Carlos Blanco, MD, PhD, MS
Topic: NIDA funding priorities in addiction health services research
Carlos Blanco, MD, PhD, MS is the Director of the Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Blanco is a national known expert in the epidemiology and treatment of addictive disorders with and without comorbid disorders. His accomplishments include, among others, a detailed examination of the course and stages of substance use disorders, the development of methods to quantify the generalizability of clinical trials, the development and testing of interventions that combine motivational interviewing with cognitive-behavioral therapy to improve retention and outcome in individuals with addictive disorders, and the creation of a virtual map of psychiatric disorders, based on empirical data, to guide research into the causes of mental disorders.
Prior to joining NIDA, Dr. Blanco was Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and a Research Psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is a graduate of Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) and completed his psychiatry residency at Columbia University, where he also completed a research fellowship. Dr. Blanco has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications.
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H. Westley Clark, MD, JD, MPH, CAS, FASAM
Topic: Facing Addiction In American, The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health
Dr. Clark is currently the Dean’s Executive Professor of Public Health at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara California. He is formerly the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, where he led the agency’s national effort to provide effective and accessible treatment to all Americans with addictive disorders.
He recently contributed to the US Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Health as a Section Editor for Treatment. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the non-profit Felton Institute, a family service agency in San Francisco. He is on the Board of Directors of Faces and Voices of Recovery, a group that advocates for the needs of people in recovery from addiction. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.
He has received numerous awards for his contributions to the field of substance abuse treatment, including the 2015 Lisa Mojer-Torres Award from Faces and Voices of Recovery, the 2015 James Ralph Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service from the Black Psychiatrist of America, and the 2015 Annual Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Other awards include the 2008 John P. McGovern Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, and the Vernelle Fox Award from the California Society of Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Clark received a B.A. in Chemistry from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He completed his MD and MPH at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he completed a Psychiatric Residency at University Hospital, Neuropsychiatric Institute. He obtained his JD from Harvard University Law School, and completed a two-year Substance Abuse Fellowship at the DVAMC-SF. Dr. Clark received his board certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He is ABAM certified in Addiction Medicine. Dr. Clark is licensed to practice medicine in California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Michigan. He is also a member of the Washington, D.C., Bar.
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Michael Fleming, MD, MPH
Topic: His work with the recent Kennedy forum, coordinated care, and CMS plans to support integrating behavioral care within medical settings.
Michael Fleming MD, MPH is a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and Family Medicine and Community Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. His research focuses on the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug use disorders. He has served as principal investigator on 18 NIH grants and contracts and published a number of seminal articles on primary care-based treatment of alcohol abuse. He has a total of nearly 170 publications to his credit, and was inducted into the Institute of Medicine in 2006. Dr. Fleming will be presenting on his work with the recent Kennedy forum, coordinated care, and CMS plans to support integrating behavioral care within medical settings.
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David Gustafson, PhD
Topic: Systems interventions to foster the implementation of evidence-based practices for substance abuse treatment that will include a focus upon addressing health disparities in vulnerable populations.
Dave Gustafson, Ph.D. directs the University of Wisconsin−Madison’s Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies, which includes the national program office for the Network for Improvement of Addiction Treatment, and Center of Excellence on Active Aging Research (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality). His research interests focus on developing systems engineering tools to support sustainable individual and organizational improvement. HIs individual change research develops and tests computer systems to help people deal with significant issues affecting quality of life including addiction, cancer and aging. He published over 270 reviewed publications, including ten books.
Dr. Gustafson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Association for Health Services Research, the American Medical Informatics Association, the WK Kellogg Foundation, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, which he co-founded and was board vice-chair. He co-chaired the federal Science Panel on Interactive Communications in Health, and serves on NIH’s Dissemination and Implementation in Health Study Section as well as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Advisory Council.
Dr. Gustafson has committed to providing a plenary session regarding systems interventions to foster the implementation of evidence-based practices in substance abuse treatment that will include a focus upon addressing health disparities in vulnerable populations.
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Kimberly Johnson, PhD
Topic: Increasing Access, Improving Quality and Reducing Disparities: How Government Agencies Can Improve the Way They Address SUD
Kimberly A. Johnson is Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. In this role, she leads the center’s activities to improve access, reduce barriers, and promote high quality, effective substance use disorder treatment and recovery services. Dr. Johnson began her tenure as Director, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, in February 2016. Previously, Dr. Johnson was the Deputy Director for Operations of CHESS/NIATx, a research center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison that focuses on systems improvement in behavioral health and the development of mobile applications for patient self-management. Dr. Johnson was also co-director of the national coordinating office of the Addiction Technology Transfer Center.
Prior to her move to Wisconsin, Dr. Johnson served for seven years as the Director of the Office of Substance Abuse in Maine. Previous to that she served as Executive Director of Crossroads for Women, a women’s addiction treatment agency. She also managed community-based intervention and prevention programs and provided counseling for individuals and families as a child and family therapist.
Dr. Johnson’s contributions to the behavioral health field have earned her numerous awards – including the Federal DHHS Commissioner’s Award for Child Welfare Efforts and the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors’ Recognition for Service to the field of Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention. Dr. Johnson is a highly-regarded thought leader, who has authored a variety of publications on topics important to the addiction and recovery field, including e-health solutions for people with alcohol problems, using mobile phone technology to provide recovery support for women offenders, and new practices to increase access to and retention in addiction treatment. She is co-author of a book on the NIATx Model. Dr. Johnson has a master’s degree in counselor education, an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in population health.
Dr. Johnson’s presentation will provide data on the percent of people diagnosed, engaged in care and in remission from SUD at a national level and identify targets for improvement on all three measures. GIS mapping of availability compared to need and identification of underserved populations point the way to intervention targets. Using a national strategy similar to the international AIDS strategy to target interventions for locations and populations most in need will lead to a reduction in the treatment gap and improved outcomes.
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Constance Weisner, DrPH, MSW
Topic: Electronic Health Record and Health IT Innovations for Research and Clinical Practice: Implications for Addressing Health Disparities
Constance Weisner DrPH, MSW is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, as well as Associate Director of Behavioral Health, Aging, and Infectious Disease Research and Director of Faculty Development at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. She is a member of the World Health Organization’s International Expert Advisory Council on Drug Dependence and Alcohol Problems, and a former member of the National Advisory Councils of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. She is currently a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Substance Abuse in the Armed Forces. Her current research is funded by NIAAA and NIDA, and includes alcohol and drug problem epidemiology, substance abuse treatment access, outcome and cost impact.
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