2024 keynote speakers
Sam Golden, PhD
Assistant Professor
The University of Washington
Keynote: “Development of Preclinical Open-Source Tools Bridging Behavior, Body and Brain in an Academic Environment”
Sam received his BS in Neuroscience from Bates College (Lewiston, ME) in 2006, PhD in Neuroscience from the Icahn School of Medicine (New York City, NY) in 2015 under Dr. Scott J. Russo, and completed in Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Baltimore, MD) in 2018 under Dr. Yavin Shaham. Sam joined the University of Washington Department of Biological Structure in 2019. Sam’s scientific interests encompass understanding the psychological and neural mechanisms guiding reward processing. He is particularly interested in understanding how neuropsychiatric disorders- such as maladaptive aggression, depression and substance abuse – subvert basic reward circuitry to manifest pathological behavior. In addition to these biological questions, Sam’s lab also develop genetic tools, open source software, and hardware devices for the behavioral neuroscience community.
Brenda Curtis, PhD, MsPH
Chief of Technology and Translational Research Unit
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Keynote: “Innovative Digital Tools: Using Passive Sensing and Machine Learning for Predictive Insights in Substance Use Disorder Treatment”
Dr. Brenda Curtis is an Investigator (Tenure-Track) within the Translational Addiction Medicine Branch (TAMB) at the NIDA Intramural Research Program, where she leads the Technology and Translational Research Unit. Her research focuses on leveraging big data methodologies, artificial intelligence, and digital phenotyping to develop, evaluate, and implement technology-based tools that address substance use and related conditions. Dr. Curtis earned both a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Illinois, followed by a doctorate in communication from the University of Pennsylvania. She has held various academic and research positions, including Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Addictions at the Perelman School of Medicine. Before joining NIDA IRP, she was the PI of a NIDA-funded R01 award (DA039457) entitled “Predicting AOD Relapse and Treatment Completion from Social Media Use,” where she utilized social media data to predict alcohol and other drug relapse and treatment completion among patients in community outpatient treatment programs. Dr. Curtis’s clinical research intersects addiction treatment, technology, and long-term recovery. Using natural-language processing, digital phenotyping, and big data methodologies, she enhances precision assessment of substance use and behavioral predictors with intensive longitudinal data and integrates passive sensor data from smartphones and wearable devices. Her work promotes positive health behaviors, adapts technology-based interventions for treatment settings, and recruits and retains diverse populations in research studies, aiming to prevent stigmatization in SUD treatment. She is co-chair of the NIH Stigma Scientific Interest Group, a board member of the Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R), and a NIH Distinguished Scholar. Her lab’s research also explores the impact of health disparities, stigma, and implicit biases on addiction treatment and recovery, employing multivariable models from ecological momentary assessment (EMA), digital phenotyping, and language data. Dr. Curtis has authored multiple publications in addiction medicine, machine learning, and technology-based interventions.
Brenda Curtis, PhD, MsPH
Co-Founder and CEO
NOCD
Keynote: “The Hidden Condition: Misdiagnosis and Mistreatment of OCD”
Stephen Smith is the Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of NOCD, the largest provider focused on ending worldwide suffering caused by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions. After emerging from a personal struggle with undiagnosed OCD, and experiencing the success of Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) therapy first-hand, Stephen made it his mission to transform the behavioral health treatment system, starting with the goal of creating an anytime, anywhere virtual care platform that allows those suffering with OCD to be diagnosed quickly and accurately, as well as treated appropriately using ERP therapy – considered the gold standard treatment for OCD. Smith has secured over $85 M in financing since NOCD launched commercially in 2018. He was also named to the Crain’s Notable Entrepreneur list in 2020, the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2021, Business Insider 40 under 30 in 2023, and the Top 50 In Digital Health list in 2022.