Newswise — The American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) Foundation today announced that six of its addiction medicine fellows have received Next Generation Awards for Adolescent Substance Use Prevention. The new awards are given to physicians matriculating in fellowships accredited by the Foundation, to help them develop as future leaders in the field of youth substance use prevention, early intervention and treatment, with a particular focus on training in Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) approaches. The awards are supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
The $25,000 awards are given to the respective fellowship programs to support their provision of tailored educational experiences for the fellows. These experiences are designed to meet the fellows’ career objectives as they relate to addressing substance use among adolescents and young adults, and to help these fellows acquire the knowledge and skills to become future leaders.
“Adolescence is an absolutely critical window for preventing addiction,” said Patrick G. O’Connor, MD, MPH, FACP, President of ABAM and The ABAM Foundation, and Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Section of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine. “Addiction medicine physicians with an emphasis in this area will play an essential role in assuring that the next generation of prevention and early intervention strategies will succeed and benefit the public. By virtue of their goals, abilities and training, the Next Generation physicians will be especially well prepared to lead these efforts.”
Winners of the Next Generation Awards are:
• Alexander Caudarella, MD, St. Paul's Hospital Goldcorp Fellowship in Addiction Medicine (Vancouver, BC);
• David Dayan-Rosenman, MD, Addiction Institute of New York Fellowship in Addiction Medicine (New York, NY);
• Ramm Dorav Hering, MD, MSc, CCFP, Dip PH, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Addiction Medicine Fellowship (Toronto, ON);
• Mitika Kanabar, MD, Stanford Addiction Medicine Program (Palo Alto, CA);
• Brian P. Murray, MD, Rushford Addiction Medicine Residency/Fellowship Program (Middletown, CT);
• Zoe Weinstein, MD, Boston University Addiction Medicine Fellowship (Boston, MA).
The awards are part of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s $2 million commitment to The ABAM Foundation, which has enabled the Foundation to establish The National Center for Physician Training in Addiction Medicine. The purpose of the new Center is to expand the education and training of physicians in addiction medicine, with a special emphasis on prevention and screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT), particularly for adolescents and young adults. The Center is directed by Richard D. Blondell, MD, Professor of Family Medicine at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
The awardees will work on a range of projects related to youth substance use prevention and screening. Dr. Caudarella will use part of his award to develop a smartphone app. for providers of addiction services. One of Dr. Dayan-Rosenman’s objectives is to become trained in SBIRT, and then to train other physicians in this evidenced-based intervention tool. Dr. Hering plans to increase his skills in communicating with adolescents, as well as his advocacy skills and his scholarship in this area. Dr. Kanabar plans to rotate in a pediatric outpatient setting, to collaborate on treatment guidelines for Stanford students, and to reach out to providers at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital about SBIRT. Dr. Murray plans to conduct a rotation at the Rushford Child and Adolescent Program, and to collaborate with the Meriden Healthy Youth Coalition (which received a SAMHSA grant through Rushford). Dr. Weinstein plans to increase her expertise in SBIRT, and to become an SBIRT coach and trainer.
The awards were approved by The ABAM Foundation Board of Directors, based on the recommendations of its Selection Committee: Hoover Adger, Jr., M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. (Selection Committee Chair), Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of Adolescent Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital; Sharon Levy, M.D., M.P.H., Medical Director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program (Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research) at Children’s Hospital, Boston, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School; and Ximena Sanchez-Samper, MD, Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital (Belmont, MA).
The ABAM Foundation’s purpose is to establish and accredit addiction medicine training programs and support the mission of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. ABAM’s mission is to improve the quality of care in the medical specialty of addiction medicine, establish standards and procedures, and certify physicians as experts in this specialized field of medical practice. ABAM's goal is to have a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) certify physicians in addiction medicine. ABAM and The ABAM Foundation are governed by 16 distinguished physicians from a range of medical specialties, each of whom is certified by a member board of the ABMS. For more information, visit: www.abamfoundation.org and www.abam.net.
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