Daniel P. Alford MD, MPH
Professor, General Internal Medicine
Associate Dean, Continuing Medical Education
801 Massachusetts Ave | (617) 414-7399dalford@bu.edu
dan.alford@bmc.org

Sections
General Internal Medicine
Centers
Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit
Biography
Daniel P. Alford, MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of Continuing Medical Education at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine (BUSM). He is on staff in the Section of General Internal Medicine and Director of the Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Unit at Boston Medical Center. He is the Director of the BUSM Safer/Competent Opioid Prescribing Education (SCOPE of Pain) program which has trained over 240,000 healthcare providers nationally. He is past-president of the Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA). He has been recognized as a “Champion of Change” by the White House and has received the American Medical Association’s “Award for Health Education”, the American Society of Addiction Medicine “Educator of the Year Award”, the American College of Physicians “Award for Distinguished Contributions to Behavioral Medicine” and the AMERSA “McGovern Award for Excellence in Medical Education”. His clinical, educational and research interests focus on managing opioid use disorders and safer and more competent opioid prescribing for managing pain.
Websites
Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education (SCOPE of Pain) Program
Boston University School of Medicine CME office
Immersion Training Program in Addiction Medicine
Boston Medical Center Provider Profile
Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA)
Safe Opioid Prescribing Education Modules
Safe Opioid Prescribing Resources
Education
Medicine-Internal, MD, Boston University, 1992
Public Health, MPH, Boston University, 1986
BA, Connecticut College, 1981
BA, Marietta College, 1979
Publications
Canfield J, Truong V, Bereznicka A, Bridden C, Liebschutz J, Alford DP, Saitz R, Samet JH, Walley AY, Lunze K. Evaluation of a student clinical research education program in addiction medicine. Ann Med. 2023 Dec; 55(1):361-370. PMID: 36629696.
Published on 4/3/2023Alford DP, German JS, Bangham C, Harlowe A, Greece J. Alcohol screening during COVID-19 surges in an urban health system the United States. Prev Med Rep. 2023 Jun; 33:102197. PMID: 37034300.
Published on 2/2/2022Walker DM, Childerhose JE, Chen S, Coovert N, Jackson RD, Kurien N, McAlearney AS, Volney J, Alford DP, Bosak J, Oyler DR, Stinson LK, Behrooz M, Christopher MC, Drainoni ML. Exploring perspectives on changing opioid prescribing practices: A qualitative study of community stakeholders in the HEALing Communities Study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 04 01; 233:109342. PMID: 35151024.
Published on 11/18/2021Alford DP, Kim TW, Samet JH, Cruz AB, Brolin MF, Shanahan CW, Saitz R. Prevalence and Correlates of Positive Follow-up Screens in Primary Care for Unhealthy Alcohol and Other Drug Use After a Negative Screen. J Addict Med. 2022 Jul-Aug 01; 16(4):e219-e224. PMID: 34799491.
Published on 8/17/2021Larochelle MR, Cruz R, Kosakowski S, Gourlay DL, Alford DP, Xuan Z, Krebs EE, Yan S, Lasser KE, Samet JH, Liebschutz JM. Do Urine Drug Tests Reveal Substance Misuse Among Patients Prescribed Opioids for Chronic Pain? J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Aug; 37(10):2365-2372. PMID: 34405344.
Published on 1/25/2021Roseen EJ, Kasali BA, Corcoran K, Masselli K, Laird L, Saper RB, Alford DP, Cohen E, Lisi A, Atlas SJ, Bean JF, Evans R, Bussières A. Doctors of chiropractic working with or within integrated healthcare delivery systems: a scoping review protocol. BMJ Open. 2021 01 25; 11(1):e043754. PMID: 33495261.
Published on 1/8/2021Laks J, Alford DP, Patel K, Jones M, Armstrong E, Waite K, Henault L, Paasche-Orlow MK. A National Survey on Patient Provider Agreements When Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. J Gen Intern Med. 2021 03; 36(3):600-605. PMID: 33420560.
Published on 10/4/2020Winhusen T, Walley A, Fanucchi LC, Hunt T, Lyons M, Lofwall M, Brown JL, Freeman PR, Nunes E, Beers D, Saitz R, Stambaugh L, Oga EA, Herron N, Baker T, Cook CD, Roberts MF, Alford DP, Starrels JL, Chandler RK. The Opioid-overdose Reduction Continuum of Care Approach (ORCCA): Evidence-based practices in the HEALing Communities Study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 12 01; 217:108325. PMID: 33091842.
Published on 4/25/2020Bertholet N, Meli S, Palfai TP, Cheng DM, Alford DP, Bernstein J, Samet JH, Lloyd-Travaglini C, Saitz R. Screening and brief intervention for lower-risk drug use in primary care: A pilot randomized trial. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 Aug 01; 213:108001. PMID: 32563116.
Published on 1/1/2020John RS, Salas-Wright CP, Amodeo M, Chassler D, Alford DP. Faculty education in addiction training (FEAT): Evaluating an online training program for multidisciplinary health professions educators. Subst Abus. 2020; 41(3):292-296. PMID: 32697174.
Media Mentions
Published on 4/11/2023
Rethinking Alcohol Use Disorder Preventing Screening via Virtual Care
Published on 6/29/2022
Published on 12/17/2021
Published on 3/10/2020
Undercover Providence Police Faked Withdrawal Symptoms and Solicited Suboxone
Published on 3/9/2020
A Perfect Storm of Missteps Brought the Opioid Epidemic
Published on 9/11/2019
Treading the Tightrope of Opioid Restrictions
Published on 5/28/2019
Addiction used to be someone else’s problem. Doctors graduating today are eager to take it on
Published on 4/13/2019
Potential for opioid misuse creates prescribing challenges for internists
Published on 4/7/2019
Does science show that unprescribed buprenorphine saves lives?
Published on 3/15/2019
Will Fewer Opioid Prescriptions Help Kick The Crisis?
View full list of 17 media mentions.