Prof. Amodeo Receives David Lewis Award for Service to AMERSA
Maryann Amodeo, PhD, LICSW, professor emerita and lecturer at Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW), has been awarded the David Lewis Service to AMERSA Award by the Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction (AMERSA). The award, named for the organization’s founder, recognizes outstanding service to AMERSA and its mission to improve health and well-being through interdisciplinary leadership in substance use education, research, clinical care and policy.
A nationally renowned addiction specialist who has taught at BUSSW for more than 35 years, Amodeo has strong ties with AMERSA. She served as its president from 2003-2005, was a member of its board of directors for eight years and held several other leadership roles in the organization.
Amodeo’s achievements also extend far beyond AMERSA. She designed and directed the BU Postgraduate Certificate Program in Alcohol and Drug Abuse, which certified 275 social workers, psychologists, physicians and other health professionals over 15 years; was an instructor for BU School of Medicine’s Chief Resident Immersion Training Program (CRIT); and served as chair of BUSSW’s Clinical Practice Department and co-director of its Center for Addictions Research and Services. She has received multiple national awards for introducing substance use-related skills into the social work curriculum and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare in 2016. Her research, which has been widely disseminated, focuses on evidence-based practices in addiction treatment and cross-cultural issues in alcohol and drug use, and has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and other local and national foundations.
AMERSA will honor Amodeo and five fellow award recipients at its annual conference in November 2023 in Washington, DC.