What We Do
We provide quality care
During the past twenty-five years, Dr. Volpicelli has pioneered the integration of medications with psychotherapy support to treat addictions. His research on the use of Naltrexone led to the first new medication to be approved by the FDA for alcohol treatment in nearly fifty years. Throughout this time, he was an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and Senior Scientist at the Pennsylvania VA Center for Research on Addictive Disorders. Dr. Volpicelli is also the author of “Recovery Options: The Complete Guide” and “Combining Medication and Psychosocial Treatments for Addictions: The Brenda Approach”.
IAM is dedicated to finding novel evidence based treatments through clinical research and the dissemination of this research through scientific publications and conferences. Dr. Volpicelli will facilitate the establishment of clinical treatment programs starting with the Volpicelli Center. These programs are being developed to address the growing need for addiction treatment and clinical training programs to teach health care providers how to deliver evidence based treatments.
In the US, there are over 18 million people suffering from an Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Of those only 2 million receive treatment, and less than 10 percent receive medication of any kind even though NALTREXONE was FDA approved back in 1994. Since then, two other medications have been approved for treatment and a prolific amount of research has been done to back up the results. Still though, treatment centers across the country are not embracing these options, and some even go so far as to dismiss the research entirely and employ methods of treatment that are both outdated and greatly lacking in scientific evidence.
Professional Team
Our Staff
Dr. Joseph Volpicelli has over 30 years of clinical addiction treatment research and clinical experience. Prior to founding the Institute of Addiction Medicine, Dr. Volpicelli was a tenured faculty member of the University of Pennsylvania where he conducted clinical trials on pharmacological treatments for alcohol, opioid, and cocaine addiction. Dr. Volpicelli completed his medical and graduate education at the University of Pennsylvania which was followed by a Fellowship in Neuropsychopharmacology. His research into the psychopharmacology of alcohol use led to the discovery that naltrexone, an opioid blocker was effective in the treatment for alcohol use disorders. He has written two books and has more than 100 publications in addiction treatment research. Through his involvement with the Institute, he regularly helps educate clinicians on effective medical and psychosocial treatments for addictive disorders.