinical definition of pathological gambling in the upcoming fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Leading experts will offer their insights on this and other topics such as the health risks of Internet gambling and video gaming, how technology can improve assessment and counseling, the latest responsible gaming approaches for tribal casinos, and developing culturally relevant responsible gaming programs for Asian populations and Asian Americans. Read more about this year’s conference sessions in our online conference program.

The conference will take place Nov. 16-18 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino and the Las Vegas Convention Center. Considered the finest event of its kind by participants and observers alike, the conference is sponsored by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) and the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders, a program of the Division on Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

Leading up to the conference, right here on the NCRG conference blog, you will have the opportunity to read more about some of the research and topics that will be discussed at the event. While the conference is underway, on-site reports will bring you up-to-the-minute details of some of our most exciting sessions and special events. We encourage you to sign up for our RSS feed (select an icon in the Subscribe section of the sidebar) to have blog updates automatically delivered to you.

If you haven’t already done so, please be sure to register for the conference. We hope you can join us for what promises to be an engaging, informative and insightful event. If you are unable to join us in Las Vegas, we look forward to having you visit us here at the conference blog during the coming weeks.

Phil Satre
Chairman, National Center for Responsible Gaming

Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., C.A.S.
Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Director, Division on Addictions, The Cambridge Health Alliance

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