2024 ACMT Board Review Course

Dr. Arens is an Emergency Medicine physician who practices at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, LA. Dr. Arens completed her Emergency Medicine training at the Denver Health Residency in Emergency Medicine, and her medical toxicology training at the University of California – San Francisco. She was amongst the first toxicologists to identify and describe counterfeit fentanyl products, and has continued to identify outbreaks of new drugs of abuse. She has a broad range of research interests including: the identification of new drugs of abuse including novel opioids contributing to the current opioid epidemic, the use of antidotes, and advanced supportive care of the poisoned patient.

Jeffrey Brent, M.D., Ph.D., is a Distinguished Clinical Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine) and Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado Schools of Medicine and Public Health. He did his fellowship in medical toxicology at the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, where he has been both medical director and fellowship director. He is a former President of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and a former Board member of the American College of Medical Toxicology. Dr. Brent is the senior editor of Critical Care Toxicology: the Diagnosis and Management of the Critically Poisoned Patient, currently in its second edition. Dr. Brent is Co-Principal Investigator of ACMT’s Toxicology Investigators Consortium.

Dr. Michele Burns is triple boarded in general pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine, and medical toxicology. She has been the Medical Director of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Poison Center for the last 20 years and is Chief of the Boston Children's Hospital Toxicology service. Her clinical research interests include investigating the epidemiological trends of pediatric poisoning exposures by using large hospital or national databases, and clinical communications that describe novel and innovative case presentations and/or treatment modalities in the pediatric toxicology patient. In addition, she is the Harvard Medical Toxicology Fellowship Director and a former member of both the ACMT Board and ABEM Medical Toxicology Subboard. Dr. Burns is also the Pediatric Toxicology Section Editor for UptoDate. She is committed to promoting optimal health care for acutely injured and poisoned patients, advocating for state-of-the-art treatment while contributing to national consensus guidelines and prevention efforts on a more global level.

Dr. Carstairs earned his undergraduate degree from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA and received his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), the nation's military medical school.  He completed a residency in emergency medicine at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego and a fellowship in medical toxicology at the University of California, San Diego.  He served more than 25 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, which included a combat deployment to Iraq and shipboard deployment as the leader of a mobile trauma team for the Navy’s Pacific Fleet. He retired from the Navy as a Captain in 2019. He currently serves as a faculty member in the Department of Emergency Medicine & Division of Medical Toxicology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In addition to his role at UCSD, he holds an appointment as Professor of Military & Emergency Medicine at USU.

Leslie R. Dye, MD is triple board certified in emergency medicine, medical toxicology, and addiction medicine. She has worked in the fields of medical toxicology and addiction medicine for 30 years. In addition to her clinical expertise, she has academic and business content expertise from experiences as an editor-in-chief (EIC) of a peer-reviewed medical journal (Journal of Medical Toxicology) and EIC of physician and pharmacist content production for a leading international medical digital content provider. Her deep subject matter expertise is demonstrated in her role as senior editor of the textbook, Case Studies in Medical Toxicology, author of 18 peer reviewed publications and 16 textbook chapters, 66 national and 11 international presentations, 10 various commentaries, interviews, and podcasts. Her leadership skills have been proven in both corporate and academic environments, as professor at a medical school, long-term board member and past president of the American College of Medical Toxicology, Chair of the Addiction Medicine Committee, former co-chair, and co-moderator of the AACT Acute and Intensive Care Symposium, and as the manager of as many as 30 team members at an international corporation. She received a funded grant that enabled her to start the first poison control center in mainland China and trained 6 Chinese physicians in the field of medical toxicology over 3 years in the US. Dr. Dye is experienced in and continues to provide medical care in remote polar regions with no access to advanced medical facilities.

Dr. Hantsch is a graduate of the Honors Program in Medical Education at Northwestern University. She completed an emergency medicine residency, including a year as chief resident, at the Medical College of Wisconsin and then continued her training in a medical toxicology fellowship at Vanderbilt University. After her fellowship, she spent nearly 22 years at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and Loyola University Medical Center. There, she established an inpatient toxicology clinical service and clinical rotations for graduate medical trainees and students in multiple fields. With an interest in medication management and safety, she joined the hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, serving as member for 6 years before being appointed chair and leading the committee for another 6 years. Dr. Hantsch earned the academic rank of Professor of Emergency Medicine, was Director of the Division of Toxicology, and Director of Academic Affairs in the Department of Emergency Medicine. As a clinical faculty member, she was appointed to the Stritch Committee on Academic Rank and Tenure, serving for 7 years including 2 as a subcommittee chair leading revision of the clinician educator track guidelines. In 2018, she was the founding Program Director of the Loyola emergency medicine residency. Dr. Hantsch served for more than 8 years as Medical Director of the Illinois Poison Center. In addition, she is a regular organizer and contributor to many local, regional, and national/international continuing education programs. After leaving academics, she worked for the U.S. FDA in pharmacovigilance for a year. As of 2022, she is board certified in addiction medicine in addition to emergency medicine and medical toxicology. Dr. Hantsch was elected to the ACMT Board of Directors in 2021, is a member of the Education Committee, and chair of the Practice Committee.

Dr. Haynes completed training in a combined emergency medicine-internal medicine program in 2014, and a toxicology fellowship at UTSW in 2016. She has been treating substance use disorders as part of her practice since that time and is board certified in addition medicine. She currently works for the VA at the Robert J Dole Veterans Medical Center in Wichita, KS, treating patients in a residential treatment center, as well as clinic, and performing bedside consults.

Dr. Holland is Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY where he is on the faculty of the Medical Toxicology Fellowship Training Program and is a Consulting Medical Toxicologist at the Upstate New York Poison Center and the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office-both in Syracuse, NY. Dr. Holland is also the Director of Occupational Medicine for the Saratoga Hospital Medical Group, and is the Saratoga Hospital Employee Health Medical Director, where he oversees the health and safety of over 3100 employees and staff. He also serves as Employee Health Medical Director at Glens Falls Hospital in Glens Falls, NY, covering 2500 employees. He is also Principal Medical Toxicologist at the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH) in Little Rock, AR.    

Born in 1975 and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Kazzi trained in Emergency Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta (2000-03) where he served as a chief resident before completing a subspecialty fellowship in Medical Toxicology at Emory University, Georgia Poison Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. He is board certified in both Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology. Dr. Kazzi joined the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) between 2005 and 2008 where he served as a Medical Toxicologist for the Regional Poison Control Center in Birmingham and the Alabama Poison Center. Currently, he is an associate professor at the department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia as well as the director of the International Toxicology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at Emory University (http://www.em.emory.edu/services/toxicology/international_postdoc_training.html). He is also the assistant medical director of the Georgia Poison Center (www.georgiapoisoncenter.org) and a medical toxicologist at the Radiation Studies Branch of the National Center for Environmental Health at the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/) where he participates in emergency preparedness and response activities in radiation. As an emergency physician and toxicologist, Dr. Kazzi specializes in the recognition, triage, and management of poisonings and holds a deep interest in the areas of Radiation and International Toxicology. Over the past decade, he developed strong ties to India in the areas of medical toxicology, mass gathering medical preparedness, radiation emergency medicine, blast injuries and hazmat. Through his collaboration with the CDC, AIIMS, and PGIMER Chandigarh, he has delivered and co-directed the first Advanced Hazmat Life Support trainings in Ahmedabad and Delhi. He organized a number of training conferences in Nashik, Pune, Ujjain and Delhi and has been an invited speaker at the annual INDUS EM world congress. He is an active and founding board member of the Middle East North Africa Toxicology Association (www.menatox.org) and currently serves as its President. He is also a board member and chairs the International Committee of the American College of Medical Toxicology (www.acmt.net).

Dr. Kerns trained in Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology and served as Professor in both disciplines at Carolinas Medical Center for 33 years. Faculty roles included leadership of the Medical Toxicology Fellowship and clinical division, consultation for the Carolinas Poison Center, and research. Research interests included antidotes, envenomation, and resuscitation of cardiotoxic drugs. He also served the ACMT focusing on advancing research and education.

Dr. King received his medical education from Penn State College of Medicine, and completed Internal Medicine residency and chief residency at the University of Virginia. He completed Nephrology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and after returning to the University of Virginia as a nephrologist, completed a medical toxicology fellowship there. Dr. King is a clinician-educator nephrologist and medical toxicologist with clinical interests in extracorporeal treatment of poisonings, extracorporeal removal of therapeutic drugs, ICU nephrology, and medical education. As a clinician, he sees hospitalized patients at the University of Maryland Medical Center on our nephrology consultation service as well as our medical toxicology consult service. He is involved in education primarily at the graduate medical education level, and to a lesser extent undergraduate medical education. Dr. King is also the medical director of the Maryland Poison Center, which provides poisoning information and treatment recommendations benefitting thousands of Marylanders each year. Dr. King carries out medical oversight of recommendations for poisonings, envenomations, and overdoses to the public and health care providers; provides education to a variety of students (pharmacy and medical) and physicians (residents and fellows) who rotate with the center; he is involved in a variety of other activities aimed at treatment and prevention of poisoning. Dr. King's research interests are largely focused where nephrology and toxicology meet – extracorporeal removal of toxins (via dialysis, apheresis, and other modalities).

Kurt C. Kleinschmidt, MD, FACMT, FASAM is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He is a faculty member in the Division of Medical Toxicology. His areas of interest include Substance Use Disorders and snake envenomations. He graduated from the University of South Florida College of Medicine in 1986, completed his emergency medicine residency at Madigan Army Medical Center in 1990, and finished a clinical fellowship in Medical Toxicology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 1999. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine (1991), Medical Toxicology (2002), and Addiction Medicine (2016). He became the Medical Director of the Perinatal Intervention Program in Parkland Health and Hospital system in 2016. He served as the Toxicology Program Director from 2004-2018 and as the Toxicology Division Chief from 2004-2020.

Dr. Lee is an emergency medicine physician at Glen Cove Hospital and medical toxicology attending for Northwell Health. He received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, NY, in 2015, completed his emergency medicine residency at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, NJ, in 2018, and his Medical Toxicology Fellowship at Northwell Health in Long Island, NY, in 2020. He is board-certified in emergency medicine and medical toxicology. 

Michael Levine is a Los Angeles native, who completed his emergency medicine residency at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine program, based out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. After residency, he completed his medical toxicology fellowship at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ. After staying as faculty for a year in Phoenix, he moved back to Los Angeles, where he joined the faculty at USC. He is currently the division chief of medical toxicology. He is actively involved in patient care, research, and serves on numerous hospital and university committees. He is an active member of American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Medical Toxicology, and is a member of the Toxicology Investigator's Consortium.

Dr. Nima Majlesi completed Emergency Medicine Residency at Morristown Medical center in Morristown, NJ, in 2007, and went on to complete fellowship in medical toxicology at Northshore University hospital (now Northshore University hospital at Northwell) in Manhasset, NY, in 2009. Dr. Majlesi is board certified in Emergency medicine, medical toxicology and addiction medicine. In addition to initiating a 24/7 medical toxicology consultation service, he is the chair of the hospital pharmacy and therapeutics committee and helped initiate a program to initiate buprenorphine in the emergency department. He has been involved in creating guidelines regarding opioid prescribing for New York City, National emergency medicine organizations as well as his own institution. Education has been the main focus of his career.

Dr. Christopher Meaden is Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and a Medical Toxicology Consultant for the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System. He completed his residency training in emergency medicine at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, NJ and completed his medical toxicology fellowship as the inaugural fellow at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He is board certified in emergency medicine and medical toxicology. Dr. Meaden has a Master of Science degree in molecular and cellular biology. His interests include education in medical toxicology, acute care of the poisoned patient and chemical agents of war. He is involved with the American College of Medical Toxicology Education Committee and previously served as the associate chair for the 2022 and 2023 ACMT Annual Scientific Meeting. 

Dr. McKay was trained in Anatomic and Surgical Pathology, Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Medical Toxicology and was a Medical Director of Occupational Health and Medical Review Officer for a hospital system during more than 30 years of clinical practice, during which he provided toxicology consultation at 3 hospitals, directed a medical toxicology fellowship training program, and provided medical oversight of a regional poison control center. He provides medical legal consultation across the country on toxicology-related issues, and has testified in nearly 100 cases, many related to questions of alcohol- and -drug-induced impairment.

Dr. Josh Nogar grew up in the High Desert of New Mexico, but has been a New Yorker for 16 years. Dr. Nogar received his medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine in 2005, completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of New Mexico in 2009, and a fellowship in Medical Toxicology at the University of California San Diego in 2011. He has been faculty in the department of Emergency Medicine & Medical Toxicology at North Shore University Hospital since 2011, in Long Island, NY. He has been the Medical Toxicology Fellowship Director at Northwell Health since 2016, and his areas of specific interest include fellow education, metabolic uncouplers, overdose trends, and addiction medicine. He is dedicated to helping trainees achieve their individual career goals, as well as adapting his training program to the changing scope of practice for Medical Toxicologists, as well as the needs to individual learners. Outside of work, Dr. Nogar enjoys spending time with his wife & children. He is an avid fly-fisherman.

Dr. Rasimas has a Jesuit university background in biochemistry, mathematics, and philosophy. He completed the Medical Scientist Training Program, earning a PhD in chemical biology (2002) and MD (2003) from Penn State University. After Psychiatry residency at the Mayo Clinic, he was a clinical fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC where he did translational research and trained in medical ethics. He also undertook formal education in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, completed the critical care based medical toxicology fellowship at Penn State, and became certified in Psychosomatic Medicine, Addiction Medicine, and Medical Toxicology. Further work at NIH has included the Undiagnosed Diseases Program and roles in research ethics and oversight. Dr. Rasimas was the Director of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Co-Chair of the Biomedical Ethics Committee at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota before moving to Prince Edward Island, Canada in 2022. Based at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, he served as the lead Psychiatrist for C-L and Addictions for the province. He has recently transitioned to Nova Scotia Health in an effort to build treatment programs for patients with complex psychosomatic illnesses and substance use. For PEI, Dr. Rasimas remains the Medical Director of the Atlantic Mentorship Network for Chronic Pain, Addictions, and Mental Illness. Dr. Rasimas is a university professor with continued involvement in medical education in both the US and Canada pursuing an academic medical career at the interface of psychosomatic medicine, medical toxicology, and psychodynamic psychotherapy with a primary clinical interest in the phenomenology of suicide.

Dr. Sessions practices medical toxicology, emergency medicine and addiction medicine at Ochsner Health in the New Orleans area. Dr. Sessions has expertise in poisoning and drug overdose, envenomation, toxic occupational exposure, medication assisted therapy for opioid and alcohol use disorder and forensic toxicology. Dr. Sessions earned his degree in medicine from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans in 2008. He is board-certified in emergency medicine and medical toxicology by the American Board of Emergency Medicine in 2012 and 2014. He completed a medical toxicology fellowship at the Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Center at Denver health in Denver in 2013. He is board-certified in addiction medicine by the American Board of Preventative Medicine in 2022. Dr. Sessions actively participates in the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, the American College of Medical Toxicology, the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Sarah Shafer, MD, is an assistant professor of emergency medicine and medical toxicology at University of Iowa Department of Emergency Medicine in Iowa City. You may know her through her twitter handle @toxiferoustales.

Dr. Jerry Snow serves as the Program Director for the Medical Toxicology Fellowship and holds the position of Associate Professor in both Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix. Actively engaged, he contributes to key committees such as the Banner Critical Care Committee, Banner Behavioral Health Clinical Consensus Group, Department of Medical Toxicology Clinical Competency Committee, and the Addiction Medicine Section. Nationally, Dr. Snow is involved with the ACMT Education Committee, actively participating in the Board Review Course.

Dr. Alaina Steck is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Emory School of Medicine and the Medical Director of Grady Memorial Hospital's oupatient OUD treatment clinic. She is board-certified in Emergency Medicine, Medical Toxicology, and Addiction Medicine, and actively practices all three specialties at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. She is on the advisory boards of the Christopher White Crusade and YourPath Health. Her research and clinical efforts focus on transitions of care from the Emergency Department, integration of Addiction Medicine care with other specialty services (e.g., Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery, and Infectious Diseases), and the impact of OUD treatment on health care utilization.

Dr. Stellpflug is a Medical Toxicologist and Emergency Physician within the HealthPartners hospital system in MN and WI. He provides consultation for the Minnesota Poison Control System, and his academic appointment is through the University of Minnesota Medical School. Following medical school at the University of Wisconsin he completed a residency in emergency medicine at Regions Hospital and then the medical toxicology fellowship in the Twin Cities, a joint effort between the Regions Hospital / HealthPartners and the Minnesota Poison Control System.

Josh Trebach is an emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. He completed his undergraduate training at Virginia Tech, medical school training and residency at Johns Hopkins, and toxicology fellowship at New York University/New York City Poison Control Center. Josh is currently the Director of Resident Medical Toxicology Education at the University of Iowa and is passionate about all things toxicology, medical education, social media, LGBTQ health, and animal rescue.

Dr. Stephanie Weiss is the Staff Research Physician serving the Translational Addiction Medicine Branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Intramural Research Program. After earning a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical chemistry, Dr. Weiss received her medical degree in 2011.  She is board certified in emergency medicine, addiction medicine, and medical toxicology and was selected to participate in the Boston University Research in Addiction Medicine Scholars Program prior to joining NIDA.  Dr. Weiss is responsible for providing optimal, safe, and ethical care to study participants and clinical support toward the TAMB mission conducting inpatient and outpatient proof-of-concept human laboratory studies. Her research interests include novel psychoactive substances, medication misuse, and improving interpretation of urine drug testing.