In 2022, the biennale IDARS meeting took place in Nice at the border of the Promenades des Anglais with a spectacular view on the Mediterranean Sea. Other than listening to the waves under the sun while sitting on the iconic blue chairs, talks about recent advances on drug addiction research were held by international speakers covering topics from the molecular to the behavioural aspect of drug addiction. During the week, different subjects were presented such as rodent and human studies on alcohol and opioid use disorders, the role of stress and in our scope of interest, neuroimmune mechanisms underlying these disorders.
As a PhD student, I was selected among many participants to present my work during a flash talk session, my work was entitled “Increased mechanical sensitivity following alcohol or sucrose forced abstinence in mice”. The idea was to point out the possible role of neuroinflammation in alcohol and sucrose bingeing responsible of development of chronic pain. We thought it was important to give insight into the comorbidities associated with addictive-like behaviours since these can interact with potential therapeutic strategies.
This congress was a great opportunity to discover several topics around addiction and to exchange with other international research groups, working on various topics including pain research. It was a fantastic networking opportunity for future post-doc positions and to develop collaborations, as my team now interacts with J.L. Cadet’s team at NIDA, Baltimore.
