Health And... Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Policy

Each year the Department of Population Health hosts its signature conference, “Health And…”, focusing on the relationships between health and its social context. The 10th annual conference will be held on Monday, May 4, 2026, from 9:00-2:30 ET in New York City.

This year’s theme is Health And... Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Policy. To kick off the day, we have Michael Botticelli, former Director of National Drug Control Policy for the Obama Administration, as our keynote speaker.

The conference will be held in Murphy Auditorium on the NYU Langone Health campus, 550 First Avenue, NYC. We will also livestream the event.

Speakers include:

• Rachel Chernick, PhD, LCSW, Senior Vice President, Family Services and Evaluation Research, Partnership to End Addiction
• Beau Kilmer, PhD, Co-Director, RAND Drug Policy Research Center; Professor of Policy Analysis, RAND School of Public Policy
• Margaret Kuklinski, PhD, Director, Social Development Research Group, Director, The Center for Communities That Care, and Endowed Professor of Prevention in Social Work, School of Social Work, University of Washington
• Amanda Latimore, PhD, Founder and CEO, OSG (On the Shoulders of Giants) Consulting, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Timothy Naimi, MD, MPH, Director, Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, and Professor, School of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria
• Daniel Schatz, MD, Medical Director of Addiction Services, NYC Health + Hospitals
• Hansel Tookes, MD, MPH, Professor and Medical Director, IDEA Exchange, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
• David Frank, PhD, Associate Research Scientist, NYU School of Global Public Health
• Ellicott Matthay, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health, NYU Langone Health
• Jennifer McNeely, MD, MS, Professor, Departments of Medicine and Population Health and Co-Director, Section on Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drug Use, NYU Langone Health
• Bennett Allen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health, and Director, NYU Systems and Policy Outcomes Lab (SPOTLIGHT), NYU Langone Health
• Noa Krawczyk, PhD, Associate Director, Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy (COEP), and Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health, NYU Langone Health
• Magdalena Cerdá, DrPH, MPH, Professor and Director, Division of Epidemiology, Director, Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy, Department of Population health, NYU Langone Health

This interdisciplinary conference will examine evidence-based solutions to address substance use through a variety of prevention, treatment, and policy levers. Leading researchers and practitioners will explore strategies to improve primary prevention, emphasizing community-level and structural interventions, as well as approaches to expand the reach of substance use treatment through its integration with medical care (including primary care) and community-centered programs. Speakers will also discuss the role of policy and regulation in delaying use and preventing abuse--drawing insights from local, state, and international examples.

For questions and inquiries, please contact the event coordinator, Rebecca Gevertz, at [email protected].

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Host or Publisher The Department of Population Health, NYU Langone Health