As we close out 2025, we’re proud to note that The BASIS has now been operating continuously for 30 years. What a milestone! The BASIS was founded on the belief that accurate information and empathy are the keys to reducing the stigma associated with addiction and improving lives. Here’s a look back at what we accomplished in 2025.
Addiction Science Reviews
This year, as always, our core mission was to translate peer-reviewed addiction science into digestible summaries for broad audiences. Every Tuesday in 2025, visitors to The BASIS found a new brief summary of a recent scientific article prepared by writers and editors at the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance. We highlighted each study’s public health implications – as well as its limitations – and provided practical resources for people affected by addiction.
Continuing Education
In 2025, we continued to expand our portfolio of free continuing education opportunities for healthcare professionals. The BASIS Microlearning Course now offers 36, 1-credit modules for allied health professionals who want to improve their understanding of addiction. Our online courses page also offers links to our Science Literacy in Your Practice course and our Gambling & Recovery Podcast Science Accelerator Course.
Special Series
We curated four Special Series this year. Each series gave us an opportunity to focus on an issue of special importance.
- In March, we highlighted the essential role of social support in addiction recovery.
- In May, we featured research and personal perspectives on guidelines for lower-risk drinking, gambling, and substance use.
- September was an opportunity to pay tribute to Dr. Howard Shaffer, founder of the Division on Addiction, with a series of personal op-eds and reviews of studies influenced by Dr. Shaffer’s work.
- In November, we discussed the growing influence of technology as both a driver of addiction-related risk and a promising tool for intervention.
Op-Eds
We understand the value of providing diverse perspectives on difficult questions related to addiction. In 2025, we amplified the voices of people with lived experience, healthcare providers, community health professionals, researchers, and other experts. We published more than 20 op-eds in 2025, and readers can find them here.
Looking Ahead
At the start of 2026, we will be offering three new modules of the Gambling & Recovery Podcast Science Accelerator Course. These modules will weave together scientific findings with lived experiences reflections, for the benefit of healthcare professionals who wish to learn more about treating problem gambling. If you have any suggestions for timely topics that deserve a BASIS Special Series, please share it with us at info@divisiononaddiction.org.
Moving ahead, The BASIS will continue to be a trusted resource for accurate, stigma-free information, as we translate emerging science and elevate diverse voices that help deepen our collective understanding of addiction.
– Heather Gray, PhD
Editor-in-Chief, The BASIS