LASBRA, currently a thriving scientific society, was created in 1993. Curiously enough, it came about not in Latin America, but in Bethesda, in the U.S., during a symposium supported by NIAAA and ISBRA. The pioneering group that launched our Society was headed by Dr. Maristela G. Monteiro (Brazil), alongside Dr. Jorge Mardones (Chile), Dr. Juan Carlos Molina (Argentina) and one honorable non-Latin American: Dr Harold Kalant, from Canada, to this day a close supporter of LASBRA. As the first spark went off, interest in the Society spread quickly and widely.

One year later, in 1994, the I LASBRA meeting was held in Santiago, Chile, organized

by Dr. Monteiro and Dr. Mardones. In 1996, there was the II LASBRA, a satellite meeting of ISBRA (International Society for Biomedical Research Alcoholism), in Washington, D.C. Things were looking good, and the III LASBRA took place in Recife, Brazil, in 1997, followed by the IV Meeting one year later, organized by Dr. Juan Carlos Molina and Dr. Roberto Rovasio, in Córdoba, Argentina.

The fall & rise of LASBRA From then on, unfortunately, LASBRA went through a very long hiatus. It was only in 2006, during lunch at the ISBRA Congress in Sydney, that Dr. Maria Lucia O. Souza-Formigoni and I, over a Thai chicken curry and a meat pie, came up with the idea of reviving LASBRA. Over the following months, Andrezza Kim, our secretary, and I dealt with all the necessary and apparently endless paperwork — rewriting the Bylaws in accordance with the new Civil Code (having ISBRA Bylaws as template), registering the Society, and organizing a committee to revitalize LASBRA.

The Period of Growth Two years later, in 2008, LASBRA was re-launched,

during the 2008 RSA/ISBRA meeting in Washington, D.C. (again not in Latin America!). The Organizing Committee was comprised of members from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and the U.S. During the opening ceremony at the 2008 RSA/ISBRA meeting, Dr. Toshikazu Saito, the President of ISBRA, introduced me as President of LASBRA and the President of APSAAR, Dr. Dongyul Oh, to give a brief introduction of our Societies.

The V LASBRA Congress finally took place in 2011, in São Paulo, Brazil. It was an immense pleasure to organize the meeting, together with Dr. Maria Lucia O. Souza Formigoni (Brazil), Dr. Roseli Boerngen-Lacerda (Brazil) and Dr. Ricardo Pautassi (Argentina). We were deeply honoured to host so many leading alcohol researchers from Latin- America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico), Spain, and U.S. The program included a section aimed mainly at young researchers and graduate students.

In 2012, during a CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Meeting organized by LARNEDA (Latin American Research Network in Drug Addiction), members from Chile (Dr. Luis Aguayo and Dr. Yedy Israel), Brazil (Dr. Rosana Camarini), and Argentina (Dr. Ricardo Pautassi) initiated discussions on how the two societies (LASBRA and LARNEDA) could work together to expand addiction meetings in Latin America. The VI LASBRA Meeting (and I Joint LASBRA-LARNEDA Meeting) put together a program that included speakers from Latin America, Spain, UK, Australia, and U.S. During this meeting, in Concepción, Chile, I stepped down as President, after a 5-year term. A new board was then elected, with Dr. Luis Aguayo as President and Dr. Ricardo Pautassi as Vice President. As a last mention, I’d like to thank Dr. Yedy Israel (Chile) and Dr. Consuelo Guerri (Spain), who supported the Society throughout its history, even in the hardest of times.

 

My sincere gratitude also goes to everyone that believed in LASBRA and to the students who work for the growth of our Society.

We continue to work to make LASBRA even better! Join us!

 

                                  Sincerely,

                                Rosana Camarini

                               Past President, LASBRA