Maria H. Rahmandar, MD, FAAP (she/her). She serves as the founding Medical Director of the Substance Use & Prevention Program, as well as the founding medical director of an Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution Program, at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Dr Rahmandar is a board-certified pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, with a secondary appointment in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She has served on the ISAM Board since 2020, most recently acting as the Chair of the Public Policy Committee. In this role, Dr Rahmandar champions expanding harm reduction approaches to treatment, improving access & equity, and decreasing stigma.

 

Dr Rahmandar is regularly called on by media and government agencies to comment on and advise on addiction policy/regulations, including working closely with the IL Attorney General on several recent public health issues. She is passionate about the education of trainees and community providers, frequently leading educational sessions, and co-authoring articles & chapters on adolescent substance use. She holds several leadership roles within national organizations, including the Society of Adolescent Health & Medicine Committee on Substance Use and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), where among many duties, she serves as an AAP E-Cigarette Faculty Expert and as a member of the AAP Section on Adolescent Health Executive Committee and Committee on Adolescence- she is currently revising the AAP policy statement and technical report on cannabis.