Public Health Advisor
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Marietta, Georgia
David Awadalla, MSW, BSHP, currently serves as a Public Health Advisor with SAMHSA’s Office of Prevention Innovation (OPI) and Office of Recovery (OR). Through his role, David leads and supports several programs, projects, and initiatives, including the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence, CDC/SAMHSA’s National Harm Reduction Technical Assistance Center, and various training and technical assistance (TTA) initiatives. David also serves as an opioid/OUD, overdose prevention, harm reduction, lived experience, and technical assistance (TA) subject matter expert, and helps coordinate various efforts across SAMHSA and its federal partners.
Prior to his position with SAMHSA, David worked with ICF International supporting various federal agencies with training, technical assistance, and evaluation, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Overdose Prevention, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Pilot Recovery Housing Program. David also served as the State Opioid Consultant for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Injury and Violence Prevention Section prior to joining ICF.
David is proudly a person in long-term recovery from substance use disorder (SUD). After struggling with his substance use for the better part of a decade—and culminating in a 2-year prison sentence for non-violent drug charges in 2011-- David entered long-term recovery in 2015. Upon entering recovery, David went on to finish his bachelor’s degree in public health at the University of Georgia and graduated with his Master of Social Work at the University of Michigan in 2018. David is always seeking to advocate for and incorporate the voices of people with lived experience into in his professional work, and utilizes his own lived experience to enhance programs, projects, and policies across SAMHSA and its partners.
Sunday, October 30, 2022
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM