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FRI’s Medical Director Receives the 2004
Nyswander-Dole Award
 On
October 19, 2004
Dr. Robert Schwartz, FRI’s Medical Director, was awarded the
Nyswander-Dole Award at The American Association for the Treatment of
Opioid Dependence’s (AATOD) 2004 National Conference, in Orlando,
Florida. AATOD was founded in 1984 to enhance the quality of patient
care in treatment programs by promoting the growth and development of
comprehensive methadone treatment services throughout the United States. The organization is committed to upholding the standards of quality
comprehensive treatment first developed by Drs. Marie Nyswander and
Vincent Dole in the mid-1960’s.
Fondly called “The Marie Award” after Dr. Nyswander, the Nyswander-Dole Award
was first presented in 1983 to recognize extraordinary work and service
in the opioid treatment field. Recipients are selected by their peers
from each region in the United States with at least one international. Recipients of
"The Marie Award" are not only recognized for their outstanding
contributions to methadone treatment, but the award brings with it a
responsibility to methadone treatment and particularly in treating
patients with dignity and respect. Dr. Schwartz was one of 10
recipients, from all over the world this year, honored with "The Marie
Award" at
the 2004 conference.
Dr. Schwartz has been a constant and commanding proponent of drug abuse
treatment for 15 years. As a treatment provider, researcher and
advocate, he has been successful at increasing access to methadone
maintenance treatment in both the community and within prisons. He
served as Director of the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s
Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse prior to joining Friends Research
Institute. At Maryland, he was responsible for the Division’s teaching,
patient care and drug abuse research programs. During his work at
Maryland, he more than doubled their clinics’ treatment capacity,
developed a new methadone program to continue medically-ill hospital
inpatients into outpatient therapy, opened a women’s program and an
intensive outpatient program, and evaluated a long-standing medical
maintenance program at Man Alive.
As the Medical Director of FRI his research has explored the
effectiveness of interim maintenance treatment and the use of methadone
treatment with individuals on probation. He is currently working on
studies, which examine reasons for entry and retention in methadone
treatment, effective ways to retain outpatients in buprenorphine
withdrawal, and the provision of methadone treatment for pre-release
inmates. In addition, through the Open Society Institute-Baltimore, Dr.
Schwartz promotes the welfare of opioid-dependent individuals by
supporting projects that strengthen Baltimore’s treatment system,
advocate for treatment-on-demand, improve relationships between
communities’ associations and treatment programs, examine zoning
restrictions on program operation, enhance counselor training and
recruitment, integrate buprenorphine treatment with primary care, and
increase the use of best practices in opioid agonist treatment.
FRI congratulates Dr. Schwartz on being honored with this prestigious
award. |
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