Mayo Clinic Health System and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire hosted a free community education event, “Changing the conversation around alcohol in the U.S.: Acknowledging the elephant in the room.” The keynote speaker was George Koob, Ph.D., an internationally recognized expert on alcohol and stress and the neurobiology of alcohol and drug addiction. He is the Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and a senior investigator at the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Koob’s presentation addressed alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder, including raising awareness about the scope of the problem and shedding light on the social and health consequences of alcohol misuse. Over 300 community members attended the evening event.