Join HEALing Communities Study researchers and addiction experts for a day of learning about using team science and community engagement to fight addiction and overdose deaths.

This one-day event will bring together a diverse group of participants, including scientists from the HEALing Community Study (HCS), coalition leaders, individuals with lived experience, government officials, funders, academic representatives, faculty, and students from Columbia University and other institutions.

The event will showcase HCS’s innovative, data-driven, and community-centered strategies for addressing addiction and the opioid crisis. A central focus will be the role of team science in driving meaningful and impactful change.

The conference will emphasize the voices of individuals with lived experience, ensuring their perspectives are at the forefront. By fostering meaningful dialogue among academics, community leaders, and policymakers and people with lived experience, the conference will highlight HCS’s cross-disciplinary collaborations and co-create actionable solutions to address health and social challenges.

Participants will leave with practical insights and a deeper understanding of how HCS methodologies can be adapted to address a range of public health behavior, from addiction to broader health challenges.

Speakers will include, among many others:

• Nabila El-Bassel, HCS New York PI, SIG Director, University Professor and Willma and Albert Musher Professor of Social Work at Columbia University;
• Jeffrey Samet, HCS Massachusetts PI, John Noble Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair of Public Health at Boston University;
• Dan Feaster, Co-Director, Center for HIV and Research on Mental Health at University of Miami;
• Juanita Hotchkiss, HCS NY Coalition Director for Ulster County;
• Frances Levin, Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, and Medical Director for Opioid Response Network;
• Steve Kilburn, HCS NY Coalition Director for Chautauqua County; and
• Alexander Walley, Professor of Medicine at Boston University, Director of the  Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program at Boston Medical Center, and Medical Director for the Opioid Overdose Prevention Pilot Program at Massachusetts Department of Public Health

For the full agenda and details about all sessions and speakers, please visit the HCS New York website.

Online registration is now closed, but you can register in person at the conference. If you are interested in continuing education credits for a fee, please email James David.