Kelly S. Ramsey, MD, MPH, MA, FACP, DFASAM
Candidate for Secretary
Kelly S. Ramsey, MD, MPH, MA, FACP, DFASAM is a board certified internal medicine and addiction medicine physician who has treated substance use disorder since 2004.
She has worked as Medical Director of an opioid treatment program (OTP), Medical Director of SUD at a federally qualified health center (FQHC). More recently, Dr. Ramsey worked as the Chief of Medical Services at the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS), in a policy, regulatory, and clinical role.
Dr. Ramsey currently works as an Addiction Medicine and Harm Reduction Consultant as well as providing low threshold clinical care and clinical supervision in addiction medicine in two drug user health hubs in New York. She has provided expert advice to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) AIDS Institute and their Office of Drug User Health (ODUH), serving on numerous committees for about 15 years, providing expertise in addiction medicine, harm reduction, HIV care, and hepatitis C (HCV) care. Dr. Ramsey has provided clinical teaching, technical assistance, and led learning collaboratives and ECHO programs in addiction medicine, harm reduction, pain management, HCV, and HIV.
Dr. Ramsey was the recipient of the New York State Commissioner’s Special Recognition Award for contributions to drug user health in NYS in December 2018. Dr. Ramsey was the Distinguished Contributions to Behavioral Medicine Award Recipient, awarded by the American College of Physicians (ACP) in April 2023. Dr. Ramsey is the Immediate Past President for the New York Chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (NYSAM) Board of Directors.
In addition, she currently serves as Region I Director, representing NYS, on the national American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Board of Directors. She is active on the ASAM Public Policy Committee, ASAM Constitution and Bylaws Committee, and the ASAM Annual Conference Planning Committee.
Candidate Questionnaire Responses
1. What have been your greatest contributions to ASAM or to the field of addiction medicine over the last 10 years?
I have been a harm reductionist for 30 years; my volunteering experience at a syringe exchange program in the mid-1990s led me to my current trajectory.
I attended medical school to work specifically with people who use substances and have spent my career (the past 20 years) treating people who use substances and treating people with HIV and HCV. An important part of my role as a physician has been advocating for systemic change in systems that engage with people who use substances, including child welfare, criminal justice, employment, housing, the SUD treatment system, and the health care system at large.
I have tried to innovate care in the spheres where I have worked, including in the OTP setting, the FQHC setting, and in low threshold settings, such as drug user health hubs and syringe services programs. I have been active in the drug policy space for the last eight years or so, initially at the county and state levels and now on the national level. I am currently working as an addiction medicine and harm reduction consultant and advocating for compassionate, evidence-based care for people who use substances.
I have been an active member of ASAM and NYSAM for many years. I currently serve as the Region I Director, representing New York, on the ASAM BOD. Participating in the Chapters Council meetings and the ASAM BOD meetings has been informative and rewarding. I have connected with many ASAM chapters over the last several years and presented for their meetings and at their conferences on a variety of topics, including fentanyl, xylazine, novel psychoactive substances, stigma, etc.
I am a member of the ASAM Public Policy Committee, Constitution and Bylaws Committee, Annual Conference Planning Committee, ASAM/ACMT Drug Testing Guideline Committee, and Housing’s Role in Addiction Writing Committee. I was one of the authors of the ASAM Clinical Considerations: Buprenorphine Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder for Individuals Using High-potency Synthetic Opioids.
I am the Immediate Past President of NYSAM, current Nominations/Membership Committee Chairperson, Former Education Committee Chairperson, Former Bylaws Committee Chairperson, and current Education Committee Member.
2. How would your election to the ASAM Board of Directors benefit ASAM and the field of addiction medicine?
ASAM would benefit from my experience in a variety of settings and the breadth of my knowledge from a clinical, policy, and regulatory lens.
I have 20 years of experience doing clinical and policy work in addiction medicine and interfacing with multiple intersecting systems that interface with people who use substances. I have 30 years of experience in harm reduction and I am adept in navigating different viewpoints and positions and infusing passion, compassion, and evidence into my dialogue with others.
I have already been a very active member of ASAM and have served on the ASAM BOD for over 3 years currently as the Region 1 Director. I bring 30 years of BOD experience from a variety of settings, including community based organizations, HIV-related organizations, social justice organizations, animal welfare organizations, and physician-based professional organizations.
I am an excellent coalition builder and able to run meetings and committees effectively. I am a person who actually appreciates Robert’s Rules and editing constitutions and bylaws. I am very passionate about many aspects of addiction medicine including innovative overdose intervention strategies, MOUD in corrections, pregnant/parenting persons, incorporation of harm reduction in the SUD treatment continuum, litigation’s role in advancing equity and justice for people who use substances, and stigma reduction.