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Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar

Director, Center for Addiction Research and Effective Solutions (AIR CARES)

Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar is the director of the Center for Addiction Research and Effective Solutions (AIR CARES) at AIR. With experience working on opioid-related epidemiology, policy, public health intervention/evaluation, and serving directly as a treatment provider, she leads the Center’s work in research, policy and practice. Dr. Salisbury-Afshar is board certified in family medicine, preventive medicine/public health, and addiction medicine and her expertise lies at the intersection of these fields. 

Read our Q&A with Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar about the importance of using a multi-system approach to addressing the opioid epidemic

Prior to joining AIR, Dr. Salisbury-Afshar served as the medical director of Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore, a quasi-public entity that oversees all publicly funded addiction and mental health treatment. In this role, she developed and oversaw the Baltimore City Overdose Prevention Plan, the Opioid Fatality Review Board, and the third-party naloxone distribution program. She subsequently served as the medical director of Behavioral Health at the Chicago Department of Public Health, where she developed the Department’s strategy to address the opioid crisis, helped to standardize the way opioid-related morbidity and mortality was tracked and reported, developed provider education collaboratives to increase access to medications for addiction treatment, and supported expansion of naloxone access through funding and educational initiatives.

Dr. Salisbury-Afshar has over nine years of experience working clinically in federally qualified health centers, providing direct patient care in both primary care and addiction medicine. She previously served as the medical director of Heartland Alliance Health, a healthcare for the homeless provider in Chicago. She continues to work in this clinic on a part-time basis and provides primary care and addiction treatment services. She is able to use her clinical experiences and the experiences of her patients to inform her understanding of the opioid crisis.

Related Work

9 September 2019
AIR in the News

Dismantling Buprenorphine Policy Can Provide More Comprehensive Addiction Treatment

National Academy of Medicine
1 Aug 2019
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Dr. Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar

15 June 2019
AIR in the News

Identification of and Treatment for Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Primary Care Settings

American Family Physician
10 Jun 2019
Video

Tackling the Opioid Epidemic Through Research and Patient Care

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Areas of Expertise

Health
Substance Use Disorders

Education

M.P.H., Health Disparities and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; M.D., Rush University College of Medicine; B.S., Biochemistry and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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