Forum for a Safer NYC

An expert panel discussion on the impact of the opioid epidemic in our community. 

This will be an exhilarating conversation about the impact of the opioid crisis in NYC. Hear from our panelists, experts in the field, about what they are doing to improve the lives of our neighbors and community members in their fight to recovery. Learn more about their highly impactful role in changing the landscape and future of New Yorkers. Learn what you can do, too. Let's join together to make New York City safer and better.

Panelists include:

Allan Clear - Director of the New York State Department of Health, AIDS Institute’s Office of Drug User Health

Andrew Tatarsky, MD - Founder and Director of the Center for Optimal Living in NYC; founding member and Past-President, Division on Addiction of New York State Psychological Association; and author, Harm Reduction psychotherapy: A New Treatment for Drug and Alcohol Problems

Chinazo Cunningham, MD - Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief of the Division of ­General Internal Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center.

Erin Khar - Managing Editor at Ravishly; and author of HEROINE

Frederick Rotgers, PsyD, ABPP - Private Practice specializing in substance use disorders; professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice; and former American Editor-in-Chief of the journal Addiction Research and Theory

Jake Nichols - Clinical Specialist of Substance Use Disorders at Pear Therapeutics; Owner and CEO of Strategic Recovery Resources

Julia DeWalt - Director of Communications, Advocacy and Community Engagement for BOOM!Health

Lloyd I. Sederer, MD  - Adjunct Professor at the Columbia School of Public Health; Chief Medical Officer for the NYS Office of Mental Health; and Contributing Writer for Psychology Today, the NY Journal of Books & the NY Daily News

Sarah Church, MD - Executive Director of Elevate360; President-Elect, Division on Addiction of New York State Psychological Association

Sharon Stancliff, MD - Public Health Physician at the New York State Department of Health

Susan Herman - Deputy Commissioner, Collaborative Policing 

Moderator: Brook Silva-Braga - Emmy-award winning journalist and filmmaker