Our Team

Agata Bereznicka, MPH

Addiction Psychiatry Project Manager, Department of Psychiatry and Grayken Center for Addiction

Agata (“Aga”) Bereznicka, MPH, is Addiction Psychiatry Project Manager working across the Department of Psychiatry and Grayken Center for Addiction teams at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Her work within both teams focuses on quality improvement (QI) and on educational initiatives related to substance use.

Within the Wellness and Recovery after Psychosis (WRAP) Program in the Department of Psychiatry, Aga is involved with evaluation of the WRAP without Walls initiative as well as the contingency management/rewards program. She also provides programmatic support to several other programs within BMC’s Department of Psychiatry and Grayken Center for Addiction, including the Addiction Psychiatry Treatment Program, Project ASSERT, and the Grayken Women’s Health Initiative.

Aga is passionate about improving access to low-barrier mental health and substance use care, especially among populations that have historically been underserved and excluded from high-quality and evidence-based practices.

In her free time, Aga enjoys gardening, traveling, and spending time with her cats.

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Casy Calver, PhD

Editorial Director, Grayken Center for Addiction and the Clinical Addiction Research & Education Unit

Casy Calver is the Editorial Director at the Grayken Center for Addiction and the Clinical Addiction Research & Education (CARE) Unit at Boston Medical Center, where she works on the newsletter Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Health: Current Evidence and the journal Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. Casy’s doctoral dissertation in editorial studies at Boston University was an annotated edition of the 1937 pamphlet Authors Take Sides on the Spanish War. She also has an MSc in global health policy from the University of Edinburgh, and serves as executive officer of the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors.

Alexandra Fortune, LISCW

Clinical Supervisor for Project ASSERT and Rapid ACCESS

Alex Fortune is the clinical supervisor for Project ASSERT and Rapid ACCESS, where she provides leadership and oversight of clinical practice, administrative functions, and daily operations. Before stepping into this role, Alex was the social worker for the Grayken Women’s Health Initiative, supporting women in accessing integrated medical and substance use treatment. With extensive experience working at the intersection of addiction, mental health, and the legal system, Alex is committed to helping individuals navigate complex systems and achieve their personal recovery and wellness goals.

Allison Frank

Population Health Analyst, Population Health Analytics and Grayken Center for Addiction

Allison Frank is a population health analyst at Boston Medical Center, working with both the Population Health Analytics and Grayken Center for Addiction teams. Allison has expertise in data analysis and interpretation, with a focus on leveraging complex health data to inform program development and policy. She is especially interested in health equity, substance use disorder treatment, and harm reduction programs. Allison aims to use data analysis to identify and address disparities in care, improve access to effective interventions, and support populations affected by addiction. She is passionate about using community-informed strategies to promote better health outcomes in various areas for underserved populations.

Raquel Silveira, MBA

Administrative Manager, Grayken Center for Addiction

Raquel Silveira is an accomplished administrative manager at Boston Medical Center (BMC), bringing over 12 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She holds an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University and specializes in optimizing operational efficiency and supporting strategic initiatives within hospital settings. Raquel's expertise lies in streamlining administrative processes, enhancing team collaboration, and contributing to the delivery of high-quality patient care. She is passionate about healthcare innovation and committed to fostering environments that prioritize both patient outcomes and staff development.

Lexie Bergeron, MPH, LCSW

Director of Operations, OBAT

Lexie Bergeron, MPH, LCSW is the director of operations for the Office Based Addiction Treatment Clinic (OBAT) in Primary Care at BMC. She oversees the day-to-day operations of the OBAT Clinic, which pioneered the nurse care manager model of addiction treatment (the Massachusetts Model). Working alongside six nurses, a case manager, care coordinator, and medical assistant, the OBAT Clinic currently treats 850-900 patients for substance use disorder. She also advises community health centers on clinic administration and protocols related to providing substance use disorder treatment in a primary care setting. Lexie has over 21 years of experience working in the OBAT Clinic, and she also manages data collection for the STATE OBAT B Grant, working with community health centers throughout Massachusetts to report programmatic and patient data after implementing the Massachusetts Model of nurse care management. Lexie received her BA from Brown University and her MPH and MSW from Columbia University. 

Kristen Parent, MA, LMHC

Program Director, START Clinic

Kristin is the program director of the Stimulant Treatment and Recovery Team (START) Clinic, which provides treatment for patients with stimulant use disorder. As a licensed mental health counselor, she also provides group therapy to patients involved in the program. As part of the Grayken Center for Addiction Training & Technical Assistance (TTA) team, she provides TTA to the three other programs in Massachusetts implementing the START model into their sites. Kristin is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Medicine, where she earned a master of arts in mental health counseling and behavioral medicine, and she received a bachelor of science in psychology from The Pennsylvania State University. 

Alicia Ventura, MPH

Director of Special Projects & Research for Grayken Center for Addiction Training and Technical Assistance Program

Lead - Information Impacts Action: Debunking Myths About the Family and Recovery

Alicia Ventura is the director of special projects and research for the Grayken Center for Addiction Training and Technical Assistance program and Boston Medical Center's Office Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) program, overseeing all research and evaluation activities for both programs. She has more than 15 years of experience conducting public health and clinical research. Ventura has spent the last decade focused exclusively on research, evaluation, and program development related to mitigating the harmful consequences of alcohol and drug use, including the impact on affected family members. She is currently principal investigator of a qualitative study investigating the experience of affected family members. She is also co-investigator on a mixed-methods study examining perspectives of addiction treatment providers on working with family members.  

Ventura also directs a harm reduction-focused educational program for family members affected by a loved one's substance use. She provides training and technical assistance to health care organizations on integration of the family into routine addiction care and is a board member of the Addiction and the Family International Network. She has published on various topics, including reproductive health, HIV, substance use, and family members impacted by substance use. Alicia received her master’s in community public health from New York University.

Karsten Lunze, MD, MPH, DrPH

Dr. Lunze is a board certified physician and clinical health services researcher in the Department of Medicine at Boston Medical Center. His research has focused on improving access to quality care for disadvantaged populations by addressing intersectional stigma and other barriers to prevention and care. Dr Lunze’s global health program has developed and evaluated community-engaged behavioral and pharmacological interventions for people with addictions, HIV, TB and those affected by war and other humanitarian disasters. 
 

Departments: General Internal Medicine, CARE Unit 

Contact: 617.414.0000

Primary Location: 801 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02118
 

Alyssa F Peterkin, MD

Program Director, Grayken Addiction Medicine Fellowship; Co-Director, LEADS Addiction and Health Track, Section of General Internal Medicine

Alyssa Peterkin, MD, is a hospitalist at Boston Medical Center. She received her medical degree from New York Medical College and completed residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. As a graduate of Boston University's Addiction Medicine Fellowship, her interests include addiction education and expanding access to treatment for substance use disorder inpatient. She regularly attends on the inpatient addiction consult service and works in Faster Paths which is Boston Medical Center's substance use disorder urgent care center.

Kaku So-Armah, PhD

Clinical Researcher, Boston University; LEAP Consultation Service Evaluator

Speaker - Plenary Presentation 1: How Can We Make Addiction Treatment More Appealing, Effective and Equitable for Black Patients?

Eric Brown, PhD

Assistant Professor, Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine, Department of Psychiatry

Eric M. Brown, PhD, MDiv, is a counselor educator, a mental health counselor, and a researcher. He is an assistant professor in the CACREP Accredited Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine program at Boston University School of Medicine, where he teaches classes on trauma counseling, group therapy, and career counseling. His research is focused on issues related to trauma, addiction, youth suicide prevention, and the professional development, and wellbeing of helping professionals. 

Déjà Clement, PhD, MPH

Clinical health Psychologist

Déjà Clement, PhD, MPH is a clinical health psychologist with a background in public health. She is currently a post-doctoral research fellow in the Boston University Clinical HIV/AIDS Research Training Program (T32), clinical fellow in the Integrated Behavioral Health Fellowship at Boston Medical Center, visiting research faculty within the Research Education Institute for Diverse Scholars (REIDS) in the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA) at Yale’s School of Public Health, and affiliated investigator and Kenneth H. Mayer Fellow at The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health. 

Dr. Clement earned her PhD in clinical psychology with an emphasis in health psychology/behavioral medicine at Oklahoma State University and completed a clinical psychology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the Behavioral Medicine Program.   

Nkechi Conteh, MBBS, MPH

Psychiatrist; Psychiatry Residency Program Director

Deborah Goldfarb, MSW, LICSW

Director of Behavioral Health, Population Health, Boston Medical Center

Moderator - Breakout Session: Navigating Access to MOUD and Harm Reduction in Carceral Settings: Challenges and Opportunities for Advocacy 
Moderator - Plenary Panel 1: Reforming Involuntary Holds for People with Substance Use Disorders: Best Practices (Section 35 Reform) (Saturday AM)

Deborah Goldfarb has worked in the social services field with diverse patient populations throughout greater Boston for more than 10 years.  As a case manager and clinical social worker, she has focused on social determinants of health as well acute psychiatric crises, trauma, homelessness, and addiction. In recent years her work has concentrated on the intersection of behavioral health care and the criminal legal system through work in the state prison system and with Harvard Law's Criminal Justice Institute.  

Goldfarb is the director of behavioral health for Population Health at Boston Medical Center, and leads initiatives related to the criminalization of addiction at the Grayken Center for Addiction. As a passionate advocate for those facing social injustices, she leads the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts Chapter's Criminal Justice Committee, is a board member with the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, and teaches part time at the Boston University School of Social Work. 

Karrin Weisenthal, MD

Medical Director, ED Addiction Consult Team; Associate Medical Director, Faster Paths

Karri Weisenthal, M.D./M.H.S. is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, the Medical Director for the ED-Addiction Consult Team, and the Associate Medical Director of Faster Paths to Treatment, Boston Medical Center's low-barrier addiction bridge clinic. She graduated cum laude from the Yale School of Medicine and completed her residency training in Emergency Medicine and Addiction Medicine fellowship at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Weisenthal is an active researcher in the fields of Emergency and Addiction Medicine. Her areas of interest include program implementation to improve initiation and access to evidence-based medications for substance use disorder in the Emergency Department, ensuring smooth transitions of care from the emergency to outpatient settings, and integrating a harm reduction and trauma-informed approach into Emergency Department patient care.

Karissa Giovannini, MSW, LICSW

Clinical Program Manager

Deborah Chassler, MSW

Senior Academic Researcher; LEAP Consultation Training Lead

Deborah Chassler, MSW is a senior academic researcher based at Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW). She is deeply committed to social work values of equity and justice. In practice that means she grounds her work in community engagement, harm reduction, and knowledge democracy to address racial and health equity. As a researcher she is currently a member of Grayken Center for Addiction research team, and she also works with the HEALing Communities Study at BMC. At BUSSW she mentors doctoral students and for many years she taught in the masters’ program. For two years she was the Faculty Fellow for BU Diversity and Inclusion. She currently serves on the National Advisory Council for Drug Abuse.

Christina Lee, PhD

Associate Professor

Christina S. Lee, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Boston University (BUSSW); addiction faculty at BU’s Grayken Center, Boston Medical Center; and a faculty affiliate at BU’s Center for Antiracist Research. Her research bridges the areas of intervention science, addiction psychology, and health inequities. By focusing on the effects of social and environmental stressors, like the impact of discrimination, stigma, and racism, Dr. Lee has become an influential voice in efforts to reduce risky health behaviors among diverse, understudied groups and in understanding substance use as a social justice issue. She is PI and co-PI on NIAAA-funded addiction treatment research with diverse populations, and is on the training faculty at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. She is also the research director at BUSSW’s Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health (CISWH), and mentors graduate and postdoctoral scholars from diverse racial-ethnic groups. Dr. Lee is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and the NIAAA journal Alcohol Research: Current Reviews.

Peter Treitler

Assistant Professor, Department of Human Behavior, Research, and Policy

Peter Treitler is an assistant professor at Boston University School of Social Work. His research aims to improve well-being for people with substance use disorders and inform more-effective solutions to the nation’s substance use challenges. His work examines the implementation and outcomes of health services for people with substance use disorders, and how federal, state, and payer policies impact their treatment and recovery experiences. 

Natrina Johnson, PhD

Research Scientist, Grayken Center for Addiction

Natrina Johnson, PhD, is a health services researcher whose interests include disparities in treatment access and health outcomes for people with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders. Dr. Johnson has prior experience working as a substance use counselor and as a house manager in transitional treatment programs for adults in recovery. Her research integrates qualitative and quantitative research methods to inform policy and practice. She joined the Grayken Center in August 2023 to work with the Substance Use Disorder Antiracism “SUDA” workgroup and will help lead the analysis of qualitative data gathered from multidisciplinary experts in addiction treatment

Jake Morgan, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

Dr. Morgan is a research assistant professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is an addictions health services research and applied health economist with extensive experience in using statistical, econometric, and simulation modeling to evaluate access to and efficacy of treatments for opioid use disorder. His research employs advanced data analytics to improve responses to the opioid overdose epidemic and healthcare delivery to people with substance use disorder. 

Michael D. Stein, MD

Professor and Chair, Department of Health Law, Policy & Management

Recognized among the top one percent of NIH grant recipients over the past two decades, Dr. Stein has worked at the intersection of behavioral medicine and primary care. His outcomes research has moved between substance use disorders and HIV/AIDS, sleep and pain, mental health disorders, and the determinants of risk-taking. He has published more than 450 scientific journal articles. Dr. Stein graduated from Harvard College and received his medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. After medical residency at New England Medical Center, he completed a National Research Service Award Fellowship at Brown University. He was director of HIV Services at Rhode Island Hospital for two decades. He worked for years as a consultant to tech start-ups. He is also the award-winning author of six novels and eight books of non-fiction, and his writings have been noted in the Best American essay series, and appeared in many magazines and newspapers. Recent books, "Me vs. Us: A Health Divided" and "Accidental Kindness: A Doctor's Notes on Empathy," were published in 2022. HIs newest book, with Sandro Galea, "The Turning Point: Reflections on a Pandemic" was published in 2024. He is Executive Editor of the online magazine Public Health Post.

Noel Vest, PhD

Assistant Professor

Noel Vest, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. As a formerly incarcerated scholar, Dr. Vest advocates for social justice issues and public policy concerning substance use disorder recovery and prison reentry. His research interests include mental health, substance use disorders, poverty, social justice, addiction recovery, and pain. He was recently awarded a K01 early investigator award through the National Institute of Drug Abuse to study collegiate recovery programs through an implementation science lens. He received his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Experimental Psychology from Washington State University. He recently finished a postdoc in the Department of Anesthesia at Stanford Medicine.