Campbell/Spillane Substance Use Research - Interview with George Woody

Abstract

George E. Woody, MD, is Emeritus Professor CE of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Center for Studies of Addiction at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He has experience in studying pharmacotherapies and psychosocial treatments for opioid use disorders with a focus on diagnosis and treatment of patients with psychiatric and medical co-morbidities and substance use disorder treatment for HIV risk reduction. Dr. Woody graduated from Amherst College, received his medical degree from Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in 1964, interned at Bryn Mawr Hospital, was a general medical officer in the US Navy, and trained in Psychiatry at Temple. He is Board certified in psychiatry and neurology. He began work with Dr. Charles O’Brien and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center‘s Drug Dependence Treatment Unit in 1971 and has a long-standing interest in treatment outcome studies in the U.S. and abroad. His first international study was with Dr. Pechansky in Porto Alegre, Brazil on the spread of HIV among cocaine users. This study was followed by NIDA-funded studies with Drs. Zvartau and Krupitsky at Pavlov State Medical University in St. Petersburg, Russia on naltrexone treatment of opioid addiction and the spread of HIV. This work provided a background for the study that led to FDA approval of extended-release injectable naltrexone for opioid addiction. His international work continued with NIDA studies of methadone for HIV+ and HIV- opioid addicted patients in Kiev; a study comparing Suboxone with methadone for buprenorphine injectors in Tbilisi; a study of counseling for methadone patients in Jakarta; and a study of naltrexone for amphetamine addicted patients with Drs. Tyrfingsson, Runarsdottir, and Hansdottir in Reykjavik. He has authored or co-authored over 350 papers and chapters, served on grant review committees for NIDA and NIAAA, been Principal or Co-Investigator on many grants, and mentored 5 international NIDA-funded international fellows on addiction treatment and research. He was awarded a Doctoris Sui Causa from Pavlov State Medical University; the McGovern Award by the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse; the Morrison Award for contributions to medical education and treatment of persons with substance use disorders; with Dr. Zvartau, a NIDA award for international research; and with Drs. Zvartau, Krupitsky, Lioznov and Samet, the 2016 Prix Galien Award for contributions to treatment and HIV prevention among underserved populations in Russia. Sources: https://www.med.upenn.edu/csa/georgewoody.html Accessed 17 Mar 2023. https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g332/p5325 Accessed 17 Mar 2023. https://health.usnews.com/doctors/george-woody-2643083 Accessed 17 Mar 2023. https://40th.saa.is/george-woody-md/ Accessed 17 Mar 2023.