Addiction is a major public health issue affecting millions worldwide. Innovative solutions are urgently needed to combat this crisis, reduce its impact, and save lives. The World Innovation Day for Addiction Therapeutics serves as a platform for fostering collaboration between academia, health sector, regulatory agencies, and industry, driving innovation, and accelerating the development of effective tools and technologies for assessment and treatments for addiction and its comorbidities. By bringing together experts from various fields, this event aims to catalyze the development of new modalities for assessment, therapies, and interventions. There are several reasons why convening such an event matters:
Bridging the Gap: There is often a disconnection between scientific discoveries and their implementation in real-world settings. This event aims to bridge that gap by facilitating dialogue and collaboration between clinicians from the addiction medicine/psychiatry academia, industry professionals, and researchers from both, facilitating the translation of groundbreaking research into tangible benefits for patients.
Enhancing Investment: Securing funding is a significant hurdle in the journey from research to market. The presence of senior venture capital and other types of investors and funding agencies at this event provides a unique opportunity for startups and established companies to showcase their innovations, attract investment, and accelerate their growth.
Knowledge Sharing: The event will feature multiple panels and lectures, offering participants a chance to share their experiences, learn from each other, and stay updated on the latest trends and advancements in the field of addiction medicine therapeutics. This exchange of knowledge is crucial for driving progress and fostering a collaborative environment.
Building a Stronger Community: By gathering many leaders from clinics, universities, industry, regulatory agencies and investment communities, this event creates a robust network of professionals committed to improving addiction treatment. These connections can lead to long-term collaborations, innovative projects, and a stronger, more unified approach to addressing addiction.
The First World Innovation Day for Addiction Therapeutics will be on May 25th, in Hamburg, Germany as a full day pre-conference event for the ISAM 2025 Annual Congress
What is Innovation?
The word “Innovation”, by the NIH competency dictionary, is defined as developing new insights into situations and applying different and novel solutions to make improvements. This event includes a broad range of activities in addiction medicine from prevention, assessment & diagnosis to addiction treatment, relapse prevention & rehabilitation by both individual and population-based approaches.
Potential Fields of Innovation in Prevention & Treatment of Addictions
Who is Invited?
We would like to invite all companies, startups, and entrepreneurs active in developing products for addiction prevention, assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation to join us for “World Innovations for Addiction Therapeutics – From Scientific Discovery to Saving Lives.” This is an ISAM event designed for academia/industry partnership, focusing on innovation and investment in newest technologies for helping patients affected by addictions and their comorbidities. This event will take place on Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Hamburg, Germany, as part of the official pre-conference activities of the ISAM 27th Global Congress. Bringing together more than many leaders from clinics, universities, industry, and investment communities, this unique gathering aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and visions for this evolving field.
At ISAM’s Innovations Day, both innovators and established companies will have the opportunity to share their ideas, product and company narratives with clinicians, scientists, venture capitalists, engineers, regulatory agencies, and industry professionals. Aligned with the theme of the day, participating companies are invited to spotlight the challenges and advantages of innovation specific to their products from discovery to implementation in communities. The agenda for the day will include multiple panels and talks, ensuring that all the registered, invited and willing participants have the opportunity for podium time, either individually or as part of panel discussions.
In addition to the presenting companies, senior venture capital investors from major corporations will be invited. This offers an excellent platform for you and your company to showcase your vision, ideas, achievements, forge new connections, learn from peers, assess progress, and become more competitive and successful in the future market of addiction therapeutics.
Download the Event Flyer: ISAM-GATID-2025-Flyer
Organizing Team
Chair: ISAM President, Hamed AlGhaferi
Scientific Director: Hamed Ekhtiari
Leadership Team: Marc Potenza, Alexander Balddachino, Yasse Khazaal, Tarek Gawad, Susanna Galea-Singer, Atul Ambekar, Jens Reimer, Philip Hillier (ISAM2025), Mary Janssen van Raay (ISAM2026)
Technical and Intellectual Inputs: Ivan Montoya (NIDA), Anja Busse (UNODC), Marica Ferri (EUDA), Dzmitry Krupchanka (WHO), Anne Lingford-Hughes (Addiction Mission, UK)
Compliance Officer: Roshan Bhad
ISAM Officer: Marilyn Dorozio
Executive Team: Philip Hillier (ISAM2025), Mary Janssen van Raay (ISAM2026), Yasser Gawad, Mehran Zare-Bidoky, Arash Zonoozi, Mehmet Serhat Yildirim, Fateme-Sadat Abolghasemi, Başak Ünübol, Ediz Eyüpoğlu, Jenna Butner, Mehran Zare-Bidoky, Henning Vieker, Kirsten Lehmann, Sayena Ghofrani
The Agenda Outline (May 25, 2025, Hamburg University)
– 07:00-8:00 Registration and Networking
– 08:00-8:15 Welcome Notes and Introduction, Hamad Al'Ghafri (ISAM President and ISAM GATID Chair), Jens Reimer (ISAM2025 Scientific Secretary), Philipp Hiller (ISAM2025 Executive Secretary), and Hamed Ekhtiari (ISAM GATID Scientific Secretary)
– 8:15-9:30 Panel 1: Global Needs for Innovation, Chaired by: Hamad Al'Ghafri (Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University) and Atul Ambekar (All India Institute of Medical Sciences)
Speakers (15 min talks):
Anja Busse (WHO), Innovations in the Response to Substance Use Disorders: Progress, Needs and
Challenges on the Global Level: Updates from WHO
Giovanna Campello (UNODC), Urgent Needs for Innovations in Addiction Therapeutics on the Global Level: UN Perspective
Alta DeRoo (Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation), Highly Needed Innovations in Addiction Therapeutics: A Clinician’s Perspective
Erinn Melville (UK OLS), How UK Government Identifies Needs and Supports Innovations in Addiction
Therapeutics
– 9:30-10:00 Break
– 10:00-11:30 Panel 2: Innovations in Molecular Targets: Chaired by: Marc Potenza (Yale University) and Mark Thomas (University of Minnesota).
Speakers (20 min talks):
Mehdi Farokhnia (NIDA), Innovative Molecular Targets in Gut-Brain Axis for Addiction Therapeutics
Marco Pravetoni (University of Washington), Innovations in Immunotherapeutics for Addiction Treatment
Andrew Huhn (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine), What Does the Next Generation of Addiction
Pharmacotherapeutics Look Like?
– 11:30-12:30 Industry Talks: Chaired by: Hamed Ekhtiari (University of Minnesota)
Speakers:
Platinium: Yihua Ning (SceneRay) (20 min): Innovations in Deep Brain Stimulation for Addiction Treatment
Bronze: Navid Khodaparast (Spark Biomedical) (3 min), Innovations in Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Addiction Treatment
Bronze: Miia Tanskanen (Salofa) (3 min), Innovations in Addiction Diagnostics and Laboratory Test
Bronze: Bhagyashikha (Ethypharm) (3 min), Innovations in Pharmaceutical Industry for Addiction Treatment
– 12:30-1:30 Lunch
– 1:30-3:00 Panel 3: Innovations in Circuit and Behavioral Targets: Chaired by: Roshan Bhad (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) and Sophia Achab (University of Geneva)
Speakers (20 min talks):
Valerie Voon (University of Cambridge), How Neuroimaging can Inform New Circuit-based Addiction
Therapeutics
Min Zhao (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Circuit-based Addiction Therapeutics: Hopes and Challenges
Antonio Verdejo-Garcia (Monash University), Neuroscience-informed Addiction Therapeutics: From Labs to Industry
– 3:00-4:00 Innovation Award Competition (10 flash talks), Chaired by: Kathleen Brady (Medical University South Carolina), and Alex Baldacchino (University of St Andrews) https://isamweb.org/innovation-award/
– 4:00-4:30 Break
– 4:30-5:45 Panel 4: Industry-Academia Partnership in the Global Level, Chaired by: Yasser Khazzal (Lausanne University) and Susanna Galea-Singer (University of St Andrews)
Speakers (20 min talks):
Supriya Munshaw (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine), Bridging Innovation and Commercialization in Addiction Medicine: Strategies for Translating Research into Market-Ready Solutions
Shekar Shetty (Clear Scientific), Opportunities and Challenges in Developing Therapeutics to Treat Stimulant & Synthetic Opioid Overdose
Marica Ferri (EUDA), EU Strategies to Promote Industry-Academia Partnership for Innovations in Addiction Therapeutics
– 5:45-6:00 Awards Announcements and Wrap Up
– 7:00-9:00 Social Event (further opportunities for networking and collaboration)
– Registration Cost: 25 Euro for Students and 75 Euro for Other
– Registration Link: https://www.isam-hamburg.com/global-addiction-therapeutics-innovation-day/
The Application Process
We encourage all companies, startups, and entrepreneurs actively developing products for addiction prevention, assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation to consider participating in this event. If you are interested, please submit your letter of interest by emailing the ISAM office at isam.mdorozio@gmail.com with CC to innovation@isamweb.org to join the event at your earliest convenience. The email’s subject line should be “Expressing Interest in ISAM 2025 Innovation Day”. Subsequently, you will hear from us.
Please note that the established companies selected to participate will enter into an agreement with the ISAM through which the responsibilities/liabilities/entitlements of each of the parties shall be articulated and agreed upon. Please also note that each company selected to participate will, as a part of the agreement with ISAM, provide an unrestricted grant to the ISAM, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization registered in Canada, besides paying the registration fee for the ISAM 2025 conference.
