E23 - How to Manage the Opioid Epidemic in Your Practice: Interview with Dr. Thomas Kosten

In this episode we discuss how to manage the opioid crisis when it comes to patient care, from effective communication with patients, to the most novel treatments with Dr. Thomas Kosten. Dr. Kosten is the JH Waggoner Chair and Professor of Psychiatry, Pharmacology, Immunology and Neuroscience, Vice Chair for Psychiatry and Co-director of the Dan L. Duncan Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) at Baylor College of Medicine. His pharmacotherapy research activities include a cocaine vaccine, disulfiram for cocaine dependence, vasodilators for cocaine-induced cerebral perfusion defects and buprenorphine for opioid dependence. In addition to these pharmacotherapies, he has advanced the understanding of opiate and cocaine dependence mechanisms and treatment using SPECT and functional MRI neuroimaging.