Alta DeRoo, MD, MBA, FACOG, DFASAM was born into a family of service with her father being active-duty Navy when born on Midway Island in the south Pacific. This sense of service was branded in her character and after earning a BA in psychology from Connecticut College, she joined the Navy for what turned out to be the next 24 years. I was selected for combat Naval Aviation and was among the first cohort of women to fly in combat.

Because of this timing, Dr. DeRoo was the first female in her community of the E2C Hawkeye, a carrier airborne early warning plane. They have a short cameo in Top Gun, but you would not see Mav flying her plane. They are the eyes and ears of the fleet and coordinate war-at-sea exercises and air-to-air combat. During this time, she learned crew (team) coordination and it was the beginning of her career in leadership.

After 8 years of aviation and over 40 combat missions, Dr. DeRoo applied to medical school and was awarded a scholarship to attend medical school. After graduating from the University of Florida, College of Medicine, she completed residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She completed several missions including Guantanamo Bay Cuba and 5 deployments on the USNS Mercy performing surgeries in Singapore, Vietnam, Philippine Islands, and was the mission commander of the Papua, New Guinea mission.

Before retiring from the USN, she started to become very aware of the alcohol and drugs that sailors and soldiers use on deployment (for various reasons). Her father was also one of these sailors that eventually developed alcohol use disorder. From his stories and the stories of my shipmates and battle buddies, she became very interested in the science of addiction. Her Commanding Officer at the time allowed her to moonlight at a nearby methadone clinic. This was the beginning of her career in addiction medicine.

Dr. DeRoo later became board certified in Addiction Medicine and practiced both OBGYN and Addiction. She retired from the USN to Culpeper, VA where she started the county’s first ever OBOT with their Community Services Board, started treating pregnant women with SUD and incorporating this into a clinic in her town. Through aggressive Narcan distribution and OUD treatment, they were able to decrease their opioid overdose rate between 2016-2018.

It was during this time Dr. DeRoo also became interested in the Virginia Chapter of ASAM. She served as secretary for two years then president elect in 2020. The only thing that drew her away from serving as president in 2020 was a job opportunity that, to her, was a calling. She was asked to be the Medical Director of the Betty Ford Center and all California sites. She made dramatic changes there and then was promoted to Chief Medical Officer of the Hazelden Betty Ford and their 16 sites across the US. During this time, she also graduated from the University of Virginia with her MBA. However, the highlight of her year was becoming a Distinguished Fellow of ASAM at the most recent ASAM scientific meeting.

Disclosure of Interests and Affiliations