National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives
A professional organization dedicated to translating scientific knowledge from the field of prevention science into effective and sustainable practices, systems and policies.
Virtual Congressional Briefing Series
Protecting Federal Leadership in Addiction Science and Public Health
REGISTRATION:
Tuesday, January 13, 2025
2:30 - 4:00pm ET
The Addiction Science Defense Network (ASDN) is pleased to announce an upcoming series of six congressional briefings on the critical importance of sustained federal support for addiction research, prevention, treatment, and recovery services. This briefing series will consist of six sessions, approximately 2 weeks apart.
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Part I – Federal Response to Addiction in the U.S.
This session will take place on January 13th from 2:30-4pm ET. Speakers will cover the impact of addiction on public health, the indispensable roles of the CDC and SAMHSA in combating substance use disorders by supporting treatment and prevention services, and the economic and human consequences of underfunding for states and constituents. Click here to register.
The Urgency of Federal Support
Leaders from ASDN, joined by scientists, practitioners, and community advocates, will present compelling evidence on how federal agencies serve as the backbone of our nation’s efforts to address addiction through evidence-based science and service delivery. The briefing will address the moral and practical imperatives for preserving the funding of these three agencies to support their scientific and service capacities within the Reconciliation Bill.
Part II – Scientific Foundations for Our Response to Addiction (TBD)
This session will highlight ongoing and future scientific advancements in addiction research, showcase NIH’s role in developing new treatments and preventive interventions, and emphasize the importance of ongoing federal leadership and investment in addiction science and services.
Part III – Connecting Science to Public Health Policy (TBD)
This session will focus on bridging scientific research with impactful public health policy, aiming to create a more effective and efficient system of services. The discussion will address the critical question: Do investments in research and evidence-based programs make a difference in public health outcomes?
Part IV – The Promise of Prevention (TBD)
This session will feature prevention scientists whose research has led to a better understanding of the causal mechanisms of substance misuse and addiction and strategies to prevent pathways to substance use in our youth.
Part V – The Criticality of Community Engaged Research (TBD)
This session will focus on the essential role that community involvement plays in advancing research related to substance use prevention, intervention, and recovery. Drawing on diverse expertise, the session will highlight how engaging communities not only enhances the relevance and effectiveness of research but also ensures that policies and interventions are culturally responsive and sustainable.
Part VI – The Aftermath: A Whole of Society Approach to Substance Use (TBD)
This session will feature a foremost authority from Alberta Canada who is transforming systems and mindsets through an understanding of how lifelong health is determined by more than just our genes: early life experiences change our brains in ways that make us more or less vulnerable to health problems in adulthood. A science-based roadmap will be presented for improving our physical and mental health, reducing vulnerability to addiction, and addressing related health problems across the lifespan.
Agenda & Speakers
Part I – Federal Response to Addiction in the U.S.
Remarks from Congressmen
Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY), Chair of the Addiction Treatment and Recovery Caucus
Moderator: Diana Fishbein, PhD, Nova Scholar and Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina and President, National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives
Overview: Costs of addiction, the larger context of general mental and physical health, why it’s a major public health problem, and the criticality of prevention and treatment services
Dr. Fishbein, Nova Scholar, is the Director of the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC), a senior scientist in the FPG Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill, and part-time research faculty at Penn State. Her expertise is in the fields of neuroscience, behavioral science, and prevention of substance abuse and related high risk behaviors, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies and foundations, to determine impacts of deleterious social contextual factors (e.g., adverse childhood experiences - ACEs) on brain development and behavioral/mental health in children and adolescents. Dr. Fishbein’s research supports the premise that underlying neurobiological mechanisms interact with the quality of our psychosocial experiences and environmental contexts to alter trajectories either towards or away from risk behaviors, and how compensatory mechanisms can be strengthened through implementation of primary prevention strategies. A wide range of approaches are applied toward equipping local, state, and federal organizations and agencies with the tools to implement, sustain and scale evidence-based, trauma-informed practices and policies to prevent poor outcomes and promote health and wellbeing in children and families, thereby reducing SUD and related problems. She founded and directs the NPSC, a large professional organization dedicated to the transfer of knowledge from this science to public health policies. As such, Dr. Fishbein has been intensively involved at the policy level in advising legislators, state and federal agencies, national organizations and other entities regarding policies and practices shown to avert trajectories away from SUD.
Paolo del Vecchio, Recovery Champion and former Director SAMHSA Office of Recovery
“From Personal Impact to Policy Solutions”
Overview: Personal journey of recovery from addictions and mental health conditions and lessons learned from a 30-year federal career with SAMHSA as a senior leader in fostering long term recovery.
Paolo del Vecchio, M.S.W, a person in long-term recovery from mental health and addictions, has been a leader in the peer recovery movement for 40 years. He recently completed a 30- year career at the US Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) where he served in multiple roles including the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services and the founding Director of the Office of Recovery. Paolo is now an independent advocate to advance recovery-oriented policies and practices on national and international levels.
Debra Houry, MD, MPH, Principal, DH Leadership and Strategy Solutions; former CDC Chief Medical Officer
“The Important Federal Role in Guiding State and Local Efforts to Combat Substance Misuse”
Overview: How CDC’s support to states and communities, surveillance systems, prevention programs, and rapid response initiatives are essential in reducing substance use, overdoses, and guiding public health action at state and local level.
Debra Houry, MD is a nationally recognized physician and public-health executive with nearly three decades of leadership spanning federal government, academia, nonprofit organizations, and frontline emergency medicine. Through her current LLC, she is a senior advisor to governors, states, and regional organizations on health policy and access, data modernization, preparedness, and incorporating technology into health systems. As the former Chief Medical Officer and Acting Principal Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), she guided the agency’s scientific and programmatic direction, overseeing a $6B portfolio across nine National Centers and more than 10,000 staff. She led agency enterprise risk management efforts and co-chaired the working capital fund, prioritizing business services efficiencies to reduce costs. She represented CDC before the White House, Congress, and Fortune 100 CEOs—helping restore trust, align stakeholders, and navigate the agency through political transition and national crises. Previously, as Director of CDC’s National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control, she stood up the national Overdose Data to Action program, led changes to timely and accessible data as the drug overdose epidemic evolved, and brought the Drug Free Communities work to the agency.
Kevin Shield PhD, Senior Scientist, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research
“Protecting the Public’s Health through Evidence-Informed Policy”
Overview: Multidisciplinary public health surveillance research programs generate scientific data to inform individuals, clinicians, and policymakers on how to mitigate the public health harms caused by alcohol and other drugs.
Kevin Shield, PhD, is a Senior Scientist and Head of the Pan American Health Organization Collaborating Centre at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Dr. Shield leads monitoring efforts on alcohol and drug misuse and their associated harms in the Americas and globally. His research evaluates the effectiveness of public health policies, such as taxation, screening and brief interventions, and expanding access to pharmaceutical treatments for alcohol and drug use disorders, in reducing alcohol- and drug-related harms. By integrating biological and population-level data, he identifies the mechanisms through which substance use contributes to disease risk and examines whether the relationships between alcohol and drug use and a wide spectrum of diseases, including cancers, cardiovascular conditions, liver disease, infectious diseases, and mental health disorders, are causal. His work on the health impacts of alcohol use at the individual level has informed national guidelines in numerous countries, equipping the public with evidence-based information on how alcohol consumption affects health based on personal circumstances. By translating complex evidence into practical guidance, Dr. Shield helps governments strengthen health systems and safeguard communities from the consequences of substance use.
Jeremy Bray, PhD, Professor, University of North Carolina-Greensboro
“Economic and Public Health Benefits of Funding for States and Constituents”
Overview: The role of federal research investment in promoting economic growth, creating private sector jobs, and spurring technological innovation, and the risks posed to our nation’s health, safety, and prosperity if federal support for these agencies is diminished, including the burden to taxpayers from increased healthcare, crime, and other costs.
Jeremy Bray, PhD is the Forsyth Medical Center Distinguished Professor of Economics in the Bryan School of Business and Economics at UNC Greensboro. He conducts research on the economics of health behaviors, with a primary focus on the economic evaluation of behavioral health and workplace interventions. For nearly three decades he has conducted economic evaluations of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) programs and provided policy-relevant evidence supporting their ongoing development and adoption worldwide. He has also conducted economic evaluations of workplace programs for over 30 years, providing evidence to policymakers and employers that has improved the health and wellbeing of the American workforce. His work has had a profound impact on public health by supporting the resource allocation decisions of federal, state, local, and workplace policymakers, both nationally and internationally.
Why Your Participation Matters
Federal leadership is essential to maintaining the scale, consistency, and vision necessary to address the complex challenge of addiction. The briefing will provide members of Congress, their staff, agency officials, national and community organizations, media, and the public with the latest data and real-world stories illustrating why robust support for NIH, CDC, and SAMHSA is vital to saving lives, fostering innovation, and promoting recovery nationwide.
Join ASDN as we advocate for continued and increased federal investment in addiction science and services. Together, we can ensure the future health and well-being of millions of Americans and sustain the progress our nation has made in the fight against substance use disorders.