December 14, 2024
Dear Hossein,
Thank you for your most recent communication. I am delighted to hear that you are doing well. I am doing well also and am busy with end-of-the-year and holiday activities.
Yes, our meeting in London was so brief but so eventful. There were many people approaching me that day after my presentation, but when I saw you, this quite distinguished looking man, approaching and saw the expression on your face, I knew this was going to be a serious encounter, which of course it was. What I did not anticipate was the way in which it would enrich my life for years to come, as it has.
Your responses to my most recent questions were very complete and will help me fill in details in the updated profile of Congress 60 that I am drafting. I think the profile portion of this paper is nearly complete, and progress is also moving ahead on preparations for the data analysis. Dr. Sarapas and I met virtually with Ehsan this past week to coordinate communications regarding how to best transfer Congress 60 data so that we can compare it to the U.S. treatment sample. That meeting went very well and we are quite pleased with the quality of the collaboration we are receiving from Congress 60. I think this will be an important paper that will set the stage for future studies of even greater import.
I found your response related to drug cravings of particular interest. That cravings are of so little concern within Congress 60 is quite remarkable and suggests that the DST method is facilitating a reset of brain networks that continue to trigger cravings during and following other drug treatment methods. It would be of value to document such lack of craving in some of our future studies using some of the opioid craving instruments that have been developed.
Congratulations on your forthcoming presentation at the conference in South Korea. I am glad you are able to do many of these virtually do reduce the time and energy demands of traveling such distances.
In addition to my work on our latest project, I have been doing a review of all the literature on retention in medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorder. I am finding these studies quite interesting and am hoping in this latest paper we are preparing we can compare treatment retention rates between Congress 60 and our U.S. sample. Here in the U.S. and in many other countries, the rate of treatment discontinuation is quite high and I think it would elevate the status of Congress 60 to document your high rate of retention and offer explanations on factors that facilitate that achievement. I will discuss this more with you as our work continues.
As we approach the end of 2024, let me say again what a pleasure it is to share another year of friendship and professional collaboration. We are doing important work and doing so with a great deal of joy and satisfaction. I look forward to all that will unfold through our efforts in 2025.
Please extend my warmest regards to your family and to all members of Congress 60.
Friends and Brothers Forever,
Bill