Welcome and Introduction: “From Policy to Practice” 

Dr. Kristin Van Zant is the Immediate Past President of the Pennsylvania Society of
Addiction Medicine and current Chair of the PSAM Education Committee. Following
graduation from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, she has
been a leader in Community Psychiatry for more than 30 years. She has held
leadership positions in non-profit organizations, including Medical Director of Horizon
House, where she also was Co-Director of UPENN’s Public Psychiatric Fellowship
program. She has participated in every level of community support, including ACT
teams and Housing First models of care.

She was active in Philadelphia’s transformation of community mental health services and a champion in Philadelphia’s Integration of Tobacco Recovery within Behavioral Health Services. She received the Horizon House Wayne Chiodo Leadership Award in 2015. More recently she received the 2023 Edward Lawlor Award from the Philadelphia Chapter of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society. Her advocacy for homeless individuals with severe and complex health concerns led to participation in the Mayor’s Opioid Task Force and Board Certification in Addiction Medicine. She then made a transition to working in innovative programming in Philadelphia’s highest opioid overdose zip codes, where she provided clinical care to thousands of individuals in PHMC’s MAT partial program and residential
IOP’s.

She is currently Medical Director of the NET-Center’s two innovative CCBHC models of care, providing services to individuals in the North and Frankford/Kensington section of Philadelphia. For self-care she plays first violin in the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey and performs in 4 concerts every year.

President’s Lecture: “GLP-1 Agonists and Substance Use/ Addiction”

James R. Latronica, DO, DFASAM received his medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. He completed residency training at Clarion Hospital in Clarion, PA, then completed an Addiction Medicine Fellowship at Penn State.

He has a deep interest in activism and advocacy and serves as President of the Pennsylvania Society of Addiction Medicine, as a member of the American Society off Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM) Public Policy Committee, and also serves on the boards of the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) and the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association (POMA).

He has previously been awarded a Ruth Fox Memorial Scholarship Award from ASAM, an Excellence in Individual Advocacy Award from the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), a State Emerging Leader Award from POMA, and a Top Physicians Under 40 Award from PAMED.

He has various publications on prescription stimulants and Stimulant Use Disorder, and his lay writing and interviews on addiction and harm reduction have appeared in both regional and national outlets.

After four years as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he is now the Chief Medical Officer or Tadiso, Inc., the largest and oldest Opioid Treatment Program in Pittsburgh. Ω

Amy Hoffman, MD is an Addiction Medicine fellow at Penn State College of Medicine. She completed her Family Medicine residency at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital where she also served as Chief Resident. She has served as the student member to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) in 2021-2022. Ω

Addiction Medicine Fellowship Hour: “A Case of 7-hydroxymitragynine”

Dr. Pal is an Addiction Medicine Fellow at Penn State College of Medicine. She earned her medical degree from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her Family Medicine residency at Southern Hills Hospital in Las Vegas, NV. Her clinical interests include include harm reduction and providing low-barrier SUD care.

Addiction Medicine Fellowship Hour: “Rewriting Recovery: Using Implementation Science to Tackle Tobacco Dependence”

Dr. Kritika Gunachelvan (she/her) is an Addiction Medicine Fellow at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Originally from Toronto, Canada, she completed her undergraduate studies in comparative physiology and linguistics at the University of Toronto and earned her medical degree from St. George’s University in Grenada. Dr. Gunachelvan went on to complete her Internal Medicine/Primary Care residency at UMass Chan Medical School – Baystate in Springfield, MA. Her clinical and academic interests include primary care integration in addiction treatment, harm reduction, immigrant health, Indigenous health, and health equity advocacy.

Addiction Medicine Fellowship Hour: “Vaping Cessation Testing”

Heather Alker MD MPH (she/her/hers) graduated from Tufts University School of
Medicine. She completed Preventive Medicine Residency at UMass Chan Medical
School where she began her clinical training in the treatment of substance use
disorders. She is board certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. She is an
addiction medicine fellow at Thomas Jefferson University.

Addiction Medicine Fellowship Hour: “PETH testing”

George Truong earned his medical degree at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA. He completed residency training in family medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Throughout residency, he dedicated much of his time to community advocacy with a focus on caring for individuals in carceral settings which eventually led him to pursue additional training as an addiction medicine fellow.

As an addiction medicine fellow, Dr. Truong has become focused on integrating treatment of co-occurring mental health disorders in patients with substance use disorders. His current research interests surround implementation of long-acting injectable buprenorphine in the acute hospital setting and its role in improving transitions to outpatient care.

Behavioral Addictions: “Gambling”

Ryan DiMeglio, MSW, LCSW, LCADC has worked professionally as a social worker for over 12 years, with his work focusing specifically on individuals with addictive disorders and co-occurring mental health issues. During this time, Mr. DiMeglio has worked in numerous different roles, such as a clinician, Program Coordinator, Clinical Director, and Clinical Supervisor.

Presently, Mr. DiMeglio is an Assistant Professor at the Rutgers School of Social Work and also serves as the Co-Director of the Addiction Counselor Training Certificate Program. In these roles, Mr. DiMeglio focuses on the education of MSW students in preparation for careers in clinical practice treating addictive disorders, including gambling.

Mr. DiMeglio is also a Ph.D. student at Rutgers and his research focuses on gambling, substance use disorders, addictive behaviors, and clinical treatment interventions. Through his research and dissemination, Mr. DiMeglio seeks to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice.

Addiction Medicine Journal Club Hour: “The High Impact
Articles of 2025″

Sonya Del Tredici, MD, FASAM practices primary care and addiction medicine for WellSpan Health in South-Central Pennsylvania. She works in an academic practice where she sees patients and teaches residents and medical students. She is also the lead physician for Addiction Services for WellSpan Health, working on system-wide addiction medicine initiatives. As well as her clinical work, she is passionate about sharing her love of addiction medicine, and she is the creator and co-host of the Addiction Medicine Journal Club podcast. In her spare time she lives her best small-town life in Gettysburg, PA with her family, her labradoodle, and her vegetable garden.

Addiction Medicine Journal Club Hour: “The High Impact
Articles of 2025″

Dr. John F. Keenan, MD, CPE, AAHIVS, FAAFP, FASAM, is a board-certified physician
specializing in Family Medicine, Addiction Medicine, and HIV Medicine. He earned his
medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine and
began his residency in general surgery at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine before
transitioning to family medicine at Lynchburg Family Medicine Residency, where he served as chief resident. Dr. Keenan currently practices at WellSpan Hayshire Family Medicine, providing both inpatient and outpatient care with a focus on full-spectrum family medicine and treating patients with stigmatizing illnesses.

He also serves as the Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at York Hospital, where he leads efforts to integrate services and develop quality improvement projects aimed at reducing readmissions among vulnerable populations, particularly those affected by addiction. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Keenan is a cohost of the “Addiction Medicine Journal Club” podcast. Outside of medicine, he enjoys running, skiing, spending time with his wife, and chasing after his
three young daughters.