Faculty

Addiction Medicine Fellowship

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Addiction Medicine
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Faculty

Christopher Holden MD

  • Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship
  • Director of Addiction Psychiatry
  • Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
  • Department of Psychiatry – University of Illinois College of Medicine
  • UI Health
Dr. Holden is the Director of Addiction Psychiatry. He treats a variety of psychiatric conditions, and he specializes in the treatment of patients with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders. He works with patients in the outpatient mental health clinic as well as the hospital’s inpatient medical, surgical, and psychiatric units.

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Christopher Holden

Nicole Gastala MD

  • Associate Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship

Dr. Nicole Gastala practices in the Department of Family Medicine at UI Health. Dr. Gastala focuses on preventative healthcare and chronic disease management for pediatric, adolescent, adult, and OB/GYN patients. She has an interest in addiction medicine, including medication-assisted treatment for opioid-use disorder.

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Nicole Gastala

Elisabeth Poorman MD

  • Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine and Addictions
  • Assistant Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship
  • Director, Addiction Consult Service at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center
  • University of Illinois Chicago
I've wanted to be a doctor since I was a kid. I remember going to the Field Museum in Chicago, standing in a giant replica of heart and listen to a recording of its beating. It felt like being let in on a secret, a secret that I could use to stop heart attacks one day. Like a real super hero. But along the way felt less sure. I worried about the ways that doctors change during their training, from the cut-throat competition in college to the hierarchical nature of training, which distances us from our patients and each other. - Dr. Poorman

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Elisabeth Poorman

Samantha Chirunomula MD

  • Physician, Mile Square Federally Qualified Health Center
  • Addiction Medicine Fellow, Class of 2022
Samantha Chirunomula

Natania Crane PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Dr. Crane is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Her research utilizes multiple methods (i.e., fMRI, EEG, cognitive, clinical, and self-report measures) to examine the brain and behavioral risk factors and consequences of Substance Use Disorders, especially Cannabis Use Disorder. An important aspect of her research is studying the relationship between clinical mental health factors and substance use, particularly between depression and cannabis use. Dr. Crane received her PhD in Clinical Psychology, completed her Clinical Internship and T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship at UIC, with an emphasis in Neuropsychology. She has received Early Career Travel Awards from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the American Psychological Foundation, as well as a K23 Early Career Development Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Natania Craine

Rodney Eiger MD

  • Chief, Addiction Programs Section, Jesse Brown VAMC
  • Clinical Lead, Substance Use Disorders, Veterans Integrated Services Network 12
  • Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program, UIC/COM Department of Psychiatry
  • Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry , UIC/COM Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Eiger received his Medical Degree from the University of Illinois and did his residency in Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. Dr. Eiger has worked in the field of addiction since 1974 in a variety of public and private settings. He’s currently the Chief, Addiction Programs, at Jesse Brown VAMC and the clinical lead for Substance Use Disorders for a network of 8 VA medical centers in the Midwest.

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Rodney Eiger

Jonathan Henry MD, PhD

  • Medical Director, Addictions Treatment Program
  • Jesse Brown VA Medical Center
  • Chicago, IL

Fazeelah Ibrahim MD

  • Physician, Drug Dependency Treatment Center, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center

Anish John MD

  • Associate Medical Director
  • Positive Sobriety Institute
Dr. Anish John, MD is the Associate Medical Director for the Positive Sobriety Institute, where he oversees care for patients in the partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs. Double board-certified in psychiatry and addiction psychiatry, Dr. John conducts patient evaluations, develops treatment plans based on bio-psycho-social clinical formulations, co-leads a multidisciplinary team and develops new programs to continue to enhance patient care.

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Anish John

Stockton Mayer DO

  • Assistant Professor
  • College of Medicine, University of Illinois

Dr. Stockton Mayer practices in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UI Health. Dr. Mayer specializes in treating patients infected with HIV and infectious agents acquired in tropical regions. He also treats patients who experience infections in the setting of other immunocompromising conditions.

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Stockton Mayer

Sarah Messmer MD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Clinical Medicine & Pediatrics
  • University of Illinois Chicago

Dr. Sarah Messmer specializes in both pediatrics and internal medicine and provides primary care to both adults and children. Dr. Messmer cares for patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings at UI Health. Her clinical interests include immigrant and refugee health, LGBTQ+ health, and gender-affirming care, global health, and opioid use disorder.

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Sarah Messmer

Jessica Richardson MD

  • Assistant Professor of Clinical Family Medicine
  • College of Medicine, University of Illinois

Dr. Jessica Richardson was born and raised Chicagoan, hailing from the Austin community. Dr. Richardson attended the University of Chicago for undergrad where she studied Comparative Human Development, and hopped over to Rockford, IL for medical school at UI at Rockford.

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Jessica Richardson

Rollin Socha PsyD

  • Clinical Coordinator
  • Drug Dependency Treatment Center (Opioid Treatment Program)
  • Jesse Brown VA Medical Center

Margaret Wardle PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Director, Addiction Research and Treatment Laboratory
  • Department of Psychology
  • University of Illinois Chicago
The overall goal of my program of research is the development of more effective interventions for addiction. I do this by focusing on how emotions are drive drug use, using both basic human laboratory studies and clinical trials. I examine the basic effects of drugs on emotions by testing how small doses of drugs given in the laboratory change emotional functioning in healthy volunteers.

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Margaret Wardle

Kathy Wollner MD

  • Assistant Professor of Clinical Family Medicine
  • College of Medicine, University of Illinois

Dr. Kathy Wollner practices in the Department of Family Medicine at UI Health. She provides care to patients of all ages, from newborns to elder adults. She has specific interests in addiction medicine, including medication-assisted treatment for opioid-use disorder, and reproductive healthcare.

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Kathy Wollner