Stephen M. Taylor, MD, MPH, DFAPA, DFASAM is board-certified in general psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and addiction medicine. In more than 28 years of practice experience, and as an educator, presenter and advocate, Dr. Taylor’s life’s work has been to help adolescents and adults avoid or overcome addiction disorders and co-occurring general psychiatric disorders. The 2022-23 NBA season marks Dr. Taylor's 16th year as the Medical Director of the Player Assistance and Anti-Drug Program of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Dr. Taylor also serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Pathway Healthcare, a company that has opened and is operating 14 outpatient addiction and mental health treatment offices across Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, and is preparing to open additional offices in Louisiana, Arkansas and Virginia.

Dr. Taylor is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). He has served as President of the Alabama Society of Addiction Medicine (ALSAM), the Alabama state chapter of ASAM. He currently serves as Chair of ASAM's Delegation to the AMA House of Delegates. He is also the Region X Director of ASAM and is thus an active member of the ASAM Chapter’s Council and ASAM Board of Directors. Dr. Taylor also serves as the Chair of ASAM’s Public Policy Coordinating Council, Vice Chair of ASAM’s Legislative Advocacy Committee. Dr. Taylor is also an active member of ASAM’s Public Policy Committee. He also co-chairs the ASAM Writing Subcommittee on Advancing Racial Justice in Addiction Medicine, which drafted the February 2021 ASAM Public Policy Statement on Advancing Racial Justice in Addiction Medicine, and ASAM's August 2022 Public Policy Statement on Advancing Racial Justice in Health Care Through Addiction Medicine. Finally, as of August 2022, Dr. Taylor has accepted an invitation to represent ASAM in the Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Group of the National Academy of Medicine's Opioid Action Collaborative.

Dr. Taylor is a certified Medical Review Officer (MRO) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC). He also serves on the Drug Testing Advisory Board (DTAB) of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and he serves on the Board of Directors of the Addiction Prevention Coalition, a non-profit community organization in Birmingham, AL. Dr. Taylor also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Foundation for Opioid Recovery Efforts, a non-profit organization dedicated to funding research and prevention interventions to address the opioid and addiction crisis.

An honors graduate of Harvard College, with a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health and a medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine, Dr. Taylor completed "Triple Board" residency training in pediatrics, psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, and then completed a fellowship in addiction psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital Center.

Disclosure of Interests and Affiliations