Our Mission
Family and Community Medicine's mission in addiction medicine is to provide comprehensive, evidence-based, and integrated care for families impacted by substance use and train healthcare professionals to offer such support. We strive to be stigma-free and trauma-informed in our work, creating welcoming healthcare environments and interactions with the communities we serve.
Dedicated Faculty
Alicia Kowalchuk, D.O., FASAM
Associate Professor
Medical Director, InSight SBIRT Services – Harris Health
Medical Director, I-CARE Clinic – Santa Maria Hostel
Medical Director, Sobering Center – Houston Recovery Center
Kelly Bush, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC
Instructor
Provider of Integrated Primary Care, I-CARE Clinic – Santa Maria Hostel
Hiroko Furo, M.D., Ph.D., M.A., M.S., MSES
Associate Professor
Sandra J. Gonzalez, MSSW, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director of Behavioral Health
Jacqueline Hirth, Ph.D., MPH
Associate Professor
Director of Research
David Lundy-Weiss, M.D., MPH
Assistant Professor
Provider of Integrated Primary Care, I-CARE Clinic – Santa Maria Hostel
Roger Zoorob, M.D., MPH, FAAFP
Richard M. Kleberg, Sr. Professor & Chair
Service Sites
Our faculty provides services and administrative leadership in partnership with a number of community-based prevention and treatment programs for substance use disorders, and organizations focused on serving under-resourced and historically marginalized communities in the Greater Houston area.
Service Grants
We are involved in many grants centered on substance use disorders and community health. Several federal agencies sponsor our initiatives with collaborators. Visit our Research Grant Funding page for more information on each active grant.
| Grant Name | Funding Agency | Faculty Roles |
| EmpowHER | SAMHSA | Zoorob, PD |
| MIRRORS+ (Maternal Initiative for Reflective Recovery-Oriented Residential Services Plus) | SAMHSA – SMH | Kowalchuk, Subaward PI (Bell, PI) |
| Access to Care | SAMHSA – BHSST | Gonzalez, Subaward PD (Martinez, PD) |
| Nueva Start | SAMHSA – BHSST | Gonzalez, Subaward PD (Martinez, PD) |
| Advancing Health Equity through Integrated Care: The I-CARE Clinic (Earmark) | SAMHSA | Zoorob, PD |
| Behavioral Health American Rescue Plan Act Funding for Harris County Public Health Services (ARPA LFRF): I-Care Clinic | HUD – SMH | Kowalchuk, Subaward PI (Gilmore, PI) |
| Fueling Hope | SAMHSA – BHSST | Gonzalez, Subaward PI (Martinez, PI) |
| FRONTLINES+ Project (First Responder Opioid Overdose Naloxone Training and Linkage Into Needed Evidence-Based Services Plus) (2022 Renewal) | SAMHSA – City of Houston | Kowalchuk, Subaward PI (Shulz, PI) |
| Be Well Texas (BWTX) Program | SAMHSA – UTSA – SMH | Kowalchuk, Subaward PI (Gilmore, PI) |
| MAT AUD Program | DHHS | Kowalchuk, Subaward PI (Gilmore, PI) |
| Treatment and Recovery Grant Program – SBIRT-Substance Use/Screening Brief Intervention Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Services | DHHS | Kowalchuk, Subaward PI (Velasquez, PI) |
| Community Access & Resources Education Project (CARE) | SAMHSA – BHSST | Gonzalez, Subaward PD (Sanchez, PI) |
| Come Home Houston | SAMHSA | Zoorob, PD |
| Bringing Alcohol and Other Drug Research to Primary Care | NIH | Zoorob, Contact PI; Kowalchuk, MPI; Grigoryan, Evaluator |
Education
The department is passionate about teaching advancements in addiction medicine and substance use prevention to the next generation of healthcare providers along with current professionals:
- MEFAM-201 Addiction Medicine: An elective two-week clinical rotation for medical students to gain an understanding of the medical care of individuals with substance use disorders across a spectrum of substances, stages of use, and presentations, including harm reduction and overdose prevention for people who continue to use.
- MS1 Practice of Medicine Course Modules: A part of the medical school mandatory curriculum covering behavioral health counseling and screening, brief intervention, referral, and treatment.
- Training at Santa Maria Hostel: A clinical environment with Alicia Kowalchuk, D.O., FASAM as Santa Maria's site director and our faculty serving as preceptors for Baylor's Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship.
- BCM Buprenorphine Education Among Residents and (Medical) Students (BCM BEARS): A grant-funded program for family medicine residents to explore addiction medicine topics and receive DEA training.
- FRONTLINES+ Project (First Responder Opioid Overdose Naloxone Training and Linkage Into Needed Evidence-Based Services Plus): A grant-funded program to educate professional first responders, medical students, and the local community on overdose prevention education and naloxone distribution.
- Bringing Alcohol and Other Drug Research to Primary Care: A grant-funded program developed as an interactive educational tool on substance use prevention and treatment for primary care physicians in Houston and the Rio Grande Valley.
