Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, MPH received a 2026 UW Health Physician Excellence Awards Leadership Award on May 20, 2026. The Leadership Award recognizes clinical faculty who demonstrate a commitment to clinical excellence, a contribution to the community through community service, and a significant and measurable contribution to UW Health and leadership excellence beyond departmental and institutional work.
Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, MPH
Salisbury-Afshar’s leadership spans clinical care, education, public health practice, research, and community partnership, with a focus on improving access to addiction-related care. She is faculty in the UW Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program, serves as program director of the Public Health and General Preventive Medicine Residency, and is medical director of the Compass Program, a low-barrier walk-in clinic for people with substance-related health concerns. Since opening in January 2024, the Compass Program has expanded in response to patient and community demand and provides comprehensive, patient-centered services including medications for opioid use disorder, hepatitis C treatment, vaccinations, wound care, contraceptive access, and support for social needs such as housing, food, clothing, and transportation.
Her systems-level leadership has also strengthened addiction care across UW Health and the broader community. She has partnered with UW Health emergency departments to improve care for patients at highest risk of overdose and secured external funding to sustain and expand innovative care models, including a competitive four-year CDC grant focused on enhancing medication for opioid use disorder delivery in emergency department settings.
Beyond UW Health, Salisbury-Afshar serves as medical director of harm reduction services for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Division of Public Health, providing clinical oversight, policy guidance, and technical assistance to harm reduction programs statewide. She also serves on local, state, and national groups focused on overdose prevention and addiction care, including the Dane County Overdose Fatality Review Board, the Dane County Opioid Settlement Subcommittee, the Wisconsin State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, and the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Combatting Substance Use and Opioid Crises.
The UW Health Physician Excellence Awards recognize the organization’s most skilled and dedicated physicians, recognizing those with exceptional skills in clinical practice, education, and leadership who have a commitment to the mission, vision, and values of UW Health.
Published: May 2026