2021 ASAM State Advocacy Summit

Anthony Albanese, MD, DFASAM is an Affiliations Officer with the VA Office of Academic Affiliations. He is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at the UC Davis School of Medicine. He attended college and medical school at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa Oklahoma, graduating in 1986. He did his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in gastroenterology at The St. Luke’s- Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York. During those years, he became interested in addiction medicine, working in the hospital’s methadone clinic and detoxification programs.

Under the mentorship of physicians supervising these programs, he became a member of ASAM while still in training and became a certified addictionist in 1991. He completed his hepatology fellowship at the University of Miami in 1992, and after 3 years of private practice, became the co-director of the addiction treatment program at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, FL. As an Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Miami, he worked with the GI/Liver transplant programs, and taught in the Addiction Psychiatry fellowship program.

In 2001, he moved to Sacramento California and continued his work at the VA in gastroenterology, hepatology, and addiction medicine. Since then he has had roles as the VA Site Program Director for the UC Davis Internal Medicine and Family Medicine programs, then the Associate Chief of Staff for Education, then the Deputy Chief of Staff in the VA Northern California Healthcare System. In 2016, he accepted a national position as an Affiliations Officer with the VA Office of Academic Affiliations. He continues clinical work at the Northern California VA. His research interests have been in the medical aspects of opioids and alcohol, and intestinal changes associated with HIV infection.

Jocelyn Guyer provides policy analysis, strategic advice and technical support to states, foundations and a range of other clients on delivery system reform, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with a particular focus in recent years on behavioral health issues.

With decades of health policy work, Jocelyn possesses a nuanced perspective on a variety of policy, regulatory and legal issues. She has done work for the American Medical Association, the American Association for Addiction Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and numerous states and foundations, among other clients.

Prior to joining Manatt, Jocelyn was a founding member and co-executive director of the Center for Children and Families (CCF), a health policy center at Georgetown University. She provided advice to national policymakers and advocates on health policy and safety net programs. Jocelyn managed CCF’s review of federal health reform regulations and its annual 50-state survey on Medicaid and CHIP eligibility rules. During her tenure as a senior researcher at Georgetown University, Jocelyn helped Maryland implement the Affordable Care Act and establish its marketplace.

As an associate director with the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Jocelyn analyzed issues in health care for vulnerable Americans, including Medicaid waivers, the implications of the Medicare Part D drug benefit for impoverished seniors and people with disabilities, and the expected impact of transforming the financing of Medicaid.

At the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Jocelyn assisted states and advocates with implementing family-based coverage expansions, advised congressional offices on creation of CHIP initiatives, and designed policy initiatives to link Medicaid and other social supports. She also served as a legislative research assistant to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY).

Throughout her career, Jocelyn has been a speaker at national gatherings of state officials, provider organizations, advocacy groups and foundations. She has presented to members of Congress, as well as state and local officials, on the future of children’s coverage, transforming Medicaid, addressing social drivers of health, mental health, and substance use disorder issues.

David Lloyd is a Senior Policy Advisor at The Kennedy Forum. Mr. Lloyd focuses on a range of behavioral health policy issues, including implementation of the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and state-level parity laws. Previously, Mr. Lloyd was Vice President at Voices for Illinois Children and Director of its Fiscal Policy Center, which was part of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ State Priorities Partnership. Mr. Lloyd also has served as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, covering a variety of issues including housing, economic development, tax, and international trade. He as a bachelor’s in History from Cornell University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Daniel Blaney-Koen, JD, is a senior legislative attorney with the American Medical Association Advocacy Resource Center (ARC). The ARC attorneys focus on working with state and specialty medical societies on state legislative, regulatory and policy advocacy. In addition to his work in the ARC, Daniel has held several roles at the AMA, including serving as a public information officer, policy analyst and speechwriter. Currently, Daniel focuses on state legislation and policy concerning the nation’s opioid epidemic, with particular emphasis on overdose prevention and treatment. Daniel also covers other pharmaceutical issues, insurance market reforms and other issues. Prior to joining the AMA in 1999, Daniel earned his Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Colorado State University, and his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Arizona. He earned his law degree from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Daniel, his wife, two young sons and daughter live in Chicago, Illinois.

Ruchi M. Fitzgerald, MD, FAAFP is a family physician and an addiction medicine physician. She is the Service Chief of Inpatient Addiction Medicine at PCC Community Wellness, a federally qualified health center system that serves the West Side of Chicago. Dr. Fitzgerald is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Rush University, as well as the Associate Program Director of the Rush Addiction Medicine Fellowship. She completed the addiction medicine fellowship at Rush University in 2020. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School and completed her family medicine residency in 2012 with the Montana Family Medicine Residency. Dr. Fitzgerald developed an interest in provision of care for underserved populations and those affected by substance use disorders during her residency. Her love for teaching medical students and family practice residents developed in Montana while she was a community faculty physician with the Montana Family Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Fitzgerald also has extensive experience in telemedicine. During her fellowship, Dr. Fitzgerald worked with the addiction medicine faculty to create RISE-MD (Rush Integrative Substance Use Disorder Education for Medical Doctors), an educational initiative in Rush Medical College that focuses on eliminating stigma while promoting evidence-based treatment of substance use disorders in the next generation of physicians. She has worked with the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the Illinois Society of Addiction Medicine on key advocacy and policy initiatives related to substance use disorders. Dr. Fitzgerald is also an active member of the Federation of State Physician Health Programs and is an advocate for physician health and wellness.

David Kan MD, FASAM graduated from Northwestern University Medical School. He completed his general and forensic psychiatry training at the University of California, San Francisco. The majority of Dr. Kan's career has been spent in opioid treatment. Dr. Kan was the Medical Director of San Francisco VA Medical Center Opioid Treatment Program from 2005-2015 and he is the current Medical Director of Bright Heart Health. Dr. Kan is a faculty member within the UCSF Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Kan has won several awards for excellence in teaching. In addition to his psychiatry practice, Dr. Kan consults to attorneys and courts on medical-legal matters. Dr. Kan serves on California state's State Opioid Safety Workgroup. Dr. Kan is active within ASAM. Dr. Kan is the Immediate Past President of the California Society of Addiction Medicine.

Shawn Ryan, MD, MBA, FASAM originally trained as an emergency physician at the University of Cincinnati and simultaneously obtained his MBA while completing his residency. For over 10 years, Dr. Ryan has practiced in the Greater Cincinnati area, and for part of that period, he functioned as a hospital administrator.  During this time, he became acutely aware of the issue of heroin/opioid abuse in the region and for the past 7 years has been working tirelessly to make a difference in his community. Dr. Ryan serves on many regional, state, and national committees/workgroups focused on turning the tide of this epidemic.  He is the immediate-past president of the Ohio Society of Addiction Medicine and the current Chair of Payer Relations for ASAM.  Dr. Ryan is very excited to continue to work in the field of addiction medicine and to have the opportunity to substantially impact the treatment needs of patients with substance use disorder.

Cara Poland, MD, MEd, DFASAM was trained in internal medicine at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan and in addiction medicine at Boston Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. She has an interest in education physicians and physicians-in-training to improve care for patients with substance abuse and alcohol disorders. She is interested in medical student curriculum development and assessment, student well-being and identifying ways to improve the process of medical training. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Red Project and multiple leadership boards of various professional societies such as the Midwest Society of General Internal Medicine and American Society of Addiction Medicine. She is currently a physician at Spectrum Health's Center for Integrative Medicine.

Edwin C. Chapman, MD, FASAM has practiced in Washington, DC for 40 over years specializing in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine. Over the past 20 years, he has investigated the complex mix of addiction, undertreated mental illness, infectious diseases (AIDS & Hepatitis C), criminal behavior, and chronic diseases in which patients have 20-25 year shorter life expectancies. Dr. Chapman received his B.S. in 1969 and M.D. in 1973 from Howard University College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine as well as a fellowship in cardiology from historic Freedmen’s and Howard University Hospitals. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM, 1979), the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM grandfathered to ABAM, 2009), a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He maintains active memberships in the National Medical Association (NMA) and Medico Chirurgical Society of Washington, DC (MED CHI of DC).

Rebecca Reid brings more than twenty years of experience in media relations and government affairs spanning the local, state and national political and press arenas. 

As a journalist in the San Francisco market, Reid began her career as a radio reporter and producer and a television news writer for network affiliate newscasts. As press secretary for members of Congress, she worked regularly with the national press corps on issues such as foreign aid, defense funding, Medicare and nuclear energy.

Following her tenure on Capitol Hill, including Press Secretary for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, she served as press secretary to County Executive Parris N. Glendening, prior to his election as Governor of Maryland. As director of Public Affairs for the Maryland Department of Transportation (DOT), Reid served as press secretary to the Secretary of Transportation, managed the Public Affairs Division for the DOT headquarters, and acted as liaison to the Offices of the Secretary and the Governor for all DOT modal administration public information officers.

As the chief consultant of her own public affairs firm, Reid provided a full range of media relations, government affairs and association management services to health care provider groups.

During her tenure at Edelman Worldwide in Washington, D.C., she served as Vice President of Media Relations for the Healthcare Practice and played a key role in garnering earned media placements for several clients in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, network news and major dailies across the country. Other clients included pharmaceutical companies, The Joint Commission, quality improvement organizations, and organizations advocating on various issues such as cancer care and stem cell research.

For the last decade, Rebecca has managed national media outreach for SPA as well as written materials including, opinion-editorials, testimony before federal agencies and congressional committees and press conference scripts for various healthcare clients.

In addition to her extensive media background, Reid has experience in local, state and congressional political campaigns and has managed national advocacy coalitions.