Advancing Addiction Medicine Locally and Globally

While enrolled in medical school in his home country of Iran, Hamed Ekhtiari, MD, PhD, developed an interest in neuroscience and philosophy, focusing on the concepts of free will, judgement, and self-control.

After investigating the complexities of addiction, he realized he can explore these interesting concepts within the realm of addiction medicine while helping millions of people suffering from this brain disorder.

“I started exploring areas like decision-making and risk-taking behaviors among people with substance use disorder using computational neuroscience tools,” said Dr. Ekhtiari, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and associate director of the Medical Discovery Team on Addiction (MDTA) at the University of Minnesota. “I fell in love with those areas of research over time and realized there are possible opportunities to understand these complex brain functions of addiction. Then, I realized how people who are suffering from this disease are in pain with disturbances in these functions and how we might be able to help them in the process of recovery.”

Today, after many years of treating people with substance use disorder, Dr. Ekhtiari is still regularly inspired by his patients.

“Some of the most inspiring figures I’ve met in my life are those people who are in long-term recovery,” said Dr. Ekhtiari. “I learn many things from my patients in terms of how progressing through their recovery can help them to function as an important part of society. They are resilient and ready to help others, learn from their mistakes, and accept their limitations while being ready to work hard to change.”

Joining ASAM as a Ruth Fox Scholar

In 2023, while a psychiatry resident at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Ekhtiari was awarded a Ruth Fox Scholarship, funded by ASAM’s Ruth Fox Memorial Endowment Fund. Recipients attend ASAM’s Annual Conference at no cost and receive a complimentary, 3-year ASAM membership.

Dr. Ekhtiari said access to ASAM’s network of addiction medicine specialists, made possible through the scholarship, has made a difference in his career.

“It’s a great opportunity to work with and learn from people who are superstars in the field,” he said. “It opens doors for junior scholars to be a part of the community and encourages them to use their strengths and their skills to provide care for patients who are suffering from substance use.”

Gaining a Global Perspective

Before coming to the US, Dr. Ekhtiari joined the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM). Founded in 1998, the fellowship of physicians promotes the field of addiction medicine worldwide.

“I want to provide opportunities for physicians to learn from experiences that people are having around the world,” said Dr. Ekhtiari, who is a distinguished fellow of ISAM (DFISAM) and currently serves on ISAM’s Board of Directors and is also co-director of the International Network of tES/TMS Trials in Addiction Medicine (INTAM).

Last year, he added, ISAM launched a new event called ISAM Global Addiction Therapeutics Innovation Day. The first gathering occurred in May in Germany.

“It’s an initiative to bring people from industry, academia, entrepreneurship, and governments together to support innovations for addiction therapeutics,” Dr. Ekhtiari said. “We have lots of contributions from our US-based colleagues, and we are learning what people are doing around the world to see how we can find innovative solutions for the challenges we all have.”

Dr. Ekhtiari added that ASAM’s guidelines, educational materials, and standards of care are changing the global field of addiction medicine. ASAM, he said, is a “role model for addiction medicine professionals around the world.”

“I think ASAM has a significant global influence,” he shared. “Addiction practitioners and policymakers around the world are looking into those quality standards as they try to optimize the services they are providing and inform advocacy efforts regarding addiction.”

And the influence goes both ways. Dr. Ekhtiari said that addiction medicine specialists in the United States have much to learn from their international peers.

“There are lots of mutual benefits in terms of helping others around the world to improve the quality of treatment services,” he said. “Those of us from the US are learning from international experiences, how people are dealing with similar challenges to what we’re dealing with here, and learning and applying the innovative solutions they’ve developed. There are developments where physicians have different experiences with things like alternatives to incarceration programs, harm reduction programs, and providing long-term recovery support.”

Dr. Ekhtiari believes that wherever they’re treating patients, addiction medicine specialists are all pursuing the same goal.

“The main motivation behind what we’re doing is just making the world a little bit better,” he said. “That is the motivation we all have.”