The state of New Hampshire has the second highest rate of opioid-related overdoses in the country, so what is it that makes opioids so addictive? Are there patterns of behavior we can change to avoid becoming addicted, or are some of us genetically predisposed to addictive behaviors? Do some of us simply find it harder to quit, even when we know how damaging our behaviors are? For the March Science Pub we bring together four eminent research-practitioners from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth to help us understand what addiction means, and how practitioners and researchers are working together with communities to address addiction behaviors. 

Wilder Doucette received an MD and a PhD in neuroscience and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine. His basic research examines how measures of brain activity can be used to individually tailor addiction treatment. He integrates this work with the Psychiatry Department’s Addiction Treatment Program to provide informed clinical care and improved patient outcomes.

Dr. Julia Frew is a psychiatrist and addiction medicine physician who directs the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Moms in Recovery Program and the Center for Addiction Recovery in Pregnancy and Parenting. Her work focuses on the care of pregnant and postpartum women with psychiatric illness and substance use disorders. 

Daisy Goodman is a nurse-midwife and doctor of nursing practice who directs integrated women's health services at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Moms in Recovery Program. Her clinical practice and research focuses on increasing access to treatment for rural women, and implementation of evidence-based maternity care for pregnant and postpartum women with substance use disorders.

Dr. Sarah Lord is a clinical-developmental psychologist and health services researcher.  She directs the Dissemination and Implementation Core of the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Geisel School of Medicine. Her research focuses on understanding how to optimize implementation of evidence-based treatment for substance use and mental health conditions, with particular emphasis on ways to leverage digital technologies to improve access to, and delivery of, evidence-based care.