A Resource for Healthcare and Social Services Professionals
Colleen is the Director of the OBAT TTA program and the founder and director of Boston Medical Center's OBAT Clinic. She also serves as the Program Director of many related projects, including two Opioid Addiction Treatment Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHOs) at BMC. Ms. LaBelle has over 30 years of experience treating HIV and addiction and over a decade of experience advising health care organizations on incorporating addiction treatment into their programs. She is a member of the Massachusetts Board of Nursing and Governor Charlie Baker's Opioid Working Task Force. In recognition of her work to improve and expand treatments for patients with addiction, Colleen received the 2017 Betty Ford Award from the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) and the 2016 Lillian Carter Exemplary Acts in Nursing Award from Modern Healthcare and the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility at the Emory University School of Nursing, among many others. She also received an honorable mention for the Gage Award from America’s Essential Hospitals in 2016. Ms. LaBelle is board certified in addiction nursing and pain management, and she earned both her BSN and MSN from Grand Canyon University, in addition to a Diploma in Nursing from St. Elizabeth’s School of Nursing.
Justin is a Clinical Nurse Educator for Boston Medical Center’s OBAT TTA team, with specific expertise in infectious disease and their co-occurrence with substance use disorders, community outreach, and harm reduction. He serves as an expert on OBAT TTA’s SUD Care Continuum ECHO team and sits on the item writing committee for the Addictions Nursing Certification Board. Justin has dedicated his career to caring for patients living with HIV/AIDS and suffering from substance use disorders across the continuum of care. He is an AIDS Certified Registered Nurse, a Certified Addictions Registered Nurse, and a member of the Gamma Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau. Justin received his BSN from Northeastern University in 2013 and is currently completing his MSN at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with a focus in nursing education.
Lexie is the Program Director for the OBAT TTA program at Boston Medical Center. She develops systems and tools to deliver technical assistance and assists community organizations in identifying their TTA needs. She also advises community health centers on clinic administration and protocols related to providing substance use disorder treatment in a primary care setting. Lexie has 13 years of experience as the Operations Manager of BMC's OBAT Clinic, and she also managed data collection for the STATE OBAT B Grant, working with community health centers throughout Massachusetts to report programmatic and patient data after implementing the Massachusetts Model of nurse care management. Lexie received her BA from Brown University and her MPH and MSW from Columbia University.
Andrea is a Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Educator for the OBAT TTA Program at Boston Medical Center with clinical interest and expertise in women’s health, individuals experiencing homelessness, and chronic disease management. She is committed to serving vulnerable populations and works per diem at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program; Andrea has also conducted international healthcare work in Haiti. She is a term lecturer and preceptor for nurse practitioner students at the MGH Institute of Health Professions (MGH IHP). Andrea received her Masters of Science in Nursing in 2011 and her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in 2018, both from the MGH IHP. She is board certified in addictions nursing through the Addictions Nursing Certification Board.
Vanessa is a Program Coordinator for the OBAT TTA program and the HEALing Communities Study (HCS) in Massachusetts. Vanessa supports OBAT programs involved with HCS throughout the state, as well as OBAT TTA-related activities of the HCS Care Continuum Core. She is also responsible for coordinating OBAT TTA Recovery Coach initiatives. Vanessa earned her MPH from Boston University, where she focused her studies on medication treatment for opioid use disorder and qualitative addiction research. Vanessa received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where she co-founded a collegiate recovery program to support students in or seeking addiction recovery.
Danna is the coordinator and co-facilitator of Boston Medical Center’s OBAT Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) programs. She interfaces with community health centers, health care professionals, specialists, and OBAT staff to ensure the operations of the tele-mentoring clinics with BMC experts. Danna has been managing nonprofit programming for over 20 years. She previously worked with youth and families in under-resourced communities in Chicago and also served as a clinician in a community health center, working with youth, couples, and families. Danna has also provided clinical and psychosocial support to refugees from Sudan, Iraq, Ethiopia, and Eritrea in Cairo, Egypt. Danna holds a Master's Degree in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago, and a Graduate Diploma in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies from The American University in Cairo.
Rachel is the Medical Director of Community Health Outreach for OBAT Training and Technical Assistance. She is the medical director for OBAT TTA’s SUD Care Continuum ECHO. She is a primary care and addiction specialist at the South End Community Health Center and is the medical director of the HCRC Methadone OTP in Jamaica Plain. Her work focuses on increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder through skills development of primary care and community-based care teams. She is board certified in both internal medicine and addiction medicine. Rachel received her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed residency at Boston Medical Center.
Charmaine is a Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Educator for the OBAT TTA Program at Boston Medical Center with clinical expertise in caring for individuals experiencing homelessness, care transitions, and complex care coordination. She previously worked at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program as a respite care and primary care provider and has been involved in research focused on the needs of underserved populations. Charmaine is a clinician at Faster Paths to Treatment, BMC’s substance use disorder urgent care center, with a full DATA2000 X-waiver. Charmaine earned her MPH in Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health and her MSN from Boston College, with a concentration as a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Cara McKinney is the Education Program Assistant for the Massachusetts OBAT ECHO® and the Substance Use Disorder Care Continuum ECHO® at Boston Medical Center. Cara assists in coordinating and facilitating teleECHO clinics, preparation of training materials, and management of clinic evaluations. She is a second-year Master of Public Health student at Boston University School of Public Health studying global health program design, monitoring, and evaluation. Cara has previously worked in health education and communication both domestically and internationally. Cara earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Spanish from Bowling Green State University.
Melissa Mitchell is the Data Coordinator for OBAT Training and Technical Assistance at Boston Medical Center. Melissa receives all of the required Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) forms submitted by OBAT grant-funded programs across the state and enters them into the state database. She reviews the forms for completeness and contacts programs to obtain missing information. Melissa provides technical assistance to programs in the correct completion of the DPH forms in order to facilitate the collection of complete and accurate data on office-based addiction treatment services statewide. Melissa maintains databases that track the patients enrolled at each individual clinical site and monitors the receipt of the required paperwork for each patient. Melissa has been with BMC OBAT for over 10 years.
Stacey is the Administrative Assistant to Project Director Colleen LaBelle and to the OBAT Clinical Team at Boston Medical Center. Stacey coordinates trainings and other events, managing registrations, room setup, and preparation of training materials and supplies, and has over 5 years' experience supporting the BMC OBAT operations. Stacey also maintains the Treatment and Referrals Hotline for the State of Massachusetts. As the primary Hotline representative, Stacey speaks to callers seeking treatment for opioid use disorders about what kind of treatment they are looking for and provides information about the treatment options accessible to them in their local area. Prior to joining BMC OBAT, Stacey worked at multiple community-based health centers in the greater Boston area.
Conor is the Program Coordinator for OBAT Training and Technical Assistance at Boston Medical Center. He manages all continuing education applications and all MAT Waiver trainings by the OBAT TTA team. Prior to joining OBAT TTA, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa, where he designed and implemented health programs and provided capacity-building support to multiple non-profits in his host community. Conor holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies with a Concentration on Community Health from Rhodes College.
Annie is a Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Educator for the OBAT TTA program at Boston Medical Center. Annie educates and supports health care providers on best practices in the treatment of substance use disorders and serves as an expert on the Opioid Treatment ECHO panel. Prior to joining BMC, Annie practiced at a community health center in Baltimore, MD, where she established and served as the clinical lead for the city’s first walk-in HIV treatment and prevention program. She is board-certified in addictions and holds specialty certifications for the treatment of HIV and Hepatitis C. Annie earned her Masters of Nursing and Masters of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Bloomberg School of Public Health, respectively.
Vanessa is a Clinical Nurse Educator for Boston Medical Center's OBAT Technical Assistance Team. She is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner receiving her Masters of Science in Nursing at Simmons College, and she is also board certified in Advance Practice Addictions nursing through the Addictions Nursing Certification Board (CARN-AP). She is the Administrative Director of the Addiction Services Department at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, formerly the South End Community Health Center, where she also practices as a nurse practitioner with expertise in providing primary care to complex patients with substance use disorder, chronic mental illness and infectious diseases. Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner, Vanessa worked as a registered nurse in acute treatment services and medical stabilization programs.
Shereen is the Project Coordinator for OBAT Training and Technical Assistance at Boston Medical Center. She manages the planning, implementation, and evaluation of conferences and training events hosted by OBAT and the OBAT website. Shereen also coordinates activities related to OBAT's role in the PROUD Clinical Trials Network study, based out of Kaiser Permanente in Washington State, which measures the efficacy of expanding the Massachusetts model of addiction treatment nationally. Before joining the OBAT TTA team, she worked with BMC's Office of Development as an associate on the Foundation Relations and Government Grants team. Shereen holds a Bachelor's degree in Science, Technology, and Society from Vassar College, with minors in Biology and Italian.
Alicia is the Director of Special Projects and Research for the OBAT TTA Program at Boston Medical Center, overseeing all research and evaluation activities for the OBAT Clinic and OBAT TTA Program. Alicia has over 15 years of experience conducting public health and clinical research. She is a member of nine active study teams, including in several as a site or study principal investigator, and she has published on a variety of topics including reproductive health, HIV, alcohol and drug use, and family members impacted by substance use. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Families for Sensible Drug Policy. Alicia received her Master's in Community Public Health from New York University.
Kristin is a Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Educator for the OBAT TTA program at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine. Kristin has been working in addiction medicine since 2009—initially practicing as a Registered Nurse within BMC's multidisciplinary OBAT clinic, managing a large caseload of patients with substance addiction, and now as a Primary Care Provider with a full DATA2000 x-waiver. In addition to her clinical practice, Kristin advises and supports community health centers on integration of best practices for treating substance use disorders into institutions across Massachusetts and nationwide. Kristin earned her MSN, Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, degree from Salem State University. She is board certified in addictions nursing through the Addictions Nursing Certification Board.
OBAT TTA is a program of Boston Medical Center (BMC), a 514-bed academic medical center located in Boston's historic South End and the largest safety-net hospital in New England.
