MED Professor Awarded for Opioid Treatment Services
Daniel Alford, a School of Medicine associate professor of medicine and an attending physician in Boston Medical Center’s general internal medicine department, was one of 12 clinicians in the nation to receive a Nyswander-Dole “Marie” Award last month from the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD). The awards, named for 1960s-era clinicians Marie Nyswander and Vincent Dole, were presented at the organization's national conference and recognize individuals devoted to improving the lives of opioid-dependent patients. Opioids are synthetic drugs with narcotic properties similar to opiates, but not derived from opium. The AATOD aims to enhance the quality of patient care in treatment programs by promoting the development of comprehensive treatment services.
Alford, an associate medical director of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Services Division of the Boston Public Health Commission, has worked to expand opioid treatment to primary-care settings and has developed guidelines for general health-care providers for managing pain with methadone maintenance patients. This work has made him the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Abuse Services’ “go-to expert” for policy development and best practices, according to the AATOD.
Rebecca McNamara can be reached at ramc@bu.edu.