Skip to main content
2024 AATOD Conference Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
  1. Home

2024 Awards

Please join us on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, during the Conference for a moving tribute to those individuals who have been nominated and selected by their peers for extraordinary service in the opioid treatment community. These successful Award recipients have devoted themselves to improving the lives of patients in our treatment system. A complete list of the AATOD Award Recipients can be found here.

NYSWANDER/DOLE "MARIE" AWARD

The 2024 AATOD Conference recognizes outstanding contributions to opioid treatment by honoring individuals with the Nyswander/Dole Award.  Dr. Vincent Dole and Dr. Marie Nyswander were the first recipients of this Award in 1983.  AATOD has been responsible for bestowing this honor since the first Regional Conference of 1984 in New York. We will be honoring seven individuals who have been nominated and selected by their peers for extraordinary service in the opioid treatment community.


FRIEND OF THE FIELD AWARD

The prestigious Friend of the Field Award was established by AATOD’s Board of Directors. This award recognizes extraordinary contributions to the field of opioid treatment by an individual whose work, although not directly related to opioid treatment, has had a significant impact on our field.

The 2024 Friend of the Field Award has been awarded to Kathryn Cates-Wessel of Rhode Island.

RICHARD LANE/ROBERT HOLDEN PATIENT ADVOCACY AWARD

Richard Lane was a long-term heroin user who, upon release from prison in 1967, was instrumental in establishing one of the Nation’s first methadone treatment programs. In 1974, he became the Executive Director of Man Alive and later served as Vice President of the American Methadone Treatment Association and as Vice Chairman of the Governor’s Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Maryland. Mr. Lane was a passionate advocate for methadone treatment and, by disclosing his own treatment experiences, provided inspiration to patients and colleagues alike. Robert Holden was also a recovering heroin user, who later became the Director of PIDARC, an outpatient methadone treatment program in the District of Columbia. He later served as the Vice President of AATOD, succeeding Richard Lane’s term of office. This award was established in 1995 and recognizes extraordinary achievements in patient advocacy.

The 2024 Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient Advocacy Award has been awarded to Anita R. Kennedy of New York.