Public Health Advisor
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Naperville, Illinois
David Awadalla, MSW, BSHP, works with SAMHSA’s Office of Prevention Innovation (OPI) and Office of Recovery (OR). David leads and supports several programs, projects, and initiatives, including but not limited to the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence, SAMHSA's National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification, and CDC/SAMHSA’s National Harm Reduction Technical Assistance Centers. David also provides the agency with opioid/OUD, overdose prevention, harm reduction, and recovery-related subject matter expertise, and helps coordinate other efforts across SAMHSA and its partners.
Prior to his position with SAMHSA, David served as Senior Research Scientist, Opioids, with ICF International. In this role, David supported CDC's Division of Overdose Prevention and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Pilot Recovery Housing Program. David also served as the State Opioid Consultant for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) prior transitioning to the federal level.
David is proudly in long-term recovery from substance use disorder (SUD). After struggling with opioids and other substances for almost 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 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 the federal government.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
12:45 PM – 2:00 PM