Addiction Medicine

The Division of Addiction Medicine within the Department of Emergency Medicine at UCLA consists of physicians, researchers, and patient advocates dedicated to advancing the care of patients with substance use disorders. Our faculty are national leaders in emergency addiction clinical care and research and are dually board certified in Emergency and Addiction Medicine. We collaborate closely with Addiction Medicine specialists throughout UCLA on clinical, education, research, and quality improvement initiatives. In addition to practicing Emergency Medicine, our faculty bring expertise in addiction treatment, harm reduction, and health equity.

Our division focuses on three core areas:

Clinical Care – Integrating evidence-based and patient-centered approaches into emergency care, street medicine, and outpatient addiction care. This includes harm reduction, medications for substance use disorders, treatment of withdrawal syndromes, and addressing the social determinants of health that shape substance use, substance use-related harms, and recovery.
Education – Developing and delivering addiction medicine education to UCLA emergency medicine residents, medical students, faculty, nursing, and staff through didactics, elective rotations, and professional development opportunities.
Research and Quality Improvement – Conducting formative research on ED-delivered addiction treatment and harm reduction services; developing innovative, patient-centered care pathways; collaborating with community partners; and leading health system quality improvement projects to improve outcomes for patients with substance use disorders in and outside of the emergency department.