Harm Reduction Symposium | #ACMT2025
Includes a Live In-Person Event on 04/03/2025 at 9:45 AM (PDT)
-
Register
- Early bird pricing available!
- Non-member - Tier I - $350
- Non-member - Tier II - $250
- Non-member - Tier III - $175
- Non-member - Tier IV - $150
- Member - Tier I - $300
- Member - Tier II - $250
- Member - Tier III - $175
- Member - Tier IV - $150
- Regular Price after 02/21/2025 11:59 PM
- Non-member - Tier I - $400
- Non-member - Tier II - $300
- Non-member - Tier III - $225
- Non-member - Tier IV - $200
- Member - Tier I - $250
- Member - Tier II - $200
- Member - Tier III - $125
- Member - Tier IV - $75
2025 ACMT Symposium | Harm Reduction in the Management of SUD
April 3, 2025
Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver Canada
Join the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) on Thursday, April 3, 2025 for the ACMT Symposium: Harm Reduction in the Management of SUD at the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver, Canada.
Harm reduction has become a key tool in managing substance use disorders (SUD), yet remains loosely defined. It encompasses various measures, including needle exchanges, naloxone distribution, safe consumption sites, and fentanyl test strips. While needle exchange programs have proven effective in reducing infections from intravenous drug use, the impact of other harm reduction strategies is harder to quantify.
Support for harm reduction varies among professionals and the recovery community, with its success depending on when and where the tools are used, the methods chosen, and the combination with other treatments. Different settings—emergency departments, ICUs, or outpatient clinics—may require distinct approaches.
Vancouver’s pioneering leadership in harm reduction makes it an ideal location for this full-day in-person symposium, which will explore harm reduction in detail, presenting the latest evidence and examining its application in special populations, healthcare settings, and recovery stages. Topics include integrating harm reduction with SUD medications and substance use education, inpatient high-dose methadone titration, and a case-based panel discussion on “Lived Experience.” The symposium will appeal to a wide range of professionals in medicine, including those in family medicine, emergency medicine, medical toxicology, addiction medicine, and beyond.
Learner Objectives
After attending the event, participants should be able to:
- Analyze the evidence surrounding various harm reduction strategies in the management of substance use disorders, with a focus on their effectiveness across different settings and populations.
- Evaluate the role of harm reduction tools at different stages of the recovery process and identify how they can be integrated with other treatment modalities to optimize patient outcomes.
- Discuss the ethical and practical considerations of harm reduction practices, including the perspectives of healthcare providers, patients, and the broader recovery community.
Continuing Education
Continuing Medical Education (CME), Continuing Pharmacy Education (CPE) and Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) credits are available for this activity. It is expected that learners will receive up to 6.00 credits for learning and change. These credits are available for an additional fee. Click here for more info.
Questions?
Please write to ACMT at events@acmt.net
Preliminary Agenda | April 3, 2025
All times listed are in local, Pacific Time.
7:00 - 9:00 AM PT
Optional Fieldtrip: Insite, Supervised Injection Site
Purchase ticket. Cost: $40
Those who register will be transported by charter bus from the conference hotel to Insite for this unique opportunity to witness harm reduction practices firsthand and explore the impact of North America's first supervised injection site on the local community. This opportunity is limited to #ACMT2025 Harm Reduction Symposium registrants only, and there are only 25 seats available on the bus, so be sure to sign up early!
9:45 - 10:00 AM PT
Welcome & Opening Remarks
10:00 - 11:00 AM PT
Donovan Lecture | On the Streets with Evolving Polysubstance Use — The Rise of 'Fentanyl-Plus' and Its Impact on Mortality, Morbidity, and Harm Reduction
Daniel Ciccarone, MD MPH, Justine Miner Professor of Addiction Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, UCSF, San Francisco, CA
This lectureship is supported by the Medical Toxicology Foundation through the Ward and Ryan Donovan Memorial Fund. For more info, please visit: www.acmt.net/donovan-lectureship.
11:00 - 12:00 AM PT
Politics and History of Harm Reduction in Vancouver, Successes & Challenges
Patricia Daly, MD, Chief Medical Health Officer, Vancouver Coastal Health; Clinical Professor, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
12:00 - 1:15 PM PT | Lunch Break (75 min)
1:15 - 2:00 PM PT
Lived Experience in Action: Harm Reduction and Recovery in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
Guy Felicella, International Public Speaker, Drug Policy Advocate, Vancouver
2:00 - 2:45 PM PT
Voices of Experience: A Discussion on Living and Practicing Harm Reduction
Moderator: Leslie Dye, MD FACMT FASAM, Medical Director, OneFifteen; Clinical Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, OH
Panelists:
Charlene Burmeister, Harm Reduction Worker, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)
Daniel Ciccarone, MD MPH, Justine Miner Professor of Addiction Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, UCSF, San Francisco, CA
Patricia Daly, MD, Chief Medical Health Officer, Vancouver Coastal Health; Clinical Professor, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Guy Felicella, International Public Speaker, Drug Policy Advocate, Vancouver
2:45 - 3:30 PM PT
Integrating Harm Reduction with Prevention, Treatment, and Personal Accountability: Saving Lives Without Creating Pill Mills 2.0
Leslie Dye, MD FACMT FASAM, Medical Director, OneFifteen; Clinical Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, OH
3:30 - 4:00 PM PT
Rapidly Increasing Methadone Doses, Scaring Medical Toxicologists
Robert Cole Pueringer, MD, Medical Toxicologist and Addiction Medicine Specialist, Essentia Health, Duluth, MN
4:00 - 4:15 PM PT - Break (15 min)
4:15 - 5:00 PM PT
Integrating Harm Reduction Approaches in Hospital Care: Inpatient Substance Use Policies
Moderator: Anthony Spadaro, MD, Fellow-in-Training, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, NJ
Panelists:
Gillian Beauchamp, MD, FACMT, FASAM, Program Director, Medical Toxicology Fellowship; Associate Professor, Lehigh Valley Health Network; USF Morsani College of Medicine, Allentown, PA
Evan Schwarz, MD, FACMT, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
5:00 - 5:45 PM PT
Timing is Everything: Harm Reduction for Special Populations — An Interactive Case-Based Discussion of Who, When, and Where
Moderator: Ashley Haynes, MD FACEP, Medical Toxicologist, Addiction Medicine Specialist, Veterans Health Administration, Andover, KS
Panelists:
JoAn Laes, MD, FACMT, FASAM, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Allina Health, Minneapolis, MN
Timothy J. Wiegand, MD FACMT DFASAM, Director of Toxicology and of the Toxicology Consult Service, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY
5:45 - 6:oo PM PT
Closing Remarks
Daniel Ciccarone, MD, MPH
Justine Miner Professor of Addiction Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Daniel Ciccarone is the Justine Miner Professor of Addiction Medicine in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. A specialist in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine, Dr. Ciccarone has served as principal or co-investigator on numerous NIH-funded public health research projects. He currently leads the Heroin in Transition study, a multidisciplinary effort employing ethnographic, economic, and statistical modeling to explore the rise in heroin use, the growing variety of heroin source-forms, and the impact of illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, such as fentanyls, on opioid-related mortality and morbidity. His research has been widely published in leading journals, including JAMA, NEJM, AJPH, IJDP, and PLoS Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Ciccarone serves as Associate Editor for the International Journal of Drug Policy and recently edited a special issue on the “triple wave crisis” of opioids, heroin, and fentanyl in the U.S.
Patricia Daly, MD
Chief Medical Health Officer, Vancouver Coastal Health;
Clinical Professor, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Dr. Patricia Daly is the Vice President, Public Health and Chief Medical Health Officer for Vancouver Coastal Health and a Clinical Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. As a public health physician, she focuses on improving population health through prevention, health promotion, communicable disease control, environmental health, and public health surveillance. Dr. Daly earned her medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1985 and worked as a family and emergency physician before completing specialty training at McGill University and the University of Toronto, earning a fellowship in Community Medicine in 1992. After moving to Vancouver in 1993, she served at the BC Centre for Disease Control and later at the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board. Since the formation of Vancouver Coastal Health in 2001, she has continued to lead communicable disease control efforts, assuming her current role in 2007. In addition to her leadership duties, Dr. Daly consults with health professionals, advises the public on key health issues, and teaches medical students and residents at UBC.
Guy Felicella
International Public Speaker, Drug Policy Advocate
BC Center on Substance Use
Guy Felicella, raised in a middle-class home in British Columbia, fell into addiction at a young age due to trauma, undiagnosed ADHD, and struggles at home and school. He spent 30 years trapped in cycles of gangs, addiction, treatment, and jail, including two decades living homeless in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, surviving the HIV/AIDS crisis, severe infections, and six overdoses. Now with over a decade of sobriety, Guy lives with his wife and three children and is a passionate advocate for harm reduction, recovery, and ending addiction stigma. A sought-after international speaker, he shares his story at conferences, schools, and TEDx Talks, inspiring hope and educating communities on the importance of comprehensive care.
Gillian Beauchamp, MD, FACMT, FASAM
Vice Chair, Education & Community Engagement
Lehigh Valley Health Network, USF Morsani College of Medicine, Jefferson Health
Gillian Beauchamp, MD, is Vice Chair for Education and Community Engagement in the Lehigh Valley Health Network Department of Emergency and Hospital Medicine & Division of Medical Toxicology. She is an Associate Professor at USF Morsani College of Medicine, and Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor at Jefferson University. She is board certified in Emergency Medicine, Medical Toxicology and Addiction Medicine. She is an Editorial board member for Toxicology Communications and a Reviews Section Editor and Editorial board member for the Journal of Medical Toxicology; and is co-host for the Tox in Ten: ACMT Highlights podcast.
Charlene Burmeister
Harm Reduction Worker
British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)
Charlene Burmeister has dedicated over nine years to harm reduction work across British Columbia, beginning as a volunteer in her hometown of Quesnel and now serving as the Provincial Peer Coordinator for the Compassion, Inclusion, and Engagement (CIE) initiative. A passionate advocate for reducing stigma and amplifying the voices of people with lived experience, Charlene believes the overdose crisis in BC is fueled by harmful misconceptions about addiction that deter individuals from seeking care. Through her leadership, she has facilitated community dialogues, bringing together peers and harm reduction providers to address barriers to care and improve services in rural and urban communities alike. Charlene champions equitable inclusion, particularly for First Nations peers and other marginalized groups, ensuring they are respected and fairly compensated for their contributions.
Leslie R. Dye, MD FACMT FASAM
Medical Director, OneFifteen
Clinical Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University
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.
Ashley Haynes, MD, FACEP
Medical Toxicologist, Addiction Medicine Specialist
Veterans Health Administration
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.
JoAn Laes, MD, DFASAM, FACMT
Addiction Staff Physician
Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Allina Health
JoAn Laes, MD, DFASAM, FACMT is an addiction medicine physician in Minneapolis, Minnesota, focusing on inpatient addiction medicine and toxicology consultation as well as experience in outpatient treatment of opioid and other substance use disorders. She is also a core medical toxicology faculty for the Minnesota Poison Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and medical director for Missions Inc. Detox facility in Plymouth, Minnesota. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Medical Toxicology, and Addiction Medicine. She completed internal medicine residency at Hennepin County Medical Center and medical toxicology fellowship at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Robert Cole Pueringer, MD
Medical Toxicologist and Addiction Medicine Specialist
Essentia Health
Dr. Robert “Cole” Pueringer is a Medical Toxicologist, Addiction Medicine Specialist, and Hospitalist. He joined Essentia Health in September of 2022. He completed his medical training in the Twin Cities, including Medical School at the University of Minnesota, Internal Medicine Residency and Chief Resident year at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). He received his CTropMed certification for Tropical Medicine & Travelers’ Health at the University of Minnesota. He then completed a Medical Toxicology fellowship at the Health Partners Institute/HCMC in 2021 and an Addiction Medicine fellowship at the University of Minnesota in 2022. His academic interests include medical education, Global Health, and the overlap of Medical Toxicology and Addiction Medicine. He is particularly passionate about substance use disorder - a disease that has affected many aspects of his own life – and hopes to contribute significantly to substance use treatment, education, de-stigmatization, and harm reduction in northern Minnesota.
Evan Schwarz, MD, FACMT
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Schwarz attended medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, before completing a residency in Emergency Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri. After residency, he completed a fellowship in Medical Toxicology at the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine in Dallas, Texas, before returning to Missouri where he was an Advisory Dean and the Medical Toxicology Division Chief and Fellowship Director at Washington University. In 2023, he took a position in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for ACMT.
Anthony Spadaro, MD
Fellow-in-Training
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Anthony Spadaro attended the University of Pennsylvania where he completed his MD and MPH. He then completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. As a resident, his research interests included naloxone distribution in the ED, the impacts of fentanyl on precipitated withdrawl, and emerging novel psychoactives in the drug supply such as xylazine. He is also interested in harm reduction and social emergency medicine. In his free time, he enjoys running long distances, walking his dog, and watching Star Trek.
Timothy Wiegand, MD, DFASAM, FACMT, FAACT
Director of Addiction Medicine and Addiction Medicine Consults
University of Rochester Medical Center
Timothy J. Wiegand, MD, FACMT, FAACT, DFASAM is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in Rochester, New York. Board-certified in both Medical Toxicology and Addiction Medicine, Dr. Wiegand specializes in Addiction Toxicology, combining clinical practice with research, teaching, and leadership roles. He has served two terms on the Board of Directors for the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) and is currently on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). In 2023, he began a two-year term as Treasurer of ASAM, having previously served as Vice President on the Executive Council. Dr. Wiegand founded and led the Toxicology Service at URMC until 2022, when he transitioned to Director of Addiction Medicine and Director of Addiction Medicine Consults in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He also serves as Fellowship Director for the URMC Combined Addiction Medicine Fellowship and is leading efforts to launch the URMC Medical Toxicology Fellowship, which is expected to be formally accredited by July 2023.
Registration Rates
Registration includes:
- Access to the live in-person event on Thursday, April 3, 2025
- Access to the on-demand recording for 90 days after the event
- Access to the speaker slides
- Continuing Education credits are available for purchase for an additional fee. Click here for more info.
- Insite Field Trip tickets available as an optional add-on. Click here for more info.
ACMT Member Rates | Early-Bird Expires: Feb 21, 2025 | Regular Rate Begins: Feb 22, 2025 |
---|---|---|
Member Tier I: Full, Affiliate, International, Emeritus |
$250 | $300 |
Member Tier II: Fellows |
$200 | $250 |
Member Tier III: Residents, International - Developing Country |
$125 | $175 |
Member IV: Medical Students |
$100 | $150 |
Non-Member Rates | Early-Bird Expires: Feb 21, 2025 | Regular Rate Begins: Feb 22, 2025 |
---|---|---|
Non-member Tier I: Physicians, Pharmacists, Lawyers, "Other" |
$350 | $400 |
Non-member Tier II: Fellows, SPIs, Nurses, etc. |
$250 | $300 |
Non-member Tier III: Educators & Emergency Responders |
$175 | $225 |
Non-member IV: Residents & Students | $150 | $200 |
Early-Bird Rate
Early-bird rates expire at midnight on FEBRUARY 21, 2025. Fees increase to the Regular Rate after this date, no exceptions.
ACMT Membership
ACMT Members receive a discounted rate. Interested in becoming an ACMT Member? Contact our Membership Team at membership@acmt.net. Learn more at: www.acmt.net/membership
Refunds and Cancellations
Event registration cancellations received on or before February 17, 2025 (2/17/25) will receive a full refund less a 8% processing fee. Cancellations received between February 18, 2025 and March 18, 2025 (2/18/25-3/18/25) will receive a 50% refund. Cancellations made on or after March 19, 2025 (3/19/25) will not receive a refund. All Continuing Education registrations will be refunded in full less an 8% processing fee regardless of date.
All cancellation requests must be made in writing and emailed to: events@acmt.net. No telephone cancellations will be accepted. A refund that results from a cancellation or change to your registration will be returned to the original payer and in the original method of payment.
Pending review, limited exceptions will be made based on need and circumstance and must be submitted in writing to events@acmt.net. Because each exception must undergo a review and approval process, we ask in advance for your patience.
Questions?
For any questions, please email us at events@acmt.net.
Continuing Education
Continuing Education credit for this activity is available for an additional fee.
Accreditation is provided by AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare, and registrants will be able to claim up 6.0 credits, commensurate with their participation.
Available Continuing Educations Credits:
- Continuing Medical Education (CME)
- Continuing Pharmacist Education (CPE)
- Continuing Nursing Education (CNE)