The editorial by Gordon and Alford, in the recent special issue of the Substance Abuse (Vol. 33, No. 3), provides an insightful reflection on the early attempts at describing curriculum development and implementation of addiction content into various learning environments. We commend the editors and authors of the research contained in this special issue for their pioneering work on promoting screening, brief interventions and referral to treatment (SBIRT), and also wish to reflect on our experiences of supporting addiction research by medical students through systematic reviews of literature, e-learning methods (webinars, online assessments), and collaboration with physicians, medical educators and policy makers....