Botticelli joins Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently announced that Michael Botticelli, MEd, former director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy at the White House, will join the school as its distinguished policy scholar.

“This is an exciting opportunity for our school, our students and the whole Hopkins community to work with and learn from a tremendous public health leader who has been a champion for individuals and families affected by the crisis of addiction and overdose deaths in our country,” Colleen Barry, PhD, MPP, chair of the department of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins, said in a press release. “Over his extraordinary career working in public health, Michael Botticelli has demonstrated a strong dedication to the use of research evidence to inform policy design and this perspective makes him a great partner for us at Hopkins. He has also worked throughout his career to combat stigma at a very personal level — through his willingness to speak publicly about his own experiences in long-term recovery.”

In his new role, Botticelli will work with faculty, students and alumni of the department of health policy and management on numerous initiatives over the next year to address the opioid epidemic and reduce stigma.

Prior to this appointment, Botticelli led drug policy efforts for the Obama Administration, utilizing public health and safety strategies to advance drug policy approaches.

He has previously served as director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and has initiated and developed partnerships with local, state and federal law agencies, state and local health and human services agencies, and stakeholders to implement evidence-based programs.

Following Botticelli’s appointment, the school plans to conduct the Bloomberg American Health Initiative to address public health threats such as addiction and overdose, climate change, obesity and the food system, and risks to adolescent health and violence.

“We are in the midst of the worst overdose crisis in the history of our country and we need to find ways to reverse this devastating epidemic,” Botticelli said in the release. “This is the right moment for me to join the Bloomberg School where we can work together to find solutions.”