NCRG award given to two researchers

Kim, professor of psychiatry and director of the Impulse Control
Disorders Clinic at the University of Minnesota Medical School, is the
recipient of the 2006 Senior Investigator Award. Gupta, co-director of the
International Center for Youth Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviors
and assistant professor of school/applied child psychology at McGill
University, is the recipient of the 2006 Young Investigator Award.

"Dr. Kim has been at the forefront of applying insights from the
science lab to new treatments for addiction, and his body of work to
advance treatment strategies for gambling disorders was and continues to be
revolutionary," said Phil Satre, chairman of the NCRG. "The NCRG is proud
to honor Dr. Kim and Dr. Gupta, who has quickly become a driving presence
in youth gambling research."

Recognizing outstanding contributions to the study of gambling
disorders, the fifth annual NCRG Scientific Achievement Awards will be
presented at a luncheon on Nov. 13 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in
Las Vegas. The awards presentation will take place during the 7th annual
NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, which is sponsored by the NCRG
and the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related
Disorders, a program at the Division on Addictions at Cambridge Health
Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

Kim's study of naltrexone, an anti-opioid drug typically used to dull
cravings for alcohol, has shown the promise of such drugs for treating
gambling disorders. The original study, funded by the NCRG in 1998, has
been expanded with a grant of $464,463 from the National Institute on Drug
Abuse.

Kim's research approach has focused on applying knowledge of the
brain's reward center to clinical treatments. Published in more than 80
peer-reviewed publications, his research applies to a broad range of
addictive disorders. In particular, Kim has demonstrated that urges or
cravings, whether in substance use disorders or gambling addiction, should
be the target of opioid antagonist treatment.

Kim earned his medical degree at the Catholic University School of
Medicine in Seoul, Korea. He joined the faculty of the University of
Minnesota Medical School in 1970. Kim was named a Distinguished Life Fellow
by the American Psychiatric Association in 2003.

Gupta's research has had important implications for intervention,
prevention and social policy. For example, her findings have been
translated into numerous curricula designed to prevent gambling disorders
among school- age children. Her numerous publications have focused on
identifying risk and protective factors associated with youth problem
gambling, and on the development and testing of prevention programs.

Gupta has received international recognition for her expertise, sitting
on the board for the South African Responsible Gambling Trust and
consulting with the government of Singapore on the establishment of
gambling prevention programs. She has testified before numerous Canadian
provincial commissions and committees on social and economic issues of
problem gambling. Her contributions have had a meaningful impact on shaping
health and social policies associated with youth gambling.

Gupta earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at McGill in the department of
educational and counseling psychology. Both her M.A. thesis and Ph.D.
dissertation won the G.M. Dunlop Awards in Educational and Counseling
Psychology in Canada, a feat that has not been accomplished by any other
graduate student in Canada.

Recipients of the 2006 NCRG Scientific Achievement Awards were selected
by an independent committee of distinguished leaders in the field of
addictions and gambling research chaired by Joseph Coyle, the Eben S.
Draper Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.