Contact: Dennis Tartaglia
(732) 545-1848
dtartaglia@tartagliacommunications.com
For Immediate Release
SIX ADDICTION MEDICINE FELLOWS RECOGNIZED WITH ABAM FOUNDATION
NEXT GENERATION AWARDS FOR ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION
Chevy Chase, Maryland – April 24, 2014 – 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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