Webinar Will Provide Overview of Stimulant Use Disorder and Polysubstance Use
For Immediate Release
Date: June 18, 2021
Media Contact: Tracey Carlson, tracey@healthyacadia.org
Program Contact: Caroline Bloss, LMSW, Caroline.Bloss@healthyacadia.org
Webinar Will Provide Overview of Stimulant Use Disorder and Polysubstance Use
The New England Region Opioid Response Network, on behalf of Healthy Acadia, will host a free webinar from noon to 1 p.m., on Thursday, July 22, 2021, focused on stimulant use. Dr. Nitigna Desai, MD, will provide an overview of stimulant use disorder and the effects of stimulants and co-occurring polysubstance use.
This webinar will discuss the indications of stimulant use intoxication, withdrawal, and overdose, both on its own and with co-occurring substances, including benzodiazepines, alcohol, cannabis, and opiates. The long-term effects and impact of stimulant use and stimulant use disorder will be discussed, and an overview of the current evidence-based treatment options will be provided.
Pre-registration is required to attend this free webinar. Register online here. Please remember to download Zoom if you do not have it already. Once registered, you will receive a link that is individual to you. Please do not share this link.
Dr. Nitigna Desai, MD, is a board-certified Addiction Psychiatrist who has served as a Chief of Psychiatry from 2018 - 2021 and as Chief and Director of Substance Abuse Services since 1996 - 2021 at Bedford VAMC. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at BUSM and UMASS Medical School. She has participated in multiple research activities since 1998 that include initial work on validation of ASAM Patient Placement Criteria and psychopharmacological interventions in the area of Dual Diagnosis. She has extensive experience in the treatment of OUD and has published on outcome evaluation of OUD treatment.
Dr. Desai has been recognized by the VA for her work shepherding excellence in addiction services, particularly her efforts in championing innovations in evidence-based care. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and an active member of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, where she co-chairs their scientific committee and serves as a consultant for the Opioid Response Network. She is actively involved in teaching medical students, psychiatric residents, as well as addiction psychiatry fellows from both Boston University School of Medicine as well as UMASS Medical School. She has trained more than 75 addiction psychiatrists so far. She is well recognized for her Addiction work and had been appointed by the Governor of MASS to work on his Opioid Commission in 2017-2018.
Funding for this initiative was made possible in part by grant numbers. 6H79TI080816 and 1H79TI083343 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funded the State Opioid Response – Technical Assistance grant to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry in collaboration with the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC), Columbia University Division on Substance Use Disorders, and a large national coalition. In response, this coalition, representing over 2 million stakeholders, created the Opioid Response Network to provide training and address the opioid crisis. The Network has local consultants in all 50 states and nine territories to respond to local needs by providing free educational resources and training to states, communities, and individuals in the prevention, treatment, and recovery of opioid use disorders and stimulant use.
Healthy Acadia is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that engages in a broad range of initiatives to build healthier communities and make it easier for people to lead healthy lives across Washington and Hancock counties, Maine. Learn more at www.healthyacadia.org.
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