Understanding Addiction

(Host) CADCA Vice President for Communications and Membership

Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Nora D. Volkow, M.D., was appointed Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in May 2003. She is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on drug addiction and brain imaging.

Dr. Volkow’s work has been pivotal in demonstrating that drug addiction is a disease of the brain. She pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate the toxic effects of drugs and the effects of drugs responsible for their addictive properties in the human brain. In addition, she has made important contributions to the neurobiology of obesity, to the neurobiology of the behavioral changes that occur with aging, and to the treatment of ADHD.

Dr. Volkow was born in Mexico, attended the Modern American School, and earned her medical degree from the National University of Mexico in Mexico City, where she received the Premio Robins award for best medical student of her generation. Her psychiatric residency was at New York University, where she earned the Laughlin Fellowship Award as one of the 10 Outstanding Psychiatric Residents in the USA.

She has published more than 330 peer-reviewed articles, more than 50 book chapters and non-peer reviewed manuscripts, and also edited three books on the use of neuroimaging in studying mental and addictive disorders.

Dr. Volkow has been the recipient of numerous awards for significant scientific and public service achievements, is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and was named “Innovator of the Year” in 2000 by US News and World Report.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIAAA, Director of the Institute’s Division of Treatment and Recovery Research (DTRR)

Dr. Willenbring came to NIAAA in 2004 from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, where he served as Professor of Psychiatry. He has also served as Medical Director of the Addictive Disorders Section at the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Willenbring received his M.D. from the University of Minnesota and did his internship at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center in St. Paul, MN. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of California, Davis.

Dr. Willenbring’s research interests include pharmacotherapies for alcohol and other drug abuse, alcohol and tobacco, the treatment of co-occurring disorders, the interaction of treatment for alcohol use disorders and hepatitis C, and implementing research findings into clinical practice. During his distinguished research career he has published on topics ranging from medications for alcohol dependence and mental health disorders and psychoneuroendocrinology, to case management and service delivery, hepatitis C, and evidence-based practice guidelines. For the past five years, Dr. Willenbring has been a national leader in a large-scale effort within the VA to implement evidence-based practices in substance use disorder treatment.

Board of Directors of Faces & Voices of Recovery (Faces & Voices)
Mike Barry has had his share of broad life experiences from which to draw. By age 40, he had reached the peak of his profession as a TV broadcaster and producer, but behind the polished image of success was a man already overwhelmed by the disease of alcoholism.

His story is more common than you think, which is why the driving passion of his life today is to help others in need of the new life, free from addiction and in recovery, that he himself found. His new calling as an advocate for the recovery movement is enhanced by his training and experience in broadcasting and technology. His unique combination of talent, energy and devotion to the cause has placed him at the heart of this movement. He seeks to educate others about addiction, to remove barriers and discrimination, and thus enable those in recovery and no longer using alcohol and other drugs to become productive members of society.

Barry is Chairman of People Advocating Recovery (PAR), a statewide organization in Kentucky, and is also the Executive Director of Beacon House, a Louisville, KY recovery house.

Producer, ADDICTION, HBO, Vice President, Original Programming

John Hoffman has spent the past eleven years creating, producing and supervising documentary programming for HBO. His most recent work was as the producer of the ADDICTION project. In 2006 Hoffman was also the supervising producer of “Hacking Democracy.” Other recent producing work include the Emmy-nominated “Last Letters Home: Voices of American Troops from the Battlefields of Iraq,” “All Aboard: Rosie’s Family Cruise,” and “In Memoriam, New York City, 9/11/01.” Prior to HBO, Hoffman produced and created the childrens’ television series “Allegra’s Window.” From 1987 to 1990, he served as Executive Director of AIDSFILMS, where he produced six multi-award-winning films including the special “AIDS: Changing The Rules.” Hoffman is a graduate of Cornell University.

Director, Youth Alcohol Prevention Center; Director, Join Together; Professor, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health

Dr. Rosenbloom has taught for more than 30 years, with an emphasis on developing new techniques to improve the effectiveness of teaching. He has conducted and published research in both political science and substance abuse, including a book on the development of the professional campaign management industry, four national surveys on community anti-drug organizations and strategies, and numerous articles on substance abuse policy.

He is the Director of Join Together, a program of the School of Public Health, which helps communities fight substance abuse and gun violence. He chaired a Special Committee on the Clinical Trial Network program for the National Institute on Drug Abuse National Advisory Council, and he serves as a Director of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Stop Handgun Violence and is Chairman of QuitNet.com, Inc.

For eight years, he was Commissioner of Health and Hospitals for the City of Boston, acting as the city’s public health officer and CEO of the city’s public delivery system, including Boston City Hospital, 22 neighborhood health centers, and the emergency medical system. He was also President of Health Data Institute, a company that pioneered the clinical analysis of medical claims data and developed managed care tools and techniques used throughout the country today.