CARE Webinar: Injecting Hope: Repurposing GLP-1 receptor agonists for treating Substance Use Disorders

The 1-hour session will cover the basic pharmacology of GLP-1 receptor agonists and related medications. Then the emerging evidence-base for their use in treating substance use disorders in humans will be reviewed. Finally, the talk will cover the various issues and concerns that are now being raised when using GLP-1 receptor agonists.

Presenter:

Joji Suzuki MD, FACLP
Division of Addiction Treatment and Prevention
Principal Investigator, SuzukiLab, Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Program Director, Brigham & Women’s Hospital Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Presenter Biography:

Dr. Joji Suzuki is a faculty within the Division of Addiction Treatment and Prevention, Psychiatry Department, Mass General Brigham, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He completed his medical training at Boston University School of Medicine, general psychiatry residency at Maine Medical Center, and addiction psychiatry fellowship at Boston Medical Center. He is board certified in Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, and is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. He has successfully launched numerous treatment programs over the course of his career, including a comprehensive outpatient dual diagnosis addiction clinic at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and a low-barrier, low-threshold, harm-reduction Dushku Palandjian Bridge Clinic at BWH. He is the inaugural Program Director of the BWH Addiction Medicine Fellowship program. He has received NIH funding continuously since 2017 to conduct clinical research. He is now a principal investigator on multiple NIH-funded clinical trials to evaluate treatments for substance use disorders, including the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists and psychedelic therapies.

 Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this learning session, participants will be able to: 

• Describe the pharmacology of GLP-1 receptor agonists. 
• Evaluate the emerging evidence base for level of support for use of GLP-1 receptor agonists in treating substance use disorders.
• Outline one research area underway to study GLP-1 receptor agonist use to treatment substance use disorders.

Learn more and register

CEU Certificates Available 
Pre-approved by The Vermont Office of Professional Regulation for up to 1.0 Continuing Education Units for:

• Allied Mental Health
• Alcohol & Drug Counselors
• Psychological Examiners 
• Social Workers

Note: CEU not Available for Peer Recovery Coaches