Our Team

Training Faculty

Daniel Alford, MD, MPH
Lead Instructor | Co-Principal Investigator

Dr. Alford is Professor of Medicine, Associate Dean of Continuing Medical Education and Director of the Safer/Competent Opioid Prescribing Education (SCOPE of Pain) program at the Boston University School of Medicine. He is past-president of the Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA) and Director of the Immersion Training Program in Addiction Medicine funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He has been recognized as a White House Champion of Change and is the recipient of the American Medical Association’s Award for Health Education. Dr. Alford is Co-Principal Investigator of the FEAT Pilot Program.

Maryann Amodeo, PhD, MSW
Lead Instructor | Co-Investigator

Dr. Amodeo is Professor Emerita of Clinical Practice and former Co-Director of the Center for Addictions Research and Services at the Boston University School of Social Work. She is past-president of the Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA) and former faculty member of the Boston University School of Medicine’s Immersion Training Program in Addiction Medicine. For 15 years, she directed a multidisciplinary postgraduate certificate program, Alcohol and Drug Abuse: Assessment and Intervention, which graduated over 250 masters and doctoral level clinicians.

Clinical and Content Experts

Ricardo Cruz, MD, MPH
Ask the Experts

Dr. Cruz is an Attending Physician in the Section of General Internal Medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Core Faculty Member of the Internal Medicine Primary Care Training Program at the Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Cruz’s main clinical, research, and educational interests include treatment of substance use disorders and primary care for Latinx populations. Currently, he leads a study of the use of peer recovery coaches to improve the retention of minority populations with opioid use disorder to addiction treatment and primary care services.

Amy Fitzpatrick, MD
Ask the Experts

Dr. Fitzpatrick works as a primary care physician in the Women’s Health Group and in the Office-Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) clinic at Boston Medical Center where she provides treatment for substance use disorders integrated into the primary care setting. Dr. Fitzpatrick also serves as a physician consultant for The Massachusetts Consultation Service for the Treatment of Addiction and Pain (MCSTAP).  She is board-certified in both internal medicine and addiction medicine. In addition to her work at Boston Medical Center, she serves as medical director of the Northeast Addictions Treatment Center in Quincy, MA.

Luz López, PhD, MSW, MPH
Ask the Experts

Dr. López is Clinical Professor and Associate Director of the Dual Degree Program in Public Health and Social Work at the Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW). She has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of substance use and trauma-informed care with Latinx and other racial and ethnically diverse populations. She also has extensive experience in the areas of global health and intimate partner violence, co-coordinates and teaches in the Behavioral Health Specialization at the BUSSW, and leads a Puerto Rico Cultural Immersion Travel Course which has a major focus on alcohol and drug use disorders.

Erika Vargas, LCSW
Ask the Experts

Erika Vargas is Manager of Adult Programs at Hina Mauka, an addiction treatment center providing medication assisted treatment, psychiatric, medical, and case management services for individuals with co-occurring disorders. She oversees clinical services, coordination of care, and continuing education programs. Ms. Vargas also serves as a facilitator for an online course in substance use disorder treatment at Boston University. She serves on the Hawaii Advisory Commission for Drugs and Controlled Substances which helps inform state policy regarding the prevention, education, and treatment of addictions.

Evaluation Team

Christopher P. Salas-Wright, PhD, MSW
Co-Principal Investigator

Dr. Salas-Wright is Associate Professor in the Boston University School of Social Work. His research on substance use etiology and prevention has resulted in more than 150 scholarly publications, including two books. In 2017, Dr. Salas-Wright served as Principal Investigator (PI) for Alcohol and Other Drugs Education Program for Social Work Faculty, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Presently, he is PI of a K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award, funded by NIAAA. In 2019, he received the Society for Social Work and Research’s Deborah K. Padgett Early Career Achievement Award, the organization’s premier honor for early career faculty.

Rachel John, MSW
Project Director

Rachel John is a PhD student in the Boston University School of Social Work. Currently, Rachel is coordinating the Faculty Education in Addiction Training pilot study as part of her research assistantship with Dr. Salas-Wright. She has extensive experience working with individuals who have experienced depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance misuse and relational issues. In addition to her coursework and training in advanced research methods, Rachel is currently conducting research focused on national trends in substance use disorders and risk behavior among immigrants to the United States.

Deborah Chassler, MSW
Evaluation Liaison

Deborah Chassler is a Senior Academic Researcher in the Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW). Her research focuses on substance use disorders with an emphasis on evaluation research with community partners providing addiction treatment services. Deborah teaches the required Racial Justice and Cultural Oppression course at the BUSSW and is involved in several racial justice initiatives at Boston University and in the community.  She co-directs the BUSSW Behavioral Health Specialization for advanced social work masters students.  In addition, she provides mentorship to masters and doctoral students.

Jeffrey Samet, MD, MPH
Co-Investigator

Dr. Samet is the John Noble, MD Professor in General Internal Medicine and Professor of Public Health at Boston University and a practicing primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, with expertise treating substance use disorders in general healthcare settings and researching the impact of substance use on HIV infection. He is Chief of General Internal Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center and Vice Chair for Public Health in the Department of Medicine. He is Principal Investigator of multiple federally funded studies and is editor of the journal Addiction Science & Clinical Practice.

Jorge Delva, PhD, MSW
Co-Investigator

Dr. Delva is Dean of the School of Social Work and Director and Paul Farmer Professor of the Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health (CISWH) at Boston University. His research seeks to reduce health inequities and improve the lives of low-income and racial and ethnic minority populations and communities domestically and globally. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Clinical and Translational Research Mentor Award, awarded by University of Michigan’s Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR). This award honors the accomplishments of faculty demonstrating high quality mentoring in areas of clinical and translational research.

The FEAT Program is supported by the Boston University (BU) Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health and BU’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute via funding from NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences under Award Number 1UL1TR001430. The content is solely the responsibility of FEAT investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIH.