SAMHSA is happy to announce the winners of the 2012 Science and Service Awards. Three Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) and five Office-Based Opioid Treatment (OBOT) practitioners were selected for their commitment to excellence in the treatment of individuals with opioid-related conditions.

The purpose of these awards is to promote excellence in the treatment of opioid addiction by recognizing OTPs and OBOT practitioners who use pharmacotherapy as part of their treatment protocol and who have demonstrated implementation of exemplary innovative services, practices, and/or strategies, resulting in improved patient outcomes.

Applications for the award were reviewed by a panel of experts in the field of addiction medicine using five specific criteria: (1) treatment population(s)/subpopulation(s) served, (2) the EBP/EBT, (3) improved patient outcomes, (4) innovativeness, and (5) management and staff capabilities.  Each application received three independent reviews by panel members who then nominated the program or individual practitioner for the award.

The award recipients are:

For Office-Based Opioid Treatment

1. Marc Fishman, MD – Mountain Manor Treatment Center, Baltimore, Maryland
2. Colleen T. LaBelle, RN, CARN, Boston Medical Center-Massachusetts Department of Public Health Treatment Expansion STATE OBOT B, Boston Massachusetts
3. Joseph O. Merrill, MD – Project ROAM/ECHO – Seattle, Washington
4. Patricia A. Pade, MD – New Mexico Veteran’s Administration Health Care System, Albuquerque, New Mexico
5. Amanda Wilson, MD – CleanSlate Centers, Northampton, Massachusetts

For Opioid Treatment Program

1.  The Addiction Institute of New York at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals – New York, New York
2. CODA – Portland, Oregon
3. Connecticut Counseling Centers, Inc. – Norwalk, Connecticut

The OTP awardees will be honored at the awards banquet on April 24, 2012 at the 2012 national conference of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD). The OBOT awardees will be honored at the awards luncheon on April 21, 2012 at 43rd Annual Medical Scientific Conference of the American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM).

For more information on the Science to Service Awards and the winners, please go to:

http://www.samhsa.gov/Scienceandservice/index.aspx