Opioids Related Content

Streamlined Approach To Equipping Medical Students With Naloxone

Naloxone is now the standard of care for reversing opioid overdoses. However, the stigma about naloxone among health care professionals poses a significant barrier to its distribution. In addition, even medical students who learn to prescribe it and train patients in its use may harbor uncertainty...

Opioid Overdose Survivors Report Having Had Suicidal Motivations

Past studies found that motivation for suicide may contribute to opioid overdose deaths in people with opioid use disorder (OUD). In 2019, a research team at McLean Hospital found suicidal motivations are common just prior to nonfatal opioid overdose and occur along a continuum of severity. Hilary S...

Helping Patients and Families Navigate Addiction Treatment Services

When she is not working as the admissions coordinator at Fernside, Quinn Tremblay stays very busy. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, attending country concerts and sports events, and “making folks laugh.” She said that her Catahoula leopard dog Annie “always puts a smile on my face,”...

Improving Our Treatment Approach for Opioid Use Disorder

A new national study, directed in part by Roger D. Weiss, MD, chief of McLean Hospital’s Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction, aims to create a model to predict who can successfully wean off their medication for opioid use disorder while also exploring how to help patients to continue some form...

Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction: New Names Reflect Progress

We are pleased to announce important name changes for McLean’s Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and its associated treatment program. As of Monday, March 2, 2020, the division will officially be known as the Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction and the umbrella treatment program will be known...

Telling the Story of Addiction

“That’s the outfit I wore when I overdosed and when I was discharged from the emergency room–the last day I used and the first day of sobriety.” - Ava Grieco Ava Grieco’s canvas shows her floating through a blue sky, arms wide and stippled with needle marks. A chain anchors her to a hypodermic...

How Can Policy Changes Combat the Opioid Crisis?

When the White House assembled a commission to address how to combat the nation’s opioid crisis, the administration called upon current and former elected officials with a background in administration, law enforcement, and addiction. And Bertha K. Madras, PhD. A psychobiologist in the Division of...

Opioid Addiction: Exploring Scientific Solutions

The ultimate solution to the opioid crisis is answering the question of what causes addiction and whether it is possible to treat it more effectively or even prevent it. That’s the challenge Elena H. Chartoff, PhD, is taking on in her laboratory. As director of the Neurobiology of Motivated Behavior...

On the Front Line of the Opioid Crisis

It was a problem we never used to speak about, something that afflicted those “down on their luck” or residents of “skid row” who could not cope with their lives. They dealt with those challenges with alcohol and drug misuse, the drug of choice frequently heroin. Today, addiction—particularly to...

Staff Profile: Roger D. Weiss, MD

Dr. Weiss’ career has focused on treatment and clinical research with substance-dependent patients. He has received numerous NIH grants, including for developing integrated group therapy, an evidence-based treatment for co-occurring bipolar and substance use disorders, and leading a multi-site...

Staff Profile: Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH

Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH, is an addiction psychiatrist, clinician, and researcher. She serves as principal and co-investigator on federally funded research focusing on substance use disorders treatment, gender differences, and substance health services. She received a National Institute on Drug...

Staff Profile: Hilary S. Connery, MD, PhD

Hilary S. Connery, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and serves as the clinical director for McLean Hospital’s Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction. Dr. Connery’s expertise includes treatment of opioid use disorders and integrated treatments for co...

Staff Profile: Quinn Stacy

Quinn Tremblay has previously worked as a middle school teacher, a high school coach, and management in community-based housing in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. When Fernside opened in 2006, she joined the team, originally in a direct care position before becoming...

Staff Profile: Jennifer Keller, BSN, RN

Jennifer Keller, BSN, RN, joined the team at Fernside, a McLean Signature Addiction Recovery Program, in 2014. She worked first as a staff nurse before transitioning to her current role as nurse manager. In her position, Ms. Keller facilitates groups focused on topics such as preventing addiction...