Participants in the first virtual seminar series in the NIDA International Virtual Collaboratory (NIVC) were overwhelmingly positive about the format, with 92% of respondents to a February 2009 survey expressing interest in future seminars and 75% reporting that they would register for an e-mail discussion forum about the topic.

The Volatile Solvent Abuse (VSA) project brings together experts from Canada, the United States, Australia and Mexico to: 1) develop an international research program specific to the treatment of and healing from VSA for indigenous youth; and 2) share the success of the Canadian VSA treatment experience. The VSA project team consists of Colleen Dell and Debra Dell (Canada), Matthew Howard (USA), Silvia Cruz (Mexico) and Tristan Ray, Sarah MacLean, and Blair McFarland (Australia).

Debra Dell of the Canadian Youth Solvent Addiction Committee recorded the first virtual lecture, Information Sharing Session on Indigenous Youth Residential Solvent Abuse Treatment in Canada, providing a brief history of solvent abuse among indigenous youth in Canada and describing an innovative residential treatment response. Between November 26 and December 10, 2008, 77 people viewed the 40-minute online presentation, and 88 individuals registered for a discussion forum to post questions. On December 11, 2008, Ms. Dell and a group of front-line solvent abuse treatment providers answered those questions online. A transcript of the question-and-answer session, a link to the original recording (http://www.screencast.com/t/NYGvRAbZ), Ms. Dells biography, her

PowerPoint slides, and additional resources are available in the NIVC Resource Center (http://nivc.perpich.com/library/?category=youth).

The three additional lectures, one each from researchers in the United States, Australia and Mexico, will be released by fall 2009. To register for the upcoming lectures in the series or to join the discussion forums, please send an email to VSA.Moderator@gmail.com.

The VSA project is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada International Opportunities Development Grant, and is a collaborative initiative of the University of Saskatchewan, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the National Institute on Drug Abuse International Program, the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, the Canadian Youth Solvent Addiction Committee, and researchers in Canada, Mexico, the United States, and Australia. JGPerpich LLC developed NIVC with Small Business Innovation Research funding from the NIDA International Program.