Speakers

Michael Curry, Esq. is President & CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers (the Mass League), which represents 50 health centers, serving over one million patients out of over 300 practice sites. He was named: one of the Boston Business Journal’s Power 50 Movement Makers of 2024, 2023 and 2022; one of Boston’s Most Influential Men of Color by GetKonnected!; one of Boston Magazine’s 150 Most Influential Bostonians in 2024 and 2023; and a Bostonian of the Year in 2021 (along with his member health centers) by The Boston Globe and Boston Magazine.

He brings over 35 years of experience and results in civil rights advocacy, health reform and health equity. He is a current, nationally elected (4-term) member of the National NAACP’s Board of Directors (2014-present) and the Immediate Past President of the Boston Branch of the NAACP (2011-2016). Attorney Curry is also an Adjunct Professor at both New England Law Boston teaching Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession and Suffolk University’s Moakley Center and Sawyer School of Management teaching a health care management and policy course.

In just over three years since Michael assumed the role of CEO at the Mass League, the staff have more than doubled, the organization secured an over $360 million contract with the state to administer the Massachusetts Loan Repayment Program (MA Repay), and he launched the Institute for Health Equity Research, Evaluation &

Policy (IHE) after raising just under $8 million dollars. The IHE is focused on conducting “emancipatory research” and ensuring patients, community health and communities are central to developing new knowledge in health. In addition, Dr. Curry is the co-Chair of the Harvard School of Public Health’s (Harvard Catalyst’s) Community Coalition for Equity in Research (CCER), aimed at supporting bi-directional community engagement to improve the relevance, quality, and impact of research.

In 2022, Dr. Curry co-founded the Health Equity Compact in Massachusetts, a collective of over 80 c-suite leaders of color in health care, insurance, philanthropy, government and academia with a mission to realize bold statewide policy and institutional practice changes that center racial justice and health equity. Early wins include filing an omnibus health equity bill with the Massachusetts Legislature; working with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation to produce a ground-breaking report on the Cost of Inequity ($5.9 billion annually); hosting an annual Health Equity Trends Summit that draws over 1,000 leaders and advocates for a day-long discussion on solutions.

Dr. Curry earned a Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from New England School of Law, and later graduated from the inaugural class of the Executive Leadership Council’s (ELC’s) Pipeline to Leadership Program. He also has an honorary degree from William James college, a Doctorate in Business Administration from Curry College and Healthcare Administration from Labouré College.

He also serves on numerous boards/commissions/committees, including: Embrace Boston; Eastern Bank’s Board of Advisors; public broadcasting GBH’s Board of Advisors; Alliance for Business Leadership (ABL); Harvard & Legacy of Slavery Initiative’s External Advisory Committee; Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care (MCSIC); The New England Council (NEC); Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Development Advisory Council (CDAC); Health Policy Commission’s Advisory Board; and RIZE Massachusetts, dedicated to funding solutions to end the overdose crisis.

He is a frequent Political Commentator on WBUR’s Radio Boston, Morning Edition and Week in Review, Boston Public Radio WGBH with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, WGBH’s Greater Boston, and New England Cable News, as well as frequently requested to provide reactions to breaking news, presidential and mayoral debates, and state of the union/city addresses.

Michael has received numerous awards, most recently: the 2024 Boston Municipal Research Bureau Henry Shattuck City Champion Award; the Disability Policy Center (DPC) 2024 Mary Lou Maloney Award; the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts’ Melvin H. King Community Leadership Award; the National Association of Community Health Centers’ 2024 Norton Wilson State/Regional Leadership Award; and the National NAACP’s 2022 William Montague Cobb Award for “special achievement in healthcare, social justice, and policy advocacy”.

On January 18, 2023, Andrea Joy Campbell was sworn in to be the 45th Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, pledging to build economic prosperity and stability for all residents, prioritize the mental health and well-being of children, stop cycles of incarceration and violence and ensure the people across the state have access to the AG's Office regardless of their zip code, language or ability.

Growing up in Roxbury, Andrea’s life was filled with instability. When Andrea was eight months old, she lost her mother to a car accident while going to visit her father in prison. She and her brothers bounced around - living with relatives and sometimes in foster care - until her father got out of prison when she was eight years old, and she met him for the first time.

Andrea and her family relied on public housing and food assistance while her grandmother struggled with alcoholism. Her two brothers sadly cycled in and out of the prison system. She lost her twin brother Andre, when he passed away while in the custody of the Department of Corrections as a pre-trial detainee.

Through all of this, Andrea persevered. Thanks to loving relatives, community support and a network of teachers who encouraged her, she turned pain into purpose. She graduated from Boston Latin School and then worked her way through college with the help of grants and student loans, graduating from Princeton University and UCLA Law School.

After earning her law degree, she worked as a legal services attorney for the EdLaw project, defending the rights of children and their families — particularly those with disabilities.

Andrea also practiced law at Proskauer LLP as an employment attorney, and ultimately left to serve the public as General Counsel at the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, working across 101 cities and towns to address regional challenges like health care access, transportation, affordable housing, and climate change.

Andrea served as legal counsel to Governor Deval Patrick, working to improve our education and transportation systems and move forward an agenda of equity across the state.

In 2015, Andrea successfully ran for the Boston City Council becoming the first woman to represent District 4 on the Council. Her first piece of legislation was the Community Preservation Act, which still generates over $20 million annually for new affordable housing, historical preservation, and parks and open space. In 2018, she was unanimously elected City Council President - the first Black woman to hold the title.

Dr. Alyssa Peterkin is an assistant professor of Medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She spends her clinical time working as a direct care hospitalist, attending on the inpatient addiction consult service, and working in Faster Paths, a low-barrier substance use disorder bridge clinic at Boston Medical Center.

She currently serves as director of the Grayken Addiction Medicine Fellowship and co-director of the addiction and health focus area for Learn, Experience, Advocate, Discover and Serve (LEADS), an immersive health equity course for pre-clerkship students at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

Dr. Todd Kerensky is the medical director of Addiction Medicine at South Shore Health and Spectrum Weymouth’s Opioid Treatment Program. He is also the immediate-past president of the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine (MASAM). His clinical interest is in improving access to low-barrier, patient-centered addiction treatment. Dr. Kerensky is also passionate about the intersection of economics, public health policy, and addiction treatment at the population level. He has helped advocate for legislative changes including access to medications for opioid use disorder, especially in jails and prisons, Section 35 reform, and “treatment not imprisonment” reform.

Emery Marcus is a dually-boarded family nurse practitioner and psychiatric nurse practitioner, as well as a certified addictions advanced practice registered nurse. She is currently working as a medical clinician and project manager in the Addictions Research Department at SSTAR, a community health organization in Fall River, Mass.

Prior to her work in research, she was a nurse practitioner in the Medications for Addictions Department and oversaw patient care in a low-barrier bridge clinic. Emery has a master’s in nursing practice from Simmons University and a psychiatric nursing specialization from Regis College.

Jessica Kemp is a certified addictions registered nurse specializing in the treatment of opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. She is program manager of the Office Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) program at The Brien Center, the largest community mental health and substance use outpatient treatment center in Berkshire County, Mass. Under her leadership, the Brien Center's OBAT program has tripled in size and grown to a muti-site, county-wide program.

Jessica has been a frequent speaker about substance use disorders and their treatment and was a champion for the Help End Addiction Long Term (HEAL) Community study in both North Adams and Pittsfield, Mass. Jessica has served as a consultant for Grayken Center for Addiction since 2019. Jessica received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Nyack College and her associate degree in nursing from Berkshire Community College.  

Dr. Alexander Y. Walley is a Professor of Medicine at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and a Primary Care Physician and addiction specialist at Boston Medical Center, focused on the medical complications of substance use, specifically HIV and overdose. He leads research studies on overdose prevention and the integration of addiction specialty care and general medical care. He is a founder of Boston Medical Center’s inpatient Addiction Consult Service and walk-in Substance Use Care Bridge Clinic. Dr. Walley was a founding director of the Grayken Addiction Medicine Fellowship and is the president of the American College of Academic Addiction Medicine. He serves as the medical director for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, the Overdose Prevention Program, and the SafeSpot Overdose Prevention Hotline.

Casey Calver is the editorial director at the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center, where she works on the newsletter Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Health: Current Evidence and the journal Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. Casy also serves as executive officer of the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors. She holds a master’s in English literature from Georgetown University, a master’s in global health policy from the University of Edinburgh, and a doctorate in editorial studies from Boston University.

Dr. Ruth Potee is a board certified Family Physician and Addiction Medicine physician who works in western Massachusetts. She attended Wellesley College, Yale University School of Medicine and did her residency at Boston University where she remained an assistant professor of Family Medicine for eight years. She is currently the Medical Director for Behavioral Health Network and the Franklin County House of Corrections. She oversees 8 OTPs, including the first fully licensed jail OTP in the country. She was named Franklin County Doctor of the Year by the Massachusetts Medical Society in 2015 and has won multiple teaching awards from medical students and residents.

Vella Riley is a Black transgender activist, consultant, and community leader. Her passion for advocacy is deeply personal — shaped by her lived experiences with homelessness, survival sex work, and systemic injustice. Vella founded and currently facilitates S.O.S. (Save Our Selves) — a comprehensive support initiative for current and former transgender sex workers that provides essential services such as housing navigation, harm reduction, peer support, and professional development. For more than a decade, Vella has worked at the forefront of community engagement, housing advocacy, and case management services at AIDS Action Committee, Youth on Fire, and Boston Health Care for the Homeless. She has also served as a housing navigator, ensuring marginalized populations have access to stable housing and essential services. Most recently, Vella launched her own consulting group. Her work is rooted in an unwavering commitment to authenticity, forged through activism, protest, and community organizing.

Logan Puleikis is a member of the Transgender and Gender Expansive (TGE) Community Advisory Board with the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services to promote accessibility of TGE people in substance use disorder treatment. He is the program coordinator at the Stimulant Treatment and Recovery Team (START), treating stimulant use disorder and championing inclusion of individuals left out of care, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ community and those who engage in chemsex. At the START clinic, he also facilitates their art group, which uses an open studio exhibition model to provide art as a viable tool for communication and empowerment, and which offers annual exhibition opportunities.

He has received training at the Boston University School of Social Work, and his behavioral health focus is oriented towards healing the relationship with the body for people with physical histories of substance use, whether it’s from gender dysphoria, sexualized drug use, or trauma lived within the body. He also works as a community researcher with Brandeis University on their ECKS-O study to understand the changing landscape of substance use and impacts on social determinants of health.

Andrea (Andi) Macone is the director of community health and equity for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS). Prior to this position, she worked in leadership roles focusing on engagement and equity at UMass Boston and The Phoenix. Andi also contributes to a number of research projects at the intersection of substance use and community impact.

As a member of the harm reduction movement and a person in recovery, Andi’s professional and lived experiences inform her efforts to effect meaningful systems change and to center the most marginalized voices of those impacted by substance use. Andi received her bachelor’s in communications from Boston University, her master’s in American studies from UMass Boston, and completed an emerging leaders fellowship in UMass Boston’s College of Management.

MG Xiong is a Hmong, nonbinary, and queer educator from Anchorage, Alaska, now living in the Boston area. MG is the director of engagement and learning at the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, serves as a community advisory board member for the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, and is an independent consultant on gender equity.

MG brings lived, professional, and academic experience in direct service, program management, and learning and development to transgender belonging. They direct, design, and facilitate educational experiences and community programs to create equitable outcomes for transgender and nonbinary people. MG aims to center joy, mutual aid, and cultural curiosity through education and capacity building.

Dr. Safdar Medina is a pediatrician at Tri River Health Center in Uxbridge and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at UMassChan Medical School.  His focus is on the care of adolescents struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.  Dr. Medina has presented to a variety of audiences on this topic, including fellow physicians, schools, parents, and mental health clinicians.  

Angelica Gates is the licensing inspector for the Correctional Facilities at the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Angelica has more than 15 years of experience in the substance use disorder treatment field at multiple different service settings. As a licensed alcohol and drug counselor and licensed school counselor, she is experienced in supporting students with mental health, behavioral health, and substance use disorders. Angelica received a bachelor’s in criminology and law from Suffolk University, and a master’s in school counseling from Assumption College.

Dr. Robert Sege is director of the HOPE National Resource Center, within the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine at Tufts Medicine and co-director of the Community and Stakeholder Engagement program at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute. He is a professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Tufts University School of Medicine and a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, a national, nonprofit public policy, research and technical assistance organization. Dr. Sege is a board-certified general and child abuse pediatrician, leading pediatric primary care at Tufts Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center.

Dr. Sege is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that directly address social determinants of health. His academic work incorporates community engagement at all stages of design, implementation, dissemination, and improvement. Dr. Sege frequently presents keynote addresses on the HOPE framework and the science of positive childhood experiences at national and international conferences.

Dr. Sege holds a degree in medicine from Harvard Medical School, a doctorate in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s in biology from Yale University.

Dr. Alexander Y. Walley is a professor of Medicine at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and a primary care physician and addiction specialist at Boston Medical Center, focused on the medical complications of substance use, specifically HIV and overdose. He leads research studies on overdose prevention and the integration of addiction specialty care and general medical care. He is a founder of Boston Medical Center’s inpatient addiction consult service and walk-in substance use care bridge clinic.

 Dr. Walley was a founding director of the Grayken Addiction Medicine Fellowship and is the president of the American College of Academic Addiction Medicine. He serves as the medical director for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, the Overdose Prevention Program, and the SafeSpot Overdose Prevention Hotline.

Amanda Tower is the grant project coordinator for MassAbility for the Beyond Bridges: Brain Injury and Behavioral Health Grant. As part of this work, Amanda oversees the implementation of the online brain injury screening and support system throughout the state. This work includes leading and participating in events to educate professionals about brain injury, potential risk, and co-occurring populations. 

Erika Hensel is a licensed community health worker and harm reduction specialist currently working as the project manager for opioid response at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. Prior to this role, Erika was the Springfield community coordinator for the HEALing Community Study, which aimed to reduce opioid-related deaths through evidence-based interventions. Erika previously worked as an overdose engagement coordinator for Tapestry Harm Reduction and was published for her work in naloxone peer distribution.

Erika started in the field as a clinical case manager at Friends of the Homeless in Springfield, where she began championing harm reduction strategies. Erika is an overdose education and naloxone distribution master trainer and has personally reversed more than 50 overdoses in the community. She is currently in long-term recovery and is a strong proponent of medications for opioid use disorder. Erika works toward policy changes and compassionate care for people in recovery, unsheltered individuals, people that exchange sex, and people that use drugs.

Joy has been a national harm reduction trainer for more than 30 years and is currently a national harm reduction trainer for NASTAD, the National Harm Reduction Coalition, and the University of Miami. She is co-founder of the National Black Harm Reduction Network, created to mentor and train new Black Leadership in harm reduction and advocate for policy changes in the medical, criminal, and houseless systems that have negatively impacted Black people.

Joy previously worked for Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), where she was introduced to harm reduction as model of service. and worked with a team to develop the first harm reduction housing training. After leaving CSH, Joy began work as the executive director of the HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County, California, also known as Casa Segura. After ten years in that role, Joy moved to Hawaii and created Housing First programs on the islands of Maui and Honolulu.

Joy also created the Overdose Prevention Center in Austin, Texas, for people who inject drugs. She was one of the founders of the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, which provides education and NARCAN to injectors and helps connect people requesting medicated-assisted treatment and other needed services.

Joy is co-chair of the People with Lived Experienced Research Board and a member of the Harm Reduction Steering Committee for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Oami joined the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA) as Deputy Director in 2022. At MPHA, Oami oversees the organizations legislative and policy priorities, which are focused on local public health infrastructure and investments in the social determinants of health, including public transportation access, environmental justice, housing justice, sustainable food systems, and overdose prevention.

Before coming to MPHA, Oami served as Deputy Legislative Director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts, where she led the organization’s legislative work on criminal law reform. Prior to that, she was the Advocacy Director of the ACLU of Maine, where she worked to pass first-in-the-nation privacy laws, expand access to abortion care, and advance public health centered drug policy.

Stephen Murray, MPH, NRP, is an Overdose Researcher, Harm Reduction Program Manager and the Director of the SafeSpot Overdose Hotline at Boston Medical Center. In 2021, he retired as a Lieutenant at a large regional ambulance service in Western Massachusetts, and had served as a first responder since 2013, having worked both as a firefighter and paramedic. He regularly shares for a national audience about his lived experience as a person who used drugs and overdose survivor.

Stephen provides expert technical assistance around the topics of overdose prevention, emergency medical services, workforce and harm reduction to a variety of organizations, county and state governments across the country, including the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency, the National Academies of Medicine, and the National Governors Association. He has guest lectured at over a dozen universities including at Harvard University,  University of Southern California,  UMASS Medical School, Georgetown University, and Boston University.

He has research published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, Substance Use & Addiction Journal, American Journal of Public Health and Health Promotion Practice. In September 2023, he was featured in the multiple award-winning Episode 809 ("The Call") on This American Life.

Dr. Randi Sokol is an associate professor at the Tufts Family Medicine Residency Program and lecturer at Harvard Medical School. At the Tufts program, Dr. Sokol is involved in clinical work, teaching, research, and advocacy, specifically around vulnerable populations that struggle with substance use and mental health issues. She is the program director for the Tufts Addiction Medicine Fellowship at Cambridge Health Alliance. She serves as the director of the pain and addiction curriculum for residents, runs the addiction elective for Tufts medical students, and has developed a national addiction curriculum for family medicine residency programs across the country. 

Dr. Sokol has a special interest in providing group visits as a venue for treating patients with opioid use disorder. She has published numerous research articles on this topic and mentored other clinical sites in implementing this model of care. She previously served as a Providers Clinical Support System instructor and also runs a consultation service that supports primary care providers in caring for patients with pain and addiction. 

Dr. Sokol is board-certified in both family medicine and addiction medicine.  She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, and her medical degree and master’s degree in public health from Tulane University She completed family medicine residency at the University of California-Davis, and earned a master’s in medical education through the University of Dundee.

Natrina “Trina” Johnson is a health services researcher at the Grayken Center for Addiction and a postdoctoral scholar at the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at UCSF. Dr. Johnson has prior experience working as a mental health counselor for adolescents, a substance use counselor for adults, and a house manager in transitional programs for formerly unhoused individuals with co-occurring psychiatric and/or substance use conditions. She has also volunteered with the Berkeley Free Clinic for over 10 years and has held several roles which has included doing outreach to people who may be at elevated risk for viral hepatitis and HIV to offer harm reduction education, screening, and linkage to treatment. Her prior work, research, and volunteer experiences inform her primary research interests which are focused on understanding the impact on trauma and PTSD on syndemic health outcomes and investigating opportunities to mitigate the impact of structural racism on the health and well-being of marginalized populations of color.

Traci Green is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on drug use, opioid use disorder, and drug-related injury. She is a professor and director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University, where she oversees research on the drug supply, harm reduction services, and risk mitigation following law enforcement and policy actions. Traci also co-directs the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdose at Rhode Island Hospital and is an adjunct professor of emergency medicine and epidemiology at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University and the Brown School of Public Health.

Traci created the web app platform “Street Check: Community Drug Checking” to support the growth and excellence of community drug checking. She helped co-found PrescribeToPrevent.org for prescribers and pharmacists and its companion site Prevent & Protect for families, patients, and community organizations to improve naloxone access.

Traci earned a Master of Science in epidemiology and biostatistics from McGill University and a doctorate in epidemiology from Yale University.

Dr. William (Bill) Soares is the director of Harm Reduction Services in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass. and an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at the UMass Chan Medical School - Baystate. He is a practicing emergency and addiction medicine physician researcher, who has spent the past 10 years focused on expanding medication treatments and harm reduction services for emergency department patients with opioid use disorder. In his current role at Baystate Medical Center, Dr. Soares oversees take-home Narcan, harm reduction, safer supply distribution, and buprenorphine and methadone induction programs throughout the four emergency departments in the Baystate Health System.

Dr. Soares’ research focuses on clinical decision-making in the emergency department. He has completed a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) K08 project evaluating provider decisions to prescribe discharge opioid medications to patients presenting with an acutely painful condition. He currently has federal grants from NIDA, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration focused on expanding medication treatment and harm reduction for people with substance use disorders. He has also led efforts to create a comprehensive inpatient addiction consultation service for the three Baystate community hospitals through a state-level opioid settlement fund grant administered through the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance use and Addiction Services.

Marisol Pacheco is a research assistant and drug checking technician at the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative. She earned a bachelor's in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University. In her time at Northeastern, she worked as a wound care technician with the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, which exposed her to the field of harm reduction and inspired her to get involved in the development of those initiatives.

Abby Edelmann is a research assistant and drug checking technician at the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative. Abby earned a bachelor's in neuroscience from Saint Michael's College, with minors in chemistry and Spanish. She is currently studying cheminformatics at Brandeis University.

Charlie Summers is a graduate research assistant at the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative. They earned a bachelor's in epidemiology and medical anthropology at Hampshire College, where they focused their research on government responses to HIV transmission. Charlie is currently earning a master's degree in anthropology at Brandeis, focusing their research on ethnographic depictions of substance use and harm reduction. Their passion for harm reduction is rooted in personal experience and a deep love for their community.

Ivy Sabal is a research assistant and drug checking technician at the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative. They previously worked as a harm reduction counselor and lead drug checking technician at Tapestry Health, Inc. Ivy actively embodies and embraces social justice work on drug use to end the War on Drugs. Their work is deeply informed by lived experience. Ivy received a bachelor’s in environmental justice at Hampshire College, where they began their harm reduction and drug checking journey by distributing fentanyl test strips and providing reagent testing for their peers.

Jamie Davis is the program manager for the Community Engagement and Harm Reduction Program at the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative. Their background is in harm reduction with a focus on communications, operations, and program development in community-based healthcare settings. Jamie is also involved in advocating for equitable drug policy and legislation that is grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights. Jamie has a bachelor’s from Westfield State College.

Noel Vest, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. His research interests include mental health, substance use disorders, and addiction recovery. As a formerly incarcerated scholar, Dr. Vest is an advocate for social justice issues and public policy concerning substance use disorder recovery and prison reentry.

He received his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Washington State University. He completed a NIDA T32 postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pain Medicine at Stanford University.

Paul Alves is the Founder of Choice Recovery Coaching, Inc, a non profit organization dedicated to Coaching Recovery across the continuum of care and systems alike. He has been developing the Peer Recovery Workforce  across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and beyond focusing on Wellness Recovery Oriented Systems (WROS) in order to diminish stigma while enhancing systems efforts and multiplying community wellness.

Mr. Alves is a person in Recovery from Substance Use Disorder, Food Addiction and Mental Health affliction. With a positive attitude and contemporary perspective, he believes that all individuals have the ability to recover as they define it.

For over two decades, Ramona Rivera-Reno has been a driving force in supporting the reintegration of justice-involved individuals. As the Executive Director of Reentry and Recovery Programs at MassHire Holyoke, a career center serving Hampden County in Western Massachusetts, she has spearheaded innovative initiatives by fostering strong partnerships with the criminal justice system, community organizations, and employers.

Ramona launched the Recovery Ready Workplace (RRW) initiative in Western Massachusetts, aiming to expand its reach across the state. The RRW program provides employers with essential resources and education to support employees in recovery from substance use disorders. She also developed the Recovery Ready Employment

Specialist (RRES) training, a comprehensive program that equips professionals with the expertise needed to assist individuals navigating the complexities of recovery and employment.

Ramona holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and is a certified Offender Workforce Development Specialist (O.W.D.S.). Her commitment to creating pathways to employment and fostering recovery has made a lasting impact on communities across Massachusetts.

Charmaine Lastimoso is a Certified Addictions RN - Advanced Practice and Nurse Practitioner practicing at the DFCI Adult Palliative Care outpatient clinics. Her previous addiction clinical practice was focused on transitional care at Faster Paths to Treatment, BMC's urgent care center expediting access to medications to support recovery. She is passionate about exploring the intersections between palliative care and addiction medicine to broaden the scope of her practice, utilizing skillsets from both disciplines, to improve patient access to and experience of oncologic treatment and Palliative Care.

Calla Harrington is a public health social worker specializing in clinical social work and social epidemiology.  She is a clinical supervisor at Behavioral Health Network’s Opioid Treatment Programs in Greenfield and Orange, Mass., where she enjoys facilitating inclusive and meaningful reflection with clients and staff to improve functioning and better align behaviors with values.

Amanda Tower is the Grant Project Coordinator for MassAbility for the Beyond Bridges: Brain Injury and Behavioral Health Grant. As part of this work, Amanda oversees the implementation of the online brain injury screening and support system throughout the state. This work includes leading and participating in events to educate professionals about brain injury, potential risk, and co-occurring populations. 

Al Ortiz is a man in recovery and a certified recovery coach with seven years of experience working in the addiction field. As the program manager of Recovery Support Services at the Holyoke Health Center, he is privileged to work in the same community in which he lives, and to identify himself as part of the population he serves. As a father and advocate for his community, he is passionate about educating others, and considers it a gift to wake up each day excited to support and inspire change within his community.

Jon Soske is the systems of care fellow of the Rhode Island School of Design Center for Complexity and a research associate at the Brown University Health Division of Addiction Medicine. Jon is also a person in long-term recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. He utilizes ethnography and community-engaged research strategies to understand the unfolding systems crisis in the fields of mental health and substance use disorder treatment. His research has appeared in Health & Justice, JAMA Network Open, International Journal of Drug Policy, Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, and Progress in Community Health Partnerships. He is currently the co-investigator and senior qualitative researcher on a Centers for Disease Control-funded study of the Rhode Island Hospital Community Health Worker/Peer Specialist Emergency Department program.

Previously, Jon served as director of research for the Rhode Island Transitions Clinic, part of a national network of primary care clinics that support formerly incarcerated patients. He also worked on the team that opened Rhode Island's first drop-in substance use disorder clinic, Addiction Care Today. He has delivered trainings on stigma, harm reduction, peer recovery support, and recovery science at many schools, universities, and organizations. Jon has also worked as a peer recovery specialist in numerous settings and collaborated with College Unbound to develop a degree track for peer recovery specialists that grants college credits for professional and lived experience.

Johnny Franchio is a leader within his recovery community and serves as a certified peer specialist and a recovery coach at Riverside Community Care. His lived experience with long-term substance use and mental health recovery allows him to genuinely connect with and support those in his professional and personal life. Through his experiences working with peers at various stages of recovery, and through his commitment to continuous learning, Johnny fosters holistic support for those he cares for. Johnny is a dedicated husband, father, and member of his community. 

Heidi DiRoberto is the regional executive director for Spectrum Health Systems’ Outpatient Division. Heidi oversees the central region, which includes Spectrum’s largest opioid treatment program (OTP), Spectrum’s first mobile unit, as well their rapid access Hub and Spoke program. Along with her team, Heidi has operationalized methadone delivery to skilled nursing facilities in the Worcester area and developed pharmacy access and delivery of naloxone in the OTP. Heidi specializes in substance use disordered treatment, grief and loss, trauma informed care, and cognitive behavioral and dialectical behavior therapies.

Ryan Walker is the assistant director of quality assurance and licensing at the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS). He has been vital in the development of the licensing process for mobile opioid treatment programs in Massachusetts. Ryan has been with the Department of Public Health for 10 years. He has previously served as the director of the Massachusetts Controlled Substance Registration, as a quality improvement analyst with the Board of Health Professions Licensure, and as a program specialist with the Massachusetts Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

Ryan holds a master’s in public administration from UMass Boston and a bachelor’s from Westfield State University.

Jeff Baxter, MD is a physician board certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer for Spectrum Health Systems, Inc.

Elizabeth Addison is an award winning multi-hyphenate whose work exists at the intersection of recovery and the performing arts. She has written three musicals inspired by her recovery journey, one of which, “Chasing Grace,” is set to have an Off-Broadway run in 2025/26.

Elizabeth is a creative recovery coach, story coach and trauma informed facilitator with The Meghann Perry Group where she facilitates Recovery Storytelling, Embodied Storytelling and Embodied Songwriting workshops.  She is also a consultant for The Opioid Response Network (ORN) and The Grayken Center at Boston Medical Center where she is also their Resident Artist.

Elizabeth travels the world giving talks on the role creativity, play, music and theatre has in recovery, and as a person who understands the power of the Arts to heal, connect, empower and change hearts and minds, Elizabeth is thrilled to present some of her musical, “This is Treatment,” at the “Together For Hope” conference. Follow Elizabeth’s journey at Elizabethspeaks.com

Stacey Lynch, is the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Services at BSAS with over 18 years of experience serving youth and families with mental health and substance use disorders. Stacey earned her Bachelor’s in Social Work at the University of New Hampshire and a Master’s in Social Work at Simmon’s University.

In the years prior to joining BSAS, Stacey worked at non-profit organizations providing case management to children in Intensive Foster Care; Therapeutic Mentoring for the Child Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI); providing clinical services and eventually becoming the Program Director at a youth detoxification and stabilization unit; and finally, overseeing statewide Youth and Young Adult Training and Capacity building and outpatient Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) treatment for youth and families.

Stacey is most proud of her work reducing barriers youth and families experience in accessing co-occurring treatment, working to start a CBHI Program for youth in need of SUD specific care, growing community -based intervention and treatment programs for underserved youth, and participating on a team to develop a drug education curriculum called iDECIDE.

Dr. Randi Schuster is an associate professor at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and the Director of School-Based Research and Program Development at the MGH Center for Addiction Medicine. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and has published and presented widely on adolescent substance use and its co-morbidities.

Dr. Schuster’s current program of research focuses on explicating the course of neurocognitive recovery following cannabis discontinuation, defining risk for adverse drug effects among adolescents with co-occurring psychopathology, elucidating the acute and residual effects of cannabis and other substance use on depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and evaluating the efficacy of novel behavioral and pharmacotherapy treatment options for adolescent substance use.

Through her program of state- and federally-funded school-based prevention research, she is also active in collaborative work to develop and test best practice school-level early interventions to minimize the population-level impact of substance use on student health and well-being. Her training in community-based research is reflected in extensive ties with over 400 middle and high schools across Massachusetts, including annual mental health surveillance of nearly 100,000 students across the Commonwealth most recently published this year in JAMA Pediatrics.

Rebecca Butler, MSc, MSW, LCSW, is a leader in adolescent behavioral health policy with extensive expertise in program development, financing, and system redesign. Currently serving as the Associate Director of School-Based Research and Program Development at the MGH Center for Addiction Medicine, she directs high-impact projects to improve behavioral health in school and community settings, focusing on increasing access for minoritized populations.

Previously, as Deputy Director of Youth & Family Services at MassHealth, the state Medicaid authority, Rebecca led initiatives that enhanced access to mental health services for children and families. Her career highlights include managing a $19M portfolio at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where she expanded adolescent substance use intervention sites from 4 to 47 statewide. A champion for equity, Rebecca founded the Racial Equity Advisory Board at MADPH BSAS, and a Green Care Advisory Board to integrate innovative therapeutic approaches, including care farming, outdoor behavioral health, and equine-facilitated therapy.

Rebecca presents nationally, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration expert panel on adolescent substance use prevention policy and opioid use among adolescents. Recognized with the 2023 Medicaid Directors Award for fostering inclusive team cultures, Rebecca remains dedicated to driving transformative change in behavioral health through her unwavering commitment to equity, evidence-based practices, and innovative solutions

Amie Shei is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, a health conversion foundation based in Worcester. The Health Foundation’s mission is to improve the health of those who live or work in Central Massachusetts, with a focus on vulnerable populations and unmet needs.  Through its grantmaking, advocacy, and thought leadership, The Health Foundation seeks to advance health equity in the Central Massachusetts region and beyond.  Amie also serves on the board of the Children’s Trust, Health Care for All, Health Equity Compact, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Philanthropy Massachusetts, and the Worcester Regional Research Bureau.

Julie Burns is the founding executive of RIZE Massachusetts. She leads the foundation’s work researching, investing in, and expanding evidence-based treatment solutions, as well as building coalitions across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors to end the opioid overdose epidemic in Massachusetts.

Previously, Julie was a Senior Director at the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation overseeing communication strategy, strategic planning, and administration. Prior to this work, Julie worked for former Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino in several key roles. Julie also served as a member of the City of Boston’s Office of Recovery Services Substance Use Prevention Advisory Board under former Mayor Marty Walsh and was appointed as a member of the Commission on Methamphetamine Use by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker in October 2021. She also serves her community on several nonprofit boards and commissions.

Julie received her Bachelor’s in Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University, has a graduate certificate in public relations from Emerson College, and has completed senior executive programs at Babson University, Bentley University, and the Harvard Kennedy School. 

Megan MacDavey is a Program Officer at the Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation, where she brings her background in nonprofit programming, management, and fundraising to her role. Megan is passionate about incorporating the perspectives and feedback of grant partners and young people into the foundation’s work. This includes supporting a diversity, equity, and inclusion learning network and a participatory grantmaking initiative that places young people with lived experiences in decision-making roles.

  Megan received her master’s in social administration with a focus on community development from Case Western Reserve University, and her bachelor’s in sociology from the State University of New York College at Geneseo. 

Dr. Jessie Calihan is a pediatrician who specializes in the care of adolescents with concerning substance use. She attended medical school at Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons before completing the Urban Health Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and fellowships in pediatric addiction medicine and adolescent medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is now a General Academic Pediatrics Fellow at Boston Medical Center, where she sees adolescent patients for primary and substance use care.  

Dr. Abita Raj is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the UMass Chan Medical school/ UMass Memorial Medical Center. She received her medical degree from ROSS University School of Medicine, completed her general psychiatry residency training, and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UMass Chan Medical School. She is board-certified in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry.  She is the Medical Director of UMASS Memorial Health- Community Healthlink, child division and the Director of UMASS Chan Medical School Student Counseling Services.  Dr. Raj has a strong interest in providing addiction treatment to adolescents.  She is focused on collaboration nationally and locally to help create and support systems of care for families and children struggling with substance abuse.  Additionally, in her role as the Director of Student Counseling she is focused on providing inclusive care and partnering with the school to improve students’ wellbeing.

Cedric Woods is a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. He combines more than a decade of tribal government experience with a research background and has served as the director of the Institute for New England Native American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston since 2009. The institute's purpose is to connect Native New England tribes with university research, innovation, and education. In his role as director, Cedric is working on projects with tribes in the areas of tribal government capacity building, Indian education, economic development, and chronic disease prevention.

Prior to this work, Cedric completed a study on the evolution of tribal government among the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, and served in a variety of capacities for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Cedric has also served as a consultant for the National Museum of the American Indian, the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth, Mass. Cedric has a doctorate degree from the University of Connecticut.

Teri Aronowitz is a professor and associate dean of Research & Innovation in the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing at UMass Chan Medical School. Her seminal contribution has been to advance the science of evidence-based care for sexual health promotion and healthy adolescent development. Teri has completed more than a dozen community-based participatory action projects, collaborating with African American, Asian American, and Native American families to promote health and adolescent development free of negative risk behaviors. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a member of the violence prevention expert panel.

Dr. Davida M. Schiff is a general academic pediatrician, addiction medicine physician, and health services researcher focused on improving care for families impacted by substance use disorder (SUD). She is the director of Perinatal and Family-based SUDs Care at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and is an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. In her role at MGH, she founded the HOPE Clinic, a multidisciplinary program caring for pregnant and parenting people with substance use disorder and their families from the time of conception through the first two years postpartum.

Dr. Schiff completed her undergraduate training at Columbia University, medical training at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, pediatrics residency in the Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital, general pediatrics research fellowship at Boston Medical Center, and master’s program in health services research from the Boston University School of Public Health. Her research has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Pediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Addiction.

Autaquay Peters-Mosquera is enrolled in the PhD nursing program at the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing at UMass Chan Medical School. She was awarded a Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing pre-doctoral minority fellowship. Her research focuses on missing and murdered indigenous women and violence prevention. Autaquay holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in business administration.

Chyla Bingham-Hendriks is enrolled in the PhD nursing program at the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing at UMass Chan Medical School. She was awarded a Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing pre-doctoral minority fellowship. Her research focus is substance misuse and corresponding policies related to treatment focusing on the Native American population. Chyla holds a bachelor’s in nursing from UMass Boston.

Laura Sternberger is the director of Pregnant and Parenting Women’s Services at the Institute for Health and Recovery, and director of the Massachusetts Moms Do Care program. Moms Do Care is a statewide program designed to provide multidisciplinary, peer-led, recovery-oriented, wraparound support for pregnant, postpartum, and parenting people with a history of substance use.

Laura is a seasoned clinician with more than 36 years in the field working with individuals, families, and children. She is also a nationally known public health leader who specializes in the planning, development and implementation of trauma-informed, recovery-oriented health care initiatives designed to support both clients and providers.

Telyia Prescott is the communications and provider support coordinator for the Institute for Health and Recovery and the Massachusetts Moms Do Care program. She has been working in the human services field for more than 13 years, and joined the Institute for Health and Recovery and Moms Do Care in 2017. Her work with Moms Do Care is focused on improving connections and collaboration among the 11 program sites, and on developing strategies to improve the impact and accessibility of the model in communities of color.

Telyia began her career providing direct service, working with adults with intellectual disability in several residential settings and providing case management and housing support to people experiencing homelessness at a shelter program in Virginia. Telyia also works as a private consultant for educators around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.