Erin Haas serves as the Local Programs Manager in the Overdose Prevention office at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Behavioral Health Administration. In this role, she implements Maryland’s overdose education and naloxone distribution program, provides technical assistance to the local Overdose Fatality Review Teams, and supports local health departments with overdose prevention strategic planning efforts. Previously, she worked in research with the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as for non-profit harm reduction programs, and obtained a Bachelor in Sociology and Master in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Tamara Haegerich is the Deputy Associate Director for Science in the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She provides leadership, planning, and guidance on scientific quality, research methodology, research priorities, and guideline development. Her expertise lies in the areas of prescription drug overdose prevention, motor vehicle injury prevention, evaluation, implementation science, and evidence-based practice guidelines. She has authored peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and government reports, including manuscripts on clinical practice guidelines, etiology of injury, the effectiveness of prevention strategies, and on scientific careers in public service. She has represented her own work, and the work of federal agencies, at national scientific conferences.

Nicholas “Nick” Hagemeier, PharmD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice in the East Tennessee State University Gatton College of Pharmacy. Dr. Hagemeier earned his Doctor of Pharmacy, MS, and PhD degrees from Purdue University. He has 9 years of experience in community pharmacy settings. Dr. Hagemeier is Co-Investigator of ETSU’s $2.2 million NIH-funded Diversity-Promoting Institutions Drug Abuse Research Program and is Principal Investigator for a core project focused on prescription drug abuse-related communication. He is Research Director of ETSU’s Center for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Director of a Pharmacy Practice Research Fellowship. He has obtained over $2.3 million in NIH and state funds to conduct prescription drug abuse research. He has published 27 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has given multiple invited research presentations. He received the Tennessee Pharmacists Association GenerationRx Champions Award in 2016 for his efforts to engage community pharmacists in prescription drug abuse prevention.

Orman Hall served as the Director of the Ohio Governor’s Cabinet Opiate Action Team, Director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, and is a former executive director of the Fairfield County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board. After retiring from the Ohio executive branch, Hall spent two years at the Supreme Court of Ohio overseeing the certification of drug courts and other specialized dockets. He is currently working on the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area's Heroin Response Strategy, a national program funded by the ONDCP. Hall has over 30 years of experience in managing, planning, monitoring, and evaluating public mental health and substance abuse services.

David Hamby was appointed National Coordinator, National Emerging Threats Initiative (NETI) in January 2017. Before his current appointment, he was the Deputy Coordinator of NETI, previously known as the National Methamphetamine and Pharmaceuticals Initiative (NMPI)/Atlanta-Carolinas HIDTA. A member of the National HIDTA program since March 2008, Mr. Hamby serves as principle emerging threats advisor to the HIDTA program as well as State and local entities. He oversees specialized training, current trends, analytical support, best practices, innovative programs, and strategic planning for the program’s national approach to combat emerging drug threats. Mr. Hamby retired from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Chattanooga Tennessee as Captain after a distinguished 30-year career in law enforcement, serving 18 years in the field of narcotics enforcement. Mr. Hamby served five years as Director of the SE Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force. He has received numerous awards and citations, including the Appreciation Award as Project Coordinator in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for Critical Incidence Stress Debriefing (CISD) for law enforcement officers in the State of Mississippi.

In 2015, Donald Hansen became the Deputy Director (DD) of the Atlanta – Carolinas HIDTA directing HIDTA initiatives in North and South Carolina.  Prior to taking this position DD Hansen worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration for 29 years.  Most recently DD Hansen was the Resident Agent in Charge (RAC) DEA, Charleston, South Carolina Resident Office.  Additionally, DD Hansen was an Assistant Country Attaché and the Operations for Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) in Nassau, Bahamas for five years.  In this capacity, DD Hansen senior advisor to the United States Ambassador and the leaders of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Island as well as supervised all air and marine counter-narcotics interdiction operations in The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.  DD Hansen began his career with DEA in 1986 working at DEA Headquarters in Washington, DC. In 1989, he graduated training at Quantico, Virginia and was assigned as a Special Agent at the New York Field Division where he served for 12 years.  During his tour in New York he was promoted in to Group Supervisor at the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Alex Harocopos is Director of Qualitative Research at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care and Treatment. She has been conducting substance use research for more than 15 years in both the UK and the US. Her work includes studies of drug-markets, the initiation into injecting drug use, drug use in post-Katrina New Orleans and prescription drug misuse. Alex holds an MS in Research Methods from London South Bank University and is currently a doctoral candidate in Criminal Justice at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Kurt Haspert is a graduate of Catonsville Community College in Maryland where he received his Associates in Nursing degree in 1996. In 2009, he was a Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Maryland School of Nursing with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. In 2011, he graduated from the University of Maryland School of Nursing with a Master's in Science and was awarded the Master's Program Special Award – Excellence in Primary Care Nursing. In 2012, he was certified as an Adult Nurse Practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. That same year, he began work at the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center as the hospitals first Addiction Medicine Nurse Practitioner. In that role, he is responsible for the diagnosis and management of all inpatients admitted to the Medical Center who are thought to have substance use disorders. Additionally, he has worked as hospital liaison with Anne Arundel County Health Department. He was instrumental in implementing the Opiate SOS grant, the Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution grant, and the SAMHSA pilot project ROAR. He is co-author of the Substance Abuse and Trauma chapter in "Trauma Nursing, From Resuscitation Through Rehabilitation” and is an Associate Member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Travis Helmondollar, MS, CTTS, currently serves as the Assistant Director of Community Connections, Inc., a nonprofit located in southern West Virginia devoted to community development, youth leadership and engagement, and substance abuse prevention. With over 15 years’ experience,. Helmondollar is well-versed in team dynamics, progressive change, and empowerment throughout all sectors of the community. Helmondollar also currently serves as the West Virginia SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) State Coordinator – overseeing nearly 300 SADD Chapters throughout the Mountain State.

Dr. Gary Henschen is the Chief Medical Officer-Behavioral Health at Magellan Health. At Magellan, he oversees all clinical programs where his responsibilities include developing training programs for primary care physicians in behavioral health issues, expanding programs in medical-behavioral health integration, and coordinating quality improvement and prevention activities with all care management centers. Dr. Henschen has previously served on the Board of Trustees of the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems Benchmarking Task Force, the Board of Directors for the Physicians' Health Plan of North Carolina Purchased by United Health Care, and the Board of Directors of the Schizophrenia Treatment and Rehabilitation Center.

Dr. Sharon Hertz, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.  Dr. Hertz has 18 years of experience in analgesic drug development, and currently serves as Division Director of the Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Drug Products in the  Office of New Drugs in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.  Dr. Hertz has participated in numerous internal and external working groups, and participated in the development of the guidance for industry, Abuse-Deterrent Opioids - Evaluation and Labeling.  Prior to joining FDA, Dr. Hertz was an assistant professor and Co-Division Director of the Division of Neurology of Sinai Hospital in Baltimore.  Dr. Hertz received her medical degree from the SUNY Health Sciences Center in Syracuse and completed a residency in neurology at SUNY Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn followed by fellowships in electrophysiology and epilepsy. 

Christi Hildebran is the Research Director at HealthInsight Oregon, providing administrative oversight for all research activities, including a five-year study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to evaluate healthcare providers’ use of a PDMP and subsequent patient risk profiles, a three year study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to develop an advanced training program for pharmacists in order to encourage safe medication, and a two year study funded by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to investigate the relationships among prescription opioid pain reliever (OPR) use, policies for improving OPR prescribing, and heroin initiation and overdoses. Her research work has backed peer-reviewed publications related to PDMP research which Ms. Hildebran has co-authored. Ms. Hildebran previous work includes over twenty years of experience as a clinician, clinical supervisor, quality improvement manager, treatment director and health clinic administrator. Prior to joining HealthInsight Oregon, Christi was employed as the Director of Quality Improvement with CODA, Inc., and as a Regional Coordinator with the State of Oregon Addictions and Mental Health Division and has held adjunct faculty positions at Portland State University Graduate School of Social Work and University of Oregon Substance Abuse Prevention Program.

Dr. Himstreet graduated from Oregon State University with Bachelor's degrees in Pharmacy and Microbiology in 1995 then completed a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Oregon State University/Oregon Health Sciences University in 1997. She then completed a PGY2 Residency in Ambulatory Care at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She worked for 2 years as a Pharmacy Supervisor at the US Army Medical Clinic in Hohenfels, Germany and then transitioned to the VA Roseburg Healthcare System-Eugene Healthcare Clinic where she worked for 15 years as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Primary Care. During this time she also worked for VA Central Office's Office of Public Health as the Senior Clinical Advisor, providing tobacco cessation education for clinical staff at VA medical facilities. She is now an Education and Training National Program Manager for VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Service's Academic Detailing Service and works out of Eugene, Oregon.

Dr. Jason Hoppe is an emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist at the University of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center with a career focus on prescription opioid safety and maximizing the utility of prescription drug monitoring programs. He serves as co-chair for Colorado’s statewide PDMP task force and is a founding member of the coordinating committee for the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention. Through these groups he has worked extensively to improve Colorado’s PDMP. His research using PDMPs has resulted in several published projects linking PDMP and clinical data. These projects have lead to further grant funding for 2 additional large-scale projects. He has worked extensively with the hospital’s electronic health record team and the Colorado Board of Pharmacy to facilitate PDMP clinical access.

Sara Moscato Howe, MS, CHES, is Chief Executive Officer of the Illinois Association of Behavioral Health (IABH).  Her responsibilities include state and federal policy and legislative analysis and advocacy efforts on behalf of the 60 community-based substance use and mental health disorder prevention, treatment and recovery support service providers that comprise IABH's membership. Ms. Howe also oversees the planning and implementation of the Association's substance abuse prevention programs: Operation Snowball (OS) and the Cebrin Goodman Teen Institute (CGTI).  She is Chair of the Illinois Department of Human Services Social Services Advisory Council, a member of Illinois' Human Services Commission, and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Behavioral Health.  Ms. Howe holds a master's degree in Health Promotion with a research emphasis in collegiate peer alcohol abuse prevention from Purdue University and a bachelor's degree in Health Promotion, also from Purdue.  She is a member of the Animal Protective League of Springfield and Sangamon County.

Jim Huizenga, MD, has a professional career that spans multiple disciplines, including service as a USAF fighter pilot, military flight surgeon, emergency physician, software engineer, and entrepreneur. His current focus is on the application of data science and cognitive ergonomics as they relate to substance use disorder. He is the Chief Clinical Officer at Appriss Health.

Thomas F. Jan, DO, FAOCPRM, DAAPM, DABAM    Dr. Thomas Jan is an osteopathic physician in private practice in Massapequa, New York.  He completed residency in Physiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, New York, is board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of PM&R, is a board examiner, and serves on the board.  He is the current chair of the American Osteopathic Pain Medicine Conjoint Examination Committee.  He is the administrative director of Chronic Pain Services at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, Port Jefferson, New York.  Dr. Jan has been in practice for 15 years and he sub-specializes in patients recovering from alcoholism/addiction suffering from pain.  He is certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine and has been actively involved in the field of addiction medicine for 15 years.  He serves on the Leadership Council for the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and volunteers as Medical Director for the LICADD Opioid Overdose Prevention Program.  He also serves on the Nassau County, NY, Count Executive’s Task Force on Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse, is a member of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators and the former Medical Director for the Town of Babylon, New York, Drug and Alcohol Services.

Sterling Johnson, JD, MA graduated with a Masters from George Washington University in 2009 and from the University of California Hastings College of Law in 2012. Since 2013, he has worked with Temple University’s Public Health Law Program and its spin-out company, Legal Science. There, he works on projects related to policy surveillance and legal mapping of drug abuse policies for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Additionally, he serves as the chair of the public policy committee for PRO-ACT, a recovery grassroots organization in Philadelphia  where he advocates for criminal justice reform.

Bruce Jones, DO, FACEP, has practiced emergency medicine for the past 18 years in Columbus, Ohio, at a suburban community hospital. He has also served as teaching faculty for their emergency medicine residents, off-service residents, as well as medical students. In 2005 he was chosen to be the medical director for Doctors Hospital, which currently sees over 80,000 patients per year. During this time, he has received several awards for customer service, process improvement, and quality, as well as the outstanding EM Teaching Attending of the year. In 2010, he was chosen as the winner for the annual medical director of the year on behalf of his nationwide company, Emergency Medicine Physicians.  

Jonathan Judge is the Director of Community Engagement at Rise Above Colorado. He brings significant curriculum design and program management experience to his role leading the outreach efforts for the organization. As director for the International Towne program at Young Americans Center for Financial Education from 2003-2008, Jonathan led curriculum creation as well as overall program management of a middle-school, hands-on education program in global economics. Moving on to become the program manager for the Colorado Meth Project, Jonathan developed and led the organization’s volunteer network, oversaw statewide outreach to schools and youth serving agencies, and led an initiative to design and pilot a nationally utilized Meth prevention curriculum. Jonathan designs, implements, and monitors the organization’s social media activity and leads large-scale community art projects across Colorado.

Lindsey Kato currently serves as the Heroin Strategies Coordinator for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.  Her position allows her to interact in a state-wide multidisciplinary capacity, building and enhancing partnerships between prevention practitioners, treatment providers, recovery organizations, and law enforcement officials. Well-versed in assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation, and passionate about substance abuse prevention and harm reduction, her position allows her to utilize all of the competencies of public health practice around the important issue of prescription opioid misuse and heroin abuse. Before accepting her current position, Lindsey spent two years working in suicide prevention on both a state and local level in Alaska, gaining experience and success in stakeholder engagement and coalition building. In 2012, Lindsey was adopted into the Tsaagweidí (Killer Whale) clan, a Tlingit clan of Southeast Alaska, for her interest and work in suicide prevention for Alaska Native youth.

Andrew Kolodny, MD, is one of the nation's leading experts on the prescription opioid and heroin crisis devastating families and communities across the country. He is a the Co-Director of Opioid Policy Research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.  He previously served as Chief Medical Officer for Phoenix House, a national non profit addiction treatment agency and Chair of Psychiatry at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Kolodny has a long-standing interest in public health. He began his career working for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the Office of the Executive Deputy Commissioner. For New York City, he helped develop and implement multiple programs to improve the health of New Yorkers and save lives, including city-wide buprenorphine programs, naloxone overdose prevention programs and emergency room-based screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) programs for drug and alcohol misuse.

Miriam Komaromy, MD, FACP, FASAM  Dr. Komaromy is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the ECHO Institute (echo.unm.edu), which is a program based at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center that is aimed at expanding access to treatment for traditionally underserved populations.  She is Director for the Integrated Addictions and Psychiatry teleECHO program, which engages and supports primary care teams in treating addiction and behavioral health disorders.  Through this program she has trained more than 480 physicians to provide buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder. She practices addiction medicine in a primary care outpatient clinic setting, and is the incoming President of the NM Society of Addiction Medicine.  She has served as medical director for the NM State Addiction Treatment hospital.  She lectures nationally on clinical and health policy issues related to integration of addiction treatment into the primary care setting, and on the use of the ECHO model to train primary care providers to treat common, complex diseases such as behavioral health and substance use disorders.

Alex H. Kral, PhD, is the Director of the Behavioral and Urban Health Program in the San Francisco Regional Office of RTI International. Dr. Kral is an epidemiologist with expertise in community-based research with urban poor populations, focusing primarily on substance use including opioids and heroin. He is currently the principal investigator and co-investigator on several National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) funded studies of the relationship between infectious diseases, criminal justice involvement, substance use, and poverty. He has conducted several projects evaluating novel interventions including syringe exchange programs, overdose education, and naloxone distribution programs, and supervised injection sites.

Peter Kreiner, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Behavioral Health at Brandeis University. He is Principal Investigator for the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Training and Technical Assistance Center (www.pdmpassist.org), and for the PDMP Center of Excellence (www.pdmpexcellence.org), leading the Center's efforts to study PDMP effectiveness and identify best practices. He is also Principal Investigator for the Prescription Behavior Surveillance System at Brandeis, a longitudinal multi-state database of prescription drug monitoring program data to serve as an early warning surveillance tool and a tool to help evaluate changes in state policy and regulations. Dr. Kreiner has more than 20 years' experience conducting research and evaluation of substance abuse prevention and treatment systems and programs, at community, state, and regional levels. His research interests include small geographic area measures and models, specifically focused on rates of fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose cases, and measures of appropriate and inappropriate prescribing; and network analysis applied to inter-organizational networks and provider-patient networks related to care coordination.

Shruti Kulkarni, Esq. is the Policy Director for the Center for Lawful Access and Abuse Deterrence (CLAAD), a not-for-profit organization working to reduce prescription drug abuse. In this role, she develops policy strategies to improve health care for individuals whose health or treatment has been affected by the nation's prescription drug abuse and heroin epidemic. She is also an Associate Attorney at DCBA Law & Policy, a Washington, DC-based law firm where she provides legal, regulatory, and policy counsel to members of the healthcare industry, small businesses, and not-for-profit organizations.

John Lane is the Chief of Police for the City of East Liverpool, Ohio. He has been a police officer with the East Liverpool Police Department for 22 years. He is a 1993 graduate of Ohio State University with a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. He has been married to his wife Lori for 22 years, and they have three children.

 

Benton, Arkansas Police Chief Kirk Lane began his law enforcement career in 1982.  In 1986, he went to work for the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office for 22 years rising to the rank of Captain. His assignments during this time period include Patrol, Narcotics, Investigations, SWAT, and Honor Guard. In January of 2009, Lane retired from Pulaski County Sheriff's Office as the Investigation Division Commander and was appointed the Chief of Police of the Benton Police Department.  He has attended the University of Virginia and University of Arkansas-Little Rock. He is a graduate of the Arkansas Law Enforcement Academy, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Drug Commander's Academy, and the FBI National Academy 197th session. He currently serves on boards representing Arkansas for the Regional Organized Crime Information Center, the Arkansas Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, the Arkansas Chief's Association legislative committee and the Criminal Justice Institute.    Chief Lane is an active member of the Arkansas State working group for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and received the 2012 Marie Interfaith Leadership Award for his work in this area.

Gillian Leichtling has over 15 years of experience in evaluation and research in the areas of substance use disorder treatment and prevention, serving in a lead role in national, state, and regional evaluations. Ms. Leichtling manages a study with Oregon State University to assess the effects of an Oregon initiative to reduce high-risk prescribing on patterns of prescription opioid use, heroin use, and overdose. She leads content development for a project with Boston Medical Center and the State of Rhode Island to develop and evaluate a medical provider course on prescription opioids in pregnancy. Ms. Leichtling recently managed a grant to Washington State to develop a mapping tool using PDMP and other datasets, and provided qualitative analysis and reporting for a study with Oregon Health & Sciences University of providers' use of PDMP. She serves in a lead role in national cross-site evaluations for the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s grant programs to reduce substance abuse and prescription drug overdose.

Michelle Lofwall, MD, DFASAM, is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Science and Psychiatry in the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research at the University of Kentucky. She is board certified in psychiatry and addiction medicine. She has an outpatient addiction treatment practice and is actively engaged in teaching and clinical research, aimed at improving treatment for opioid use disorder.  She works closely with the addiction in pregnancy clinic at the University of Kentucky and also with providing addiction treatment to patients with severe medical complications of untreated opioid use disorder like endocarditis. Dr. Lofwall has been the recipient of several medical student teaching and mentorship awards, is a current board member for the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and enjoys educating all members of society about the importance of access to medication-assisted treatment and providing parity for this chronic illness as we do for other medical illnesses.

TK Logan, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, and the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research at the University of Kentucky. Her research and writings focus on stalking, protective order effectiveness, sexual assault, intimate partner homicide, and health disparities of rural women with partner violence experiences. Dr. Logan also has been funded by the National Institute of Justice, National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study women’s health, health service use, victimization and substance use. Dr. Logan is an author on over 140 research articles and serves on the editorial board of two international journals. Dr. Logan is currently the principle investigator on eight different project to evaluate a variety of substance abuse treatment programs.

Dr. Barry K. Logan is Sr. Vice President of Forensic Science Initiatives Chief Scientist at NMS Labs in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, where his responsibilities include management of toxicology resources, new test design and development, and expert testimony in forensic toxicology and chemistry. Dr. Logan is a Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicologists (ABFT), and has over one hundred (100) publications and four hundred (400) presentations in forensic toxicology and analytical chemistry, including work on the effects of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana on drivers, drug caused and related death. His recent work has focused on the analytical and interpretive toxicology of emerging recreational and designer drugs. Dr. Logan’s other appointments include Executive Director of the Robert F. Borkenstein course at Indiana University, and Executive Director at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE) at the Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation in suburban Philadelphia. He holds academic appointments at Indiana University, Arcadia University and Thomas Jefferson University. In recognition of his work and contributions, Dr. Logan has received numerous national and International awards, and in 2013-14 served as President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS).

Dr. Jan Losby is Team Lead for the Prescription Drug Overdose Health Systems Team in CDC's Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention. This team is responsible for implementing the CDC prescribing guideline in clinical settings, conducting applied health systems research, and providing scientific support to state public health departments. Prior to joining CDC, Dr. Losby managed the evaluation arm of a non-profit evaluation organization where she designed and conducted evaluations of social service and public health programs in welfare reform, asset development, refugee services, mental health, substance abuse, and employment.

J. Antonio Luna, M.A., has worked in Native communities for 9 years conducting prevention and outreach work in areas related to underage drinking and prescription medications.  Mr. Luna has worked with Tribal After-school programs to develop health education that is tailored to the needs of Tribal youth. His interests are in health education related to mental health and substance use issues as a way to promote health and well-being in Native communities.

William Lynch, BS-Pharm, RPh, received his pharmacy degree from Rutgers University and is a practicing clinical staff pharmacist with Kennedy University Hospital (KUH), the major core teaching affiliate with the Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine (RSOM) where he serves as adjunct clinical faculty. His pharmacy background includes more than 29 years of clinical practice at KUH/RSOM and as a clinical preceptor for Rutgers University, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, along with being a healthcare professional partner of the Delaware Prevention Coalition and State of Delaware Substance Abuse Epidemiological Working Group. Mr. Lynch is a member of the Camden County New Jersey Addiction Awareness Task Force (CCAATF) where he serves as Education and Prevention Committee Co-Chair. Mr. Lynch is a certified New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety Division of Criminal Justice Police Training Commission Instructor. He is the overnight clinical staff pharmacist at KUH, which specializes in behavioral medicine providing pediatric, adolescent, and adult psychological care, 24/7 crisis intervention, drug and alcohol detoxification and treatment services.

After battling addiction from the age of 12 until 24, Josh Lytle was a broken man with a broken family. Incarceration, death around him, car wrecks were his daily life. He attended a year-long, faith-based training center where he graduated and worked for 10 years as Director of Admissions. He has participated in training programs such as Appalachian Teen Challenge, Berean School of the Bible, Emerging Leaders Program, Appalachian District School of Ministry, American Christian Counseling, as well as various other courses that help him to serve his role as Vice President of Family Care Excellence. He believes that his personal experience allows him to communicate and relate to people who are experiencing life-controlling problems. His desire is to help the hurting and broken find a place of restoration and see lives transformed using a faith-based approach, including structure, discipline and revealing the root of the problem. As that root problem is revealed, it is then addressed through proper training and direction, and lives are transformed.

 

Mr. Maguire has over 20 years business experience working for both public and private corporations during which he earned his MBA. It was through his career endeavors Mr. Maguire discovered his passion for helping others. He returned to school and earned a Masters in Counseling Psychology, leaving behind corporate America to begin his venture in the field of therapy. Mr. Maguire utilizes an integrated approach in therapy to aid clients in establishing a connection between their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. He believes in educating, empowering and exploring beliefs with clients to assist them in gaining insight and a deeper understanding of their values and worldview, allowing them to begin the healing process and to build a strong foundation for a healthy future through self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-compassion.

Gregory J. Mancini, MD, joined the faculty as assistant professor of surgery at The University of Tennessee in July 2006.  He was promoted to associate professor in 2012. His clinical practice and academic efforts focus on the area of minimally invasive and robotic surgery. He presents and teaches extensively both regionally and internationally on the topics of gastrointestinal, hernia, and bariatric surgery. Dr. Mancini is the founder and program director of the MIS & Bariatric Fellowship at The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine. He has numerous publications to his credit in the medical literature and actively participates in basic science and clinical research. Dr. Mancini is board certified in general surgery by the American Board of Surgery and is a fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He is active in national surgical societies, such as the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and the American Hernia Society.

Gregory C. Marotta is President and CEO of CleanSlate Centers. Marotta oversees the strategic and daily operational leadership of CleanSlate. With his extensive experience in leadership roles in the healthcare field, Marotta is an invaluable leader as CleanSlate continues to expand across the nation to combat the mounting opioid epidemic. Prior to joining CleanSlate, Marotta was the Senior Vice President of National Operations at U.S. Healthworks, where he oversaw a national network of over 230 healthcare facilities in 20 states. Before acting in this national position at U.S. Healthworks, Marotta worked as Senior Vice President of Operations in the east division and as Vice President of Operations at the company. Earlier in his career, Marotta served as Vice President of Outpatient Services at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation. Marotta obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Kean University and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

J. Kevin Massey is the Director of Strategic Business Development and Innovation for the Weitzman Institute at the Community Health Center, Inc.  The Weitzman Institute is the first national, community-based research and innovations center established by a Federally Qualified Health Center, dedicated to quality improvement and research in primary care for the underserved. The Institute tests promising innovations in primary care delivery and establishes research priorities for Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC). Prior to joining the Weitzman Institute, Kevin was the Director of Injury & Violence Prevention for the State of Delaware, Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health. He also served as a staff subject matter expert on prescription drug & heroin abuse, misuse, diversion, safety and utilization to the Prescription Drug Action Committee. Mr. Massey’s work focused on engaging state and national leaders, conducting research to improve policy and clinical practice, strategy policy/program development, and executing broad-based prevention, education and population health programs. Prior to the Delaware Public Health, he was the Chief Operating Officer at the Kent Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center. Prior to that, he was Interim Director of Marketing and Community Outreach for the UnitedHealthcare, Delaware Medicaid managed care organization.         

 

Mr. Massey has extensive background in the Financial Services industry working at large Fortune 250 companies, with focus on product development, sales, retail management, operations and channel management. He is a graduate of Delaware State University and has completed his coursework for a Master of Science in Management (thesis pending) at Wilmington University.

 

 

Kristin Mattson, MPH, CHES, is a Health Communication Specialist and Project Manager at ORAU. She has more than 10 years of experience working in the healthcare, education, and public health fields including seven years of managing health communication projects with federal clients and community-based organizations. As a communication, marketing, and social media strategist, Mattson has helped clients plan, implement, and evaluate various education, outreach, and promotion efforts. Mattson has dedicated much of her time at ORAU to serving many different audiences, but has a passion for developing strategies and materials for reaching low-literacy and at-risk/vulnerable populations.

Dr. Richard May’s began his career studying the life sciences, business economics and biostatistics. After working as a researcher at NASA, he went on to get his medical degree and worked in Denver as an Orthopedic Surgeon specializing in Orthopedic Trauma. He has served as the leader of several physicians’ organizations including as President of the Colorado Medical Society.  Dr. May went on to work as Vice President for Clinical Quality Improvement for HealthGrades and has consulted with over 100 hospitals on programs to improve patient care. More recently, he served as Senior Medical Director at Pinnacol Assurance, a not-for-profit workers compensation insurance company that covers one million working adults in Colorado. At Pinnacol, Dr. May directed all of Pinnacol's clinical quality improvement programs including Pinnacol’s extensive work on understanding and improving pain control and opioid use in the challenging workers compensation treatment environment. Currently, Dr. May serves as CMO at RxAssurance; a digital healthcare company that creates solutions to make it faster and easier for providers to manage all aspects of opioid prescribing according to national guidelines. At RxAssurance he oversees provider outreach and helps develop clinical pathways for opioid management.

Stephanie McCladdie is the Regional Administrator for the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Region IV office in Atlanta, Georgia. SAMHSA’s primary mission is to reduce the impact of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness on America’s communities. As Regional Administrator, Ms. McCladdie provides direct collaboration and liaison with Health and Human Services (HHS) colleagues in the eight (8) states of Region IV to assure that behavioral health issues are included in the overall goals and objectives. In addition, she facilitates assistance with diverse stakeholders to problem-solve and collaborate on grants, policies, systems and programs. In translating SAMHSA’s mission and vision in the southeast, she is a direct conduit to optimize opportunities to strengthen systems improvement initiatives.  She is also responsible for SAMHSA’s communication with the six (6) federally recognized Tribes.

Sarah T. Melton is Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the Gatton College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University. She is the Clinical Pharmacist at the Johnson City Community Health Center and at Highpower, PC in Lebanon, Virginia. Dr. Melton received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (1991) and Doctor of Pharmacy (1994) degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia School of Pharmacy (VCU). She completed a Fellowship in Psychiatric Pharmacy at VCU in 1996. She has been a board certified psychiatric pharmacist (Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties) since 1997 and a board certified ambulatory care pharmacist since 2011. She has been a Certified Geriatric Pharmacist since 2005 and is a Fellow of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. She performs comprehensive medication management in the areas of psychiatric and neurologic pharmacy, addiction, and other primary care disorders.

Gary Mendell is the founder and Chairman of Shatterproof. Mr. Mendell founded Shatterproof to spare others the tragedy his family suffered with the death of his son Brian, who lost his battle with addiction in 2011. Mr. Mendell is the founder and former CEO of HEI Hotels & Resort and the former president of Starwood Lodging Trust.

Over the last 13 years, Tina Messer has served in numerous capacities within Specialty Courts.  She began her Specialty Court career as a Drug Court Case Specialist in 2004, was promoted to Program Supervisor in 2005, and then promoted to Regional Supervisor in 2007. Tina assumed the role of Specialty Courts Manager in 2015. As Manager, she is responsible for overseeing all Drug Courts, Veteran Treatment Courts, DUI Courts and Mental Health Courts within the Specialty Court Department. Tina served as a member of the Steering Committee and the Prevention Sub-committee of the Kentucky Interagency Council on Homelessness, as well as the President of Network-Women in State Government from 2008-2010.  She has also served on the Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission and has helped organize the Kentucky First Lady’s Shop and Share event (benefits Kentucky domestic violence shelters) from 2008-2016. Tina earned her undergraduate degree from Eastern Kentucky University and her master’s in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Louisville.

Julie Miller has 15 years of experience observing, analyzing and reporting on various aspects of the healthcare industry while managing the editorial direction of several top-ranked publication brands. She is an award-winning journalist with proven editorial leadership among business-to-business publications in specialty niches, including behavioral health, addiction, managed care and pharmaceuticals. Previously, she held positions related to content creation for professional beauty services and the hospitality management industry. Responsibilities have included everything from writing articles to delivering conference presentations to conducting audience research. Her reporting has taken her on exclusive international workshop experiences where she studied the healthcare systems of two European countries. A University of Akron graduate, she earned a bachelor's degree in communications and creative writing.

Paige Miller is the Development Director for Hope House, a nonprofit residential and intensive outpatient substance use treatment facility in Augusta, Georgia. She is also a Certified Addiction Recovery Empowerment Specialist (CARES), and serves as the treatment representative for the local Drug Free Communities Coalition in the CSRA, as well as the Young People in Recovery (YPR) Chapter Lead for Augusta. Paige helped to organize a recovery community development project, called Recovery On My Mind, in March of 2015 that brought together over 300 community members, along with other annual recovery community events. Her local advocacy includes initiatives around: employment, education, and housing for those in recovery, especially young people. Paige has a passion for working with individuals not only seeking treatment and in recovery, but also in promoting positive youth development for at-risk youth and children with parents suffering from substance use disorder.

Beth Mingey is responsible for planning, assessing, capacity building, implementing and evaluating alcohol, tobacco and other drug and problem gambling prevention programs in seven counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Ms. Mingey was the Drug and Alcohol Assistant Administrator at the Delaware County Office of Behavioral Health where she oversaw all county-contracted Drug and Alcohol Treatment Facilities, including contract compliance, observation, monitoring and technical assistance; developed policy and protocol for D/A prevention services, HIV Counseling, Testing, Referral and Outreach and Student Assistance Program. Ms. Mingey is currently on the Board of Directors for Prysm Youth Center (LGBTQ) and recently co-presented Exploring Best Practice Opioid Overdose Death Interventions at SAMHSA’s 12th Prevention Day in Washington DC and CADCA’s Mid-Year Training Institute in Las Vegas.

Dr. Paul A. Moore received his DMD and a PhD in pharmacology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. His professional career has included private practice in Oakmont PA, a hospital residency in dental anesthesiology at the Presbyterian Hospital Medical Center in Pittsburgh, a postdoctoral fellowship in chronic pain management at the University of North Carolina, and faculty appointments at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and Forsyth Dental Center.  Dr. Moore has served as Director of the Oral Health Science Institute, Director of Research, Director of Graduate Education, and Chair of the Department of Dental Anesthesiology for the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. He has published extensively on dental therapeutics including analgesics, local anesthetics and sedation.  He is a member of the editorial boards of several journals including the Journal of American Dental Association, Journal of Dental Research and Anesthesia Progress. He has recently been appointed to the Council for Scientific Affairs for the ADA, the AMA Task Force for Preventing Opioid Abuse, the Joint Council Review Panel of Pain Management, and the U.S. Surgeon General’s Expert Panel of Prescription Drug Abuse.

 

Dr. Martina Moore holds a Ph. D. in counseling, education, and supervision. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor- Clinical Supervisor.  She is the President and CEO of Moore Counseling & Mediation Services, Inc. (MCMS). MCMS is an outpatient substance abuse and mental health organization with six locations in northeast Ohio. MCMS also provides employee assistance programs, organizational development, mediation services, and trainings to area businesses. MCMS provides treatment, transportation, employment training, employment placement, and other vital services to assist human trafficking victims. MCMS partnered with Jordan Community Resource Center to open three recovery homes for victims of human trafficking. Dr. Moore is faculty at John Carroll University in the substance abuse and counseling department and an instructor at The Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. Martina completed her Ph.D. at Walden University, in Counseling Education and Supervision with a specialization in Consultation. She holds a Master’s degree from John Carroll University in Community Counseling and Human Services, and a Bachelor’s of Art’s degree from Notre Dame College in Psychology. She is a trained Gestalt Family Therapist, from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. Martina is also a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP), a Certified Mediator, and a Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP).

John Moore came to CDC in 1988 to work in the Office of School Health and Special Projects, which later became DASH. After 11 years in DASH, he served as the policy team lead in CDC's Office of the Director in the former Office of Program Planning and Evaluation. He also worked at the CDC Foundation for 3½ years through an interagency agreement. John returned to CDC in 2008 where he served as the Preparedness Coordinator for the former Coordinating Center for Health Promotion. Beginning in 2010, John served as the CDC Foundation Liaison in CDC's Office of the Chief of Staff. John earned a B.S.Ed. from the University of Missouri – Columbia, an M.S. in Health Education from Western Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in Health Education from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. He also graduated from the Blessing Hospital School of Nursing in Quincy, Illinois and maintains his nursing license in Illinois.

Roland S. Moore, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist and Study Director at the Prevention Research Center in Oakland. His Ph.D. was awarded by the Department of Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Moore's fieldwork sites include a Central Greek community, U.S. factories, restaurants, military bases, Alaska communities and a Southwestern American Indian reservation. His research topics have included gender differences in drinking patterns and hangovers in the workplace. More generally, he is interested in the relationship between employment and alcohol and tobacco consumption patterns and problems, especially among young adults. His most recent research concerns ethnographic evaluations of tobacco policy in California bars, multi-unit housing, and casinos and community level prevention of underage drinking in Native American reservations. Methodologically, he uses both ethnographic and survey analysis.

Dr. Moore serves as Chief Medical Officer of Partnership HealthPlan of California, a County Organized Health System providing Medi-Cal Managed Care services to over 570,000 members in 14 Northern California counties.  He is a graduate of the UCSF School of Medicine, the Columbia University School of Public Health, and the Family Medicine residency at Ventura County Medical Center.  He has completed post-graduate training in Health Center Management, Health Care Leadership, and Quality Improvement. His professional interests include delivery system transformation, palliative care, intensive outpatient care management, chronic pain, and addressing social determinants of health.

Tamara Neiman joined Kaiser Permanente’s National Compliance, Ethics & Integrity Office as the director for the National Special Investigations Unit (NSIU), in 2012. Tamara oversees a team of senior managers who direct investigations into alleged criminal activity, including vendor kickbacks, conflicts of interest, contract fraud, drug diversion, medical identity fraud, and employee/member misconduct. In addition, Tamara and her team develop and provide training in the areas of fraud, waste, and abuse. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Tamara enjoyed a successful career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and retired as a supervisory special agent after 23 years of service.

Rita K. Noonan, PhD, Chief, Health Systems and Trauma Systems Branch, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Rita Noonan, PhD, is the leader of the Health Systems and Trauma Systems Branch in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, where both Rx drug overdose and traumatic brain injury prevention activities reside. Prior to joining CDC, Dr. Noonan worked as a sociology and women’s studies professor at the University of Iowa. In this capacity she conducted research in Latin America on the global debt crisis, gender, social movements, and health outcomes. Dr. Noonan has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship and a MacArthur Fellowship. Dr. Noonan received her doctoral degree in sociology from Indiana University in 1998.

Kathleen O'Connor handles public policy and regulatory affairs for Shatterproof. She is also a member of the Public Policy and Regulation practice of Dentons in the firm's New York and Albany offices. With a concentration in administrative and regulatory law, she provides regular advice and counsel to clients interfacing with state agencies. Ms. O'Connor served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas J. Meskill of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998 to 1999 after graduating from Fordham Law School. She has appeared for clients and argued in the Southern District of New York. Ms. O'Connor's government experience includes serving as Deputy Legal Counsel to Governor John G. Rowland in Connecticut and Assistant to the Counsel for Governor George E. Pataki. In addition, she has experience with tax exempt and non-tax exempt deals in Connecticut as well as the New York State income tax deal.

Nicole O’Kane, PharmD, is the Clinical Director at HealthInsight Oregon where she provides clinical oversight for health care quality improvement and research contracts. Her expertise includes the evaluation and reporting of medical data, as well as the design and measurement of person-centered interventions to improve the safety and effectiveness of medication use. Dr. O’Kane has extensive experience collaborating with communities to evaluate the incidence of harm related to adverse drug events, and support the integration of processes to improve medication safety. She is currently a leading member of two opioid safety coalition workgroups in Oregon, assisting in the development of effective policies and training for naloxone distribution and safe medication disposal programs. She also serves as co-Investigator on an AHRQ-funded project to develop and evaluate training aimed at community pharmacists to facilitate the use of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and enhance supportive, effective communication between patients, pharmacists, and prescribers around opioid management.

Dr.Olihe Okoro has training in community-based and patient outcomes research methods and experience in survey-based studies including design and statistical analysis of data. Her research focuses on health disparities with emphasis on social and behavioral issues in healthcare services and medication utilization.  Persons significantly affected by opioid over-dose and related morbidity and mortality are often from vulnerable populations which aligns this study with her area of research interest. Her recent research efforts have also focused on the impact of provider-patient interaction in health outcomes; with findings demonstrating the significant impact that providers can have on patient health-related behaviors and outcomes. The primary goal of the project that will be presented today is to increase end-user access to naloxone rescue while emphasizing environmentally safe drug disposal methods to reduce diversion in target patient populations

Elizabeth Oliva, PhD, received her BA in psychology and sociology from UCLA, graduating Cum Laude with College Honors and Psychology Departmental Highest Honors. She received her PhD in clinical and developmental psychology from University of Minnesota where her graduate work was funded by a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. Dr. Oliva completed her pre-doctoral clinical psychology internship at UCSD/VA San Diego and since then has worked for the VA Program Evaluation and Resource Center, VA Office of Mental Health Operations. She is currently the VA National Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) Coordinator and is also a Core Investigator at the VA Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i). The VA is the first nationwide healthcare system in the United States to implement OEND and Dr. Oliva chairs the VA workgroup that developed the national OEND implementation and evaluation plan. Dr. Oliva was Principal Investigator on a VA grant that evaluated initial implementation of OEND within two Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) and was recently awarded another VA grant to evaluate the effectiveness of naloxone distribution within VA. She was also a Co-Investigator on a VA grant that developed and evaluated a multi-faceted intervention to improve access to pharmacological treatments for alcohol dependence. Dr. Oliva also serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Substance Abuse. 

Sandy O’Neill is the Director of the Anne Arundel County Health Department’s Bureau of Behavioral Health, an organization dedicated to serving the behavioral health needs of residents.  Sandy is a seasoned professional counselor and an effective public health program administrator whose work in the Behavioral Health field spans 20 years. Sandy is dedicated to providing and promoting the ethical, empathic and effective delivery of evidenced based treatment and education to those whose lives have been disrupted by behavioral health disorders. She is also passionate about increasing public awareness and understanding of behavioral health issues and how they impact the society as a whole. As the Director of the Anne Arundel County Department of Health’s Bureau of Behavioral Health, Sandy has been on the front lines of addressing Anne Arundel County’s growing opioid epidemic. In partnership with local hospitals, state and federal officials, community agencies and the criminal justice system, Sandy and her team have been working on innovative approaches to reducing opioid abuse and overdose including the Overdose SOS model, which has been successfully implemented by the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center, coordinating a public health response with our local HIDTA and the SAMHSA (now HIDTA) pilot project to map overdoses in real time in order to launch a response to prevent future fatal and non-fatal overdoses.