RSU 21 HEALTH INFORMATION EVENING
Discussion on the current heroin epidemic in Southern Maine
Our Keynote speaker is Dr. Ed Bilsky
The evening's format will be Dr. Bilsky's Keynote address about brain development and drug use followed by Q & A with Dr. Bilsky, our local police officers, school resource officers, and the RSU 21 Guidance staff.
Edward Bilsky, Ph.D.
Dr. Edward Bilsky currently serves as the Vice President for Research and Scholarship at the University of New England. He received his B.S. (physics) in 1989 and M.S. (Behavioral Neuroscience) in 1991 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in 1996. In the fall of 2001, he joined the faculty at the University of New England where he is currently a tenured Professor of Pharmacology and is the Founding Director of the Center of Excellence in Neuroscience. He lectures on a variety of topics to students in the colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Health Professions, Arts and Sciences and Pharmacy. Dr. Bilsky's laboratory conducts translational research in the areas of pain, addiction and other neurological disorders. He has published more than 65 peer-reviewed publications in leading pharmacology journals, and has presented nationally and internationally in a variety of different venues. Dr. Bilsky is a co-founder of a small biotechnology company (Aiko Pharmaceuticals) that is developing a unique class of opioid antagonists for the management of opioid-mediated side effects. He also serves as a consultant for several pharmaceutical companies developing CNS-based therapeutics. He has served as the chair of the University of New England Faculty Assembly and is an Associate Editor for Life Sciences, a journal publishing research in the biomedical sciences. He was recently awarded the 2011 AOA Research Mentor of the Year Award.