Keynote Speakers

NC Governor, Roy Cooper

Roy Cooper is a trusted leader and family man who is honored to serve as North Carolina’s Governor. Roy Cooper has spent nearly three decades in public service protecting families, keeping communities safe, and working to create jobs and improve schools. The son of a school teacher, he knows that education creates opportunity and he…

NC Opioid Summit Josh Stein NC Attorney General

Josh Stein was sworn in as North Carolina’s 50th Attorney General in 2017. As Attorney General, he is focused on protecting North Carolina families from crime and consumer fraud. Stein has made combatting the opioid epidemic a top priority. His office drafted the STOP Act to reduce the number of people who become addicted to…

Dr. Houry leads innovative research and science-based programs to prevent injuries and violence and to reduce their consequences. She joined the CDC in October 2014. She has previously served as Vice-Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and as Associate Professor in the Departments of Behavioral…

Dr. Susan M. Kansagra serves as Section Chief of Chronic Disease and Injury for the NC Division of Public Health.   She is trained as a primary care physician and has worked extensively on public health initiatives related to chronic disease and tobacco control.   Her previous roles include serving as Deputy Commissioner of the…

Co-founder and co-director of the Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice. He is a Master Organizer with a 25 year history of developing leaders, building campaigns, and winning policy reform. Jones has worked, trained, and consulted on campaigns for immigration rights, healthcare reform, gender equality, marriage equality, safe access to drugs, and ending the…

Joseph Rannazzisi retired from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after serving more than 29 years as a Special Agent/Invesigator.  He was assigned to the Office of Diversion Control as the Deputy Assistant Administrator during the last 10 years of his career with DEA. LinkedIn

Speakers

Ann DuPre Rogers, LCSW is the Provider Relations Manager at Vaya Health.  She has served in the field of mental health and wellness since 1997, primarily as a child and family therapist, clinical supervisor, program director, and yoga instructor. For the past three years, Ann DuPre has had the opportunity to teach the Community Resilience…

Dr. Ashwin A. Patkar is a Professor of Psychiatry and Community and Family Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. He is the Medical Director of Duke Addictions Programs and Center for Addictive Behavior and Change. He is certified in Psychiatry with the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry with subspecialty certification in…

Dr. Fagan is the Chief Education Officer at Mountain Area Health Education Center. He is the Assistant Residency Director at MAHEC Family Medicine Residency Program.

Accomplished executive with 30 years of service in public sector healthcare and 15 years of executive/leadership experience. Has broad-based knowledge in behavioral healthcare policy and operations, including large-scale organizational transformation and strategic implementation. Highly competent collaborator with diverse groups, including health plan members, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, consulting organizations and state and local governments.

Dr. Murphy practices medicine at the UNC Health System in Chapel Hill where he is the Vice Chairman for Clinical Operations. Dr. Murphy is also an Associate Professor at UNC in the Department of Anesthesilogy.

Kay Sanford is an injury epidemiologist who identified the overdose epidemic in North Carolina in 2002 and began statewide initiatives to develop and implement new overdose prevention programs. Since retirement she helped co-found Project Lazarus and continues to work on overdose prevention, focusing on harm reduction, particularly in prisons.

Chelsea received a Master of Public Administration from Appalachian State University. She has a range of experience from working in local government and non-profit sectors.  Chelsea has a passion for public health and making positive impact in communities.

Christopher Campau graduate from North Carolina State University with a bachelor’s degree in Social work. Mr. Campau currently works for the Addiction Professionals of North Carolina as the Collegiate Recovery Program Coordinator, where he works as a liaison between the NC/DD/MH/SAS, the University of North Carolina-General Administration, and all schools with a collegiate recovery community.

Christina works as the viral hepatitis program managers for the North Carolina Communicable Disease Branch.  Christina received her MPH at Boston University School of Public Health, and has worked in viral hepatitis for the past six years.

Colin Miller has been involved in harm reduction since 2003 as both a recipient and provider of services. He was first introduced to harm reduction via Access Works in his hometown of Minneapolis, MN, and would later be engaged with Prevention Point in Philadelphia, PA. Over the years, Colin has worked primarily with people living…

Dr. Craig Martin, the Chief Medical Officer for Vaya Health, is Board Certified in Adult and Child Psychiatry as well as Addiction Medicine. He was formerly on the faculty of Johns Hopkins and has directed TBI/PTSD services for the Navy. He has clinical experience with Collaborative Care, Psychotherapy and Medication Assisted Treatment.

Prevention Administrator Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. He is also a member of the National Prevention Advisory Council and chair of Utah Prevention Advisory Committee.

Dale is the Director of the North Carolina TASC Training Institute at Coastal Horizons Center, Inc.  He has worked with persons involved in North Carolina’s criminal justice and treatment systems for over 25 years as a probation/parole officer, drug court and TASC program director, and educator.

Dana Mitchell has been the coordinator of the nationally recognized Dover Youth to Youth program for the past 25 years; a program that assists other communities and regions in implementing youth empowerment prevention programs. Along with students from his program, he teaches extensively about organizing and engaging youth in advocacy.

Donald McDonald, MSW, LCAS serves as the Director of Advocacy and Education with Recovery Communities of North Carolina (RCNC). Mr. McDonald is a Navy veteran, former teacher, and jazz musician. He now thrives in his 13th year of recovery from mental health and substance use disorders with his wife, Jill, and four children.

Donnie Varnell served as the head of the State Bureau of Investigation’s Diversion and Environmental Crimes Unit before becoming NCHRC’s law enforcement liaison to advocate for naloxone access, connections to care and treatment, and the introduction of Law Enforcement-Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs. He is now an investigator with the Dare County Sheriff’s Office and continues…

Don is a family practitioner from Western North Carolina. His practice now concentrates on the treatment of pain and the treatment of opioid use disorder. Don was the lead facilitator for the expert panel discussion during the development of the CDC guidelines for treating pain. He continues to contract with the CDC on educating prescribers…

Dr. Shannon Dowler is Associate Chief of Quality for the Ambulatory Mission Medical Associates practices across 18 Western North Carolina counties. She serves as the Chairperson for the Physician Advisory Group, which advises DMA on clinical policies for the Medicaid program. Nationally, she serves on the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Commission on the Health…

Hugh Tilson began serving as interim president of the North Carolina Hospital Association in January. Hugh came to NCHA in 1996 after practicing law in Washington, DC. He served as NCHA’s lead lobbyist for 16 years. In 2014 he became NCHA’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the daily operations of NCHA and…

Ms. Clymore is the HIV/STD /Hepatitis Director in the Communicable Disease Branch of the Division of Public, a position she’s held since 2009. She oversees all programmatic work for HIV care under Ryan White, housing under HOPWA, HIV and STD prevention, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), HIV Health Equity and the newest efforts to…

Jai currently serves as the Program Manager for Opioid Initiatives at the North Carolina Hospital Association. He has over 10 years of public health experience working in both youth health and development and community wellness programs. He is completing his Masters in Public Health in Health Policy and Administration from the Gillings School of Global…

Jarryd has been with the Fayetteville Police Department since 2009.  He currently serves as a patrol officer, field training officer, and instructor at the Fayetteville Police Academy.  Jarryd was one of the first officers in Fayetteville to be trained in LEAD (law enforcement assisted diversion) and has enrolled several individuals in the program.

Jesse is a former drug user and a formerly incarcerated person. He works as the statewide overdose prevention coordinator, an outreach worker and the statewide volunteer coordinator for the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition and, as such, he participates in and advocates for harm reduction efforts in the community. These efforts include but are not…

Jessica Dicken has over eighteen years of experience in substance abuse prevention and social services; primarily providing training and technical assistance to alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) prevention block grantees on topics such as the Strategic Prevention Framework, environmental strategies, data collection, strategic planning and coalition building.  She currently serves as the Training and…

Jessie leads nalaxone distribution and syringe eschange efforts for NCHRC in Fayetteville, NC. Jessie engages with LEAD participants to assess any gaps in services and linkage to service providers. Jessie also follows up with those that have overdosed to assist with aftercare.

Joe Prater currently serves as Deputy Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, which has a current annual operating budget of $1.6 billion, a staff of over 21,000, and which maintains custody and supervision for over 130,000 adult and juvenile offenders.  In this position, he is…

Dr. JP Jameson is an associate professor at Appalachian State University and a Licensed Psychologist (Provisional). His research and clinical interests focus on the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of mental health services in rural areas. This includes studies on effectiveness of school-based mental health programs, prediction and prevention of suicide among rural adolescents, and…

Julia Wacker is the Vice President of Community and Behavioral Health at the NC Hospital Association. In this role, she develops state-level behavioral health policy and programmatic initiatives in support of NC hospitals and patients. Ms. Wacker is the co-author of the American Board of Pediatrics’ Performance Improvement Module on motivational interviewing. Ms. Wacker is…

Katie Goetz, LPC, LCAS is the Service Manager of the Recovery Education Centers at Meridian Behavioral Health Services where she works as a supervisor and therapist with those recovering from mental illness and substance abuse challenges.  Katie also oversees Meridian’s whole person care projects and initiatives.  Katie has had the opportunity to teach CRM skills…

Kenneth Conner is a Professor in Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry and the Co-Director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide at the University of Rochester Medical Center.  His expertise is in the study of substance abuse and suicidal behavior, particularly alcohol, with a growing interest in other drugs of abuse.

Kenny works with Coastal Horizons in Southeastern NC and has over 35 years of experience in the Substance Use and Mental Health field.  He has developed programs for prevention, outpatient treatment, opioid treatment and integrated primary care.  Kenny is the Chairperson of the NC Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence and a Board member…

Dr. Kurt Michael is a professor of Psychology of undergraduate and graduate students at Appalachian State University and a Licensed Psychologist. His research in the areas of school mental health, depression, and suicide prevention appears in peer-reviewed journals. He serves in an editorial capacity on 3 scientific outlets.  Kurt’s primary professional aim is to help…

Dr. Laurie Cluff is an industrial/organizational psychologist with more than 15 years of experience in workplace health and workforce research.  She has evaluated interventions, provided technical assistance, and developed targeted screening tools directed at preventing workplace prescription drug and other substance abuse.

Lillie is the Community Overdose consultant with the North Carolina Division of Public Health. She leads the North Carolina Safer Syringe Initiative, overseeing and supporting syringe exchange programs and other harm reduction-based health services for people who use drugs. Ms. Armstrong has been involved in harm reduction since 2008 and has worked with programs in…

Loftin Wilson is the Rural Programs Coordinator with the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition. He started as a volunteer with the NCHRC in 2010 and then worked part-time as a Harm Reduction Organizer for NCHRC for five years, before starting as full-time staff with NCHRC in the fall of 2015. He does overdose prevention, HIV/hepatitis…

Mark Wolfson is Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine. He has over 25 years of experience in conducting research on substance abuse among youth and young adults, with a particular interest in the role of community-based environmental strategies in prevention. His current research projects include…

Mary Beth Cox, MPH, joined the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch at the North Carolina Division of Public Health in January 2016 as an epidemiologist working on alcohol and other drug use in NC.  She serves on several state and national workgroups aiming to reduce alcohol-related and drug overdose deaths.

Melinda Pankratz has a doctorate in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently manages North Carolina’s Substance Abuse Prevention Block Grant. Prior to this Dr. Pankratz had more than fifteen years of experience in substance use prevention research and evaluation.

Melissia serves as NCHRC’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Coordinator, where she oversees Fayetteville’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Program, works on expanding LEAD and helps oversee NCHRC’s law enforcement projects.  Melissia is a experienced public safety project manager with 16 years experience serving as lead on a variety of issues. During her work with a…

Mike helps lead naloxone distribution and syringe exchange efforts for NCHRC in Wilmington, NC.  Mike also assists NCHRC follow up with Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion participants in Wilmington, NC, as well as people who have overdosed in Brunswick County, NC and provides them supportive care.

Patty McCarthy Metcalf, M.S., is the Executive Director of Faces & Voices of Recovery. She previously served the Center for Social Innovation as a Deputy Director of SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) initiative. In addition to public policy and education, her work has focused on community mobilizing, peer-based…

Phillip W. Graham is Director of RTI’s Drugs, Violence, and Delinquency Prevention (DVDP) Research Program.  His research focuses on evaluating preventive interventions developed to reduce and prevent adolescent interpersonal violence and substance use. He currently serves as the project director for the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s national cross-site evaluations.

Sarah Potter is the Team Leader for the Prevention and Early Intervention section of the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services. Previously she served as President of Creative Alliance where she specialized in program development and evaluation, strategic planning, and resource development. She has also served as Director of Program…

Mr. Proescholdbell joined the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB) at the Division of Public Health in 2008. He is the PI of the NC Violent Death Reporting System, NC Prescription Drug Overdose (PDO) project, and is working to build capacity for a general injury surveillance system.

Dr. Green is a Research Fellow at the UNC Sheps Center for Health Services Research and a faculty member in the Department of Maternal and Child Health. She is principal investigator for a grant from AHRQ that aims to reduce barriers and expand access to medication assisted treatment in NC.

Steven A. Mange serves as Senior Policy & Strategy Counsel to North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, where his current focus is on strategies to address the opioid epidemic. Steve previously worked as Senior Policy Advisor to the Illinois Attorney General, Executive Director of the Illinois Meth Project, and consultant to the National Alliance for…

Susan E. Robinson, M.Ed., Mental Health Program Manager/Planner, NC DHHS, DMHDDSAS. Ms. Robinson has more than thirty years of experience working with children and youth with serious emotional disorders and disabilities and their families.  She has served as the Child Planner and Manager for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant and staff to the…

Suzanne has worked for United Way of Rutherford County since 2008. She helped establish and lead United Way’s substance abuse prevention coalition. The “Community Engagement Team” is now a Year 5 Drug Free Communities grantee.  Her grant writing and program development work features numerous collaborative projects with law enforcement and treatment providers which include the…

Since 2010, Tessie Castillo has served as Advocacy and Communication Coordinator for NCHRC. She is the agency’s only registered lobbyist and has successfully advocated for several new laws pertaining to overdose prevention, naloxone access, law enforcement needle-stick injury prevention, and the legalization of syringe exchange programs.

Tom Bashore is the Chief of Police for the Town of Nashville Police Department.  He has over 19 years of civilian law enforcement experience and 24 years of military police experience.  Chief Bashore holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Western Carolina University and a Master’s degree in Leadership from Bellevue University…