The winners of the 2015 EMCDDA scientific paper award will gather in Lisbon on 23 September for the fifth annual paper award ceremony hosted by the EU agency (1). The acclaimed writers will receive a non-monetary prize for their articles in the margins of the Lisbon Addictions 2015 conference opening this week in the Portuguese capital (2).
The prize, inaugurated in 2011 by the EMCDDA and its Scientific Committee, celebrates scientific writing and distinguishes high-quality research in the field of illicit drugs. This year, over 50 papers in five categories were nominated by members of the Scientific Committee, the Reitox national focal points, European drug research societies and peer-reviewed journals and by EMCDDA staff.
The 2015 winning articles, which will be presented at the ceremony, are:
- ‘Pregnenolone can protect the brain from cannabis intoxication’ (2014), primary author Monique Vallée (France). Published in Science, 343, 6166, pp.94–98.
Category: Basic biological, neurobiological and behavioural research. - ‘Challenges of surveying wastewater drug loads of small populations and generalizable aspects on optimizing monitoring design’ (2014), primary author Christoph Ort (Switzerland, accompanied by Swiss co-author Jonas Eppler). Published in Addiction, 109, 3, pp. 472–481.
Category: Population-based and epidemiology research. - ‘Use of contingency management incentives to improve completion of hepatitis B vaccination in people undergoing treatment for heroin dependence: a cluster randomised trial’ (2014), primary authors Tim Weaver and Nicola Metrebian (UK). Published in The Lancet, 384, 9938, pp.153–163.
Category: Demand reduction research. - ‘A social cost perspective in the wake of the Portuguese strategy for the fight against drugs’ (2015/published online in 2014), primary author Ricardo Gonçalves (Portugal). Published in International Journal of Drug Policy, 26, 2, pp.199–209. Category: Drug policy.
- ‘Hashish revival in Morocco’ (2014), primary author Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy (France, represented at the event by Moroccan co-author Kenza Afsahi). Published in International Journal of Drug Policy, 25, 3, pp.416–423.
Category: Drug supply.
Chair of the EMCDDA Scientific Committee Prof. Dr Gerhard Bühringer said: ‘This year the EMCDDA commemorates 20 years of monitoring the drugs problem in Europe. Promoting scientific excellence has been at the heart of the agency’s work over this time and was the motivation behind this scientific paper award. The award has enabled us to showcase major advancements in the drugs field and reach out to a buoyant research community across the EU. It also helps highlight research gaps with the perspective of improving policy and practice’.
