Millennium Laboratories and Millennium Research Institute Partner with UCSD School of Medicine on Study of Teens in Alcohol Treatment; Study Funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

SAN DIEGO, March 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Millennium Laboratories, a leading provider of therapeutic drug monitoring, research and healthcare education, and the Millennium Research Institute, a national non-profit research center, announced today they have been selected by the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine to provide laboratory services, including research and analysis, for a new UC San Diego study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The principal investigator who will conduct the study is Carmen Pulido, Ph.D., Assistant Adjunct Professor, UCSD Department of Psychiatry.

"We are pleased to partner with UC San Diego whose distinguished researchers are experts in this field," said Howard Appel, President of Millennium Laboratories. "Through this collaboration, Millennium will be able to use testing methodology, research capabilities and state-of-the-art technology capacity to provide UC San Diego with the drug testing data. We have the facilities needed to carry out laboratory tasks that most universities are not capable of doing."

Dr. Amadeo J. Pesce, Millennium Laboratories Co-Laboratory Director and Adjunct Professor Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC San Diego School of Medicine, added, "Working with Dr. Pulido and UC San Diego, we are helping by expanding the test menu and capabilities of understanding these patients and their potential for use of non-prescription medications and illicit drugs."

Millennium Laboratories and the Millennium Research Institute were recommended to UC San Diego for the study because of their proprietary drug testing analysis methods and research reputation.

Because of Millennium's capacity to do full qualitative drug testing, the company and UC San Diego are also utilizing the study to conduct a sub-research project comparing current point-of-care testing methods and results for alcohol and other substances of abuse to comprehensive drug testing and results. This could lead to a better understanding of the accuracy and validity of current drug testing methods.

For more information about the three-year UCSD study, "fMRI of Alcohol Cue Reactivity Change among Adolescents in Alcohol Treatment," contact Debra Kain ([email protected]).

About the UCSD Health Sciences

UC San Diego Health Sciences comprises one of the nation's top research-intensive Schools of Medicine; the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; the UC San Diego Health System, the region's only academic health system; and the UCSD Medical Group of practicing physicians. UCSD School of Medicine is listed among the top ten in the country for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Part of the University of California system, UC San Diego – founded in 1960 – is renowned for collaborative and cross-disciplinary research that transcends traditional boundaries in science, engineering, and the humanities.

About Millennium Laboratories

Located in San Diego’s life sciences cluster, Millennium Laboratories, Inc. is a national, research-based medication monitoring company whose test panels, technology, customer support, educational resources and experts are specifically focused on clinicians who treat chronic pain. The company is recognized as a leader in pain management services, setting industry standards in drug testing and reporting, clinical research and education. Millennium serves as an industry, government and payer educator and a compassionate advocate for pain sufferers throughout the United States. The company is accredited by The Joint Commission, receiving the Gold Seal of Approval™ for healthcare quality and safety.

Among the numerous scientific and research achievements of the company’s renowned laboratory team, Millennium Laboratories is the only reference laboratory certified as a training facility for clinical toxicologist scientists and operates as a unique research component of the University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD) doctoral program in Pharmacy. For more information, visit the Millennium Laboratories website, www.becausepainmatters.com.

About the Millennium Research Institute (MRI)

As part of the company's commitment to pain management research and education, Millennium Laboratories established the Millennium Research Institute. The Millennium Research Institute is a national research center that conducts and disseminates original research as well as collaborates with other researchers focused on improving the experiences of people suffering from pain and pain-related disorders. The Institute maintains several national academic partnerships and supports collaborative research by accessing therapeutic monitoring company Millennium Laboratories' unique database representing the U.S. pain population.

With world-class scientific researchers, laboratory experts and toxicologists led by Principal Investigator Amadeo J. Pesce, Ph.D., the Millennium Research Institute is focused on promoting excellence in the treatment of pain and minimizing the suffering and social consequences of prescription drug abuse, addiction, and diversion.  In addition, Millennium Laboratories' psychologists, psychiatrists, pharmacists and allied health professionals further the Institute's goals through medical education programs and advocacy of national standards, guidelines and regulations to assure safe prescribing practices.  For more information, visit the website www.millenniumresearchinstitute.org

SOURCE Millennium Laboratories