Kleber, Herb interview conducted by Campbell/Spillane

Abstract

Herbert D. Kleber, M.D., was Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University at the time of his death in 2018. Upon joining the Yale Psychiatry faculty in 1968, he founded and headed the Drug Dependence Unit at Yale University. Under his leadership, this unit had a transformative local and national impact. Dr. George Heninger, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, remembers that Dr. Kleber “brought addiction treatment out of the dark ages.” His unit conducted groundbreaking research on the phenomenology and treatment of opiate, stimulant, cannabis, and alcohol abuse. It conducted the first clinical trial of clonidine, the first non-opiate treatment for opiate dependence. Dr. Kleber and his team introduced opiate maintenance treatment, cognitive behavioral treatments, and other innovations to Connecticut. Along the way, Dr. Kleber mentored the next generation of transformative leaders in the field of substance abuse research. In 1989, Dr. Kleber left Yale for a position in the George H.W. Bush White House, as Deputy Director for Demand Reduction for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In this role, he was tasked with framing the national strategy to reduce addiction through prevention and treatment. After Washington, Dr. Kleber moved to Columbia University. At Columbia, Dr. Kleber created the Division of Substance Abuse and developed it into one of the leading programs of its kind in the nation. He stepped down from his Columbia leadership position in 2016. At Yale, he created the Addiction Prevention and Treatment (APT) Foundation, which still exists, to accelerate the delivery of substance abuse treatment and to enhance the substance abuse research mission. In 1992, while at Columbia, he co-founded and served as Executive Vice President for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) to advance national substance abuse policy. CASA also remains active. He was a prolific writer, with over 300 published papers and several books, including The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Substance Abuse Treatment. Source: Yale School of Medicine. https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/in-memoriam-dr-herbert-d-kleber/ Accessed 07 June 2023