The Beckley Rotary Club will host their final program and meeting of 2019 centered around the topic of Dealing with the Opioid Crisis. James H. Berry, DO, associate professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry at West Virginia University School of Medicine and the Director of Addictions is our guest as he will discuss with WVU is doing around the crisis in our state and communities.
About Dr, James Berry: He is board certified in both General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. He received his medical degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, completed a General Psychiatry residency at West Virginia University and an Addiction Psychiatry fellowship at the University of Hawaii. He and his colleagues at WVU have developed innovative community based treatment models in response to the addiction crisis in Appalachia and are actively engaged in novel neuromodulation research related to substance use disorders through WVU’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Berry has been a dedicated clinician and enthusiastic educator in West Virginia, the place he calls home, for the past seventeen years. Statewide, he serves as a member of the West Virginia Governor’s Advisory Council on Substance Use Disorders. Nationally, He serves on the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s Addiction Psychiatry Examination Committee and the American Board of Medical Specialties, Safety in Opioid Prescribing Committee. In addition, he is a member of the Academy for Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care’s National Integrational Academy Council and was recently appointed to the Addiction Policy Forum’s Scientific Advisory Board. He has enjoyed advocating on behalf of those suffering from mental illness and addiction before varied audiences highlighting the nature of the disease and the hope of recovery. This past March he testified before the United States Senate. Dr. Berry’s work and opinions have led to interviews with local, state, and national media sources such as Politico, NPR, the Huffington Post and The Doctors television show. Last year he and his patients were featured in the PBS NOVA documentary: Addiction that exposed a national audience to the science behind addiction and the humanity of those who suffer.
Beckley Rotary Club is a local service organization that engages professionals in service. The Rotary Club meets every Tuesday at noon at the Historic Black Knight Country Club. August is membership month, those interested in becoming a member should visit www.beckleyrotary.org for more information.