Nominations Open for the Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient Advocacy Award

National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery

Press Release

Contacts Persons: 

Joycelyn Woods, Executive Director, edirector@methadone.org

Carmen Pearman-Arlt, President, carlt@porterstarke.org

Phone/Fax: 1.212.595.NAMA  (1-212-595-62620

For Release

April 3, 2019

Nominations Open for the

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 (now AATOD) 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 was a friend of Richard Lane and succeeded Richard Lane’s term of office as the Vice President of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence.  This award was established in 1995 and recognizes extraordinary achievements in patient advocacy.   

The following criteria should be applied in making your selection:  

• Only one (1) nominee can be submitted to the Conference Awards Committee. There may be a number of nominees however only one (1) “consensus” nominee may receive this honor.
• The nominee must have been involved in the field of methadone advocacy for a period of five (5) years.
• The nominee must have made meaningful and consistent contributions, which have had a significant impact on opioid treatment within a state o
• For each nominee a Nomination Form must be completed and submitted with two (2) Letters of Support. The Nomination Form and this announcement and can also be downloaded from the NAMA Recovery website http://www.methadone.org and the President’s Blog http://nama-president.blogspot.com/

·         NAMA Recovery will be responsible for collecting all the submissions for nomination and selecting a committee of advocates that will decide on the final candidate.  The Candidate’s Name, Nomination Form and at least two (2) Letters of Support describing the nominee’s achievements will be submitted to the AATOD Conference Awards Committee for the final approval. 

The deadline for Submissions is April 10, 2019.  The completed Nomination Form along with at least two (2) Letters of Support should be sent to Joycelyn Woods at edirector@methadone.org.                                          

Previous Winners of the Award

         1995, Arizona              Richard Lane                                

         2001, St. Louis            Joycelyn Woods                                

         2007, San Diego          Anthony Scro                                

         2009, New York           Walter Ginter                                

         2010, Chicago             Lisa Mojer Torres                                

         2012, Las Vegas          Roxanne Baker   

         2013, Philadelphia       Ira Marion

         2015, Atlanta              Claude Hopkins

         2016, Baltimore           Brenda Davis

         2017 New York            Paul Bowman

This Award will be bestowed upon the recipient during the Awards Banquet Ceremony on Tuesday, October 22, 2019 during AATOD’s next National Conference which will convene at the Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida.   

The recipient will be provided with a round trip Coach Class airfare, up to two (2) nights in the hotel and Conference Registration.   

Deadline:           April 10, 2019

Email Nominations To:        Joycelyn Woods    edirector@methadone.org

If you have any questions about the award contact Joycelyn Woods at edirector@methadone.org or by telephone at 917-846-9983

Download Press Release  

Download NOMINATION FORM docx

Download NOMINATION FORM pdf