Professor of Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Addiction Fellowship Program Director
VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, California
Lori Karan, MD, DFASAM, FACP is Professor of Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine as well as Director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at the Loma Linda University Medical School.
During her internal medicine training, Dr. Karan treated patients for the consequences of tobacco use. She recognized that nicotine and tobacco use were often ignored during the treatment of other substance use disorders and that tobacco was the number one cause of death in recovering persons1. Dr. Karan guest-edited a seminal issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment entitled “Towards a Broader View of Recovery.” These experiences set the foundation for Dr. Karan’s longstanding interest in in the similarities and differences between nicotine and other addictive drugs.
Dr. Karan advocated for tobacco control, including befriending the Phillip Morris whistleblower scientists and putting forth stockholder’s proposals during annual meetings of Phillip Morris, and RJ Reynolds. She received a NIDA Scientist Development Award where she researched the discriminative stimulus effects and neuroendocrine basis for the subjective effect of nicotine. Dr. Karan and John Rosecrans PhD co-chaired nine annual ASAM Nicotine Research Roundtables and from this excitement originated the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
More recently Dr. Karan and Dr. Susan Blank authored the Nicotine and Tobacco chapter of the ASAM Criteria where they advocated for increased intensity of treatment for persons who had severe nicotine/tobacco use disorders, medical, and/or psychiatric comorbidity.
Dr. Karan was recruited to LLVAHCS by Dr. Linda Ferry, originator of Zyban. Dr. Ferry and Dr. Karan continue to develop effective treatments for nicotine and tobacco use, especially in patients who have other substance use disorders.
1 Hurt RD et al. “Mortality following inpatient addictions treatment.” JAMA 1996 Apr 10; 275(14):1097-1103.
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Friday, April 1, 2022
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM ET
