WVU will host Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Thursday (June 8) at the WVU Health Sciences Center.
To start the day, Dr. Clay Marsh, chancellor and executive dean for Health Sciences, will lead a roundtable discussion with Dr. Gupta and others from 9-10:30 a.m. in the HSC Pylons area.
The event is open to the public and will focus on addiction recovery, trauma and mental health along with high-impact policies to address the overdose epidemic.
Other scheduled attendees include Autumn Cyprès, dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences, Amelia Rinehart, dean of the College of Law, T. Anne Hawkins, director of the Carruth Center for Counseling and Psychological Services, and Azeem Khan, co-chair of the Mountaineer Fentanyl Education Task Force.
Dr. Gupta’s visit will also include private tours of the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and the WVU Medicine Center for Hope and Healing so he can hear directly from researchers, health care professionals and patients.
The first medical doctor to serve in the ONDCP director’s role, Dr. Gupta previously worked as chief medical officer for the March of Dimes, state health officer and commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Resources’ Bureau of Public Health, and oversaw the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department from 2009-2014.