University of Pittsburgh Awards Tenure to Antoine Douaihy, MD
We are delighted to announce that Antoine Douaihy, MD, has received conferral of tenure at the rank of professor by the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Douaihy is an outstanding clinical leader, teacher, and researcher with broad expertise in addiction medicine and dual diagnosis, as well as substance use and co-morbid HIV. He is senior academic director of UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH)’s Addiction Medicine Services, and medical director of Tobacco Treatment Service of UPMC. He has published A Family Guide to Coping with Substance Use Disorders, Managing Your Substance Use Disorder, and more than 30 recovery workbooks, which are used across UPMC and in clinics worldwide. For UPMC, he co-led the development and dissemination of medical marijuana certification guidelines, and at the University of Pittsburgh he served as a member of the Opioid Task Force. Regionally, he has made major contributions as vice chair of the Pittsburgh HIV Commission and a member of the Medical Marijuana Physician Workgroup and the Maternal Mortality Review Committee for the PA Department of Health. In 2023, Dr. Douaihy was recognized as a UPMC Grand Champion, honoring his work advocating for patients with substance abuse and those with HIV.
Dr. Douaihy is known as a nationally and internationally recognized expert in motivational interviewing—a therapeutic technique that involves a collaborative conversation style for strengthening motivation and commitment to change, which is widely believed to have transformed the way clinicians and researchers understand behavior change. He has authored or edited three books on the subject, as well as numerous peer-reviewed papers in influential journals, and has been invited to speak nationally and internationally. He serves as a trainer with the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), an international organization of trainers in motivational interviewing. At UPMC, he has contributed substantially to the expansion of motivational interviewing throughout the system, where it is recognized as the gold-standard approach to working with patients and families.
Dr. Douaihy is a member of the Pitt School of Medicine’s Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators, and serves as chair of the Interdisciplinary Substance Use Disorder Curriculum for the Health Sciences. He has been awarded Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grants for Pitt medical student education, and has taught motivational interviewing to clinical psychology interns, and to psychiatry residents in the WPH Dual Diagnosis inpatient unit. Dr. Douaihy’s achievements have been recognized by numerous teaching awards including the Sheldon Adler Award for Innovation in Medical Education, the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching (six-time awardee), the William Cohen Award for Excellence in Clinical Skills Instruction, the Kenneth E. Schuit Award Recognizing the Dean’s Master Educators, and the Donald S. Fraley Award for Outstanding Contributions as a Mentor to Future Physicians, the Charles Watson Teaching Award, and more.
Dr. Douaihy contributes substantially to research focused on substance use disorders treatment, and on topics including psychopharmacological and psychosocial interventions; psychology of change; addressing health disparities and racial inequities in substance use disorders implementation and dissemination science; and the intersection of HIV, psychiatric disorders, and substance use disorders. He has contributed to more than 30 grants from the National Institutes of Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and national foundations, as well as to numerous clinical trials.
“Dr. Douaihy has had an unparalleled impact on establishing and widely disseminating scientific best practices in substance use disorder treatment, as well as in decreasing the stigma around addiction. In addition, he is unequivocally a top educator, evidenced by the many teaching and mentorship awards he has received,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). “Dr. Douaihy is a highly valued team scientist who is serves as a co-investigator on impactful grants, including numerous clinical trials.”
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Douaihy!