Dr. Nunes Interview: Addiction Treatment and the Modernizing Addiction Treatment Access Act

Julio C. Nunes, MD, is a research-track psychiatry resident at Yale and incoming addiction psychiatry fellow whose work focuses on expanding access to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder. Clinically, he provides care in the Chronic Pain and Opioid Safety Clinic at the West Haven VA, where he treats veterans with co-occurring pain and substance use using buprenorphine, methadone, and other opioid-sparing strategies. His research emphasizes the intersection of addiction, chronic pain, and structural inequities, with over 30 peer-reviewed publications and national recognition from professional societies, including the American Psychiatric Association, National Institute on Drug Abuse, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry. Dr. Nunes has collaborated with Senator Edward Markey’s office to support dissemination of the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act and has authored manuscripts and policy materials advocating for methadone reform. A former postdoctoral fellow at Stanford, his work bridges neuroscience, pharmacology, policy, equity, and frontline practice. Originally from Brazil and Mexico, he brings a trilingual, cross-cultural lens to his work and is committed to advancing equitable addiction treatment.