MPH, NRP (he/him)
Helpline Director
Harm Reduction Program Manager
STEPHEN MURRAY
Stephen Murray, MPH, NRP, is an overdose researcher, Harm Reduction Program Manager and the Director of the Massachusetts Overdose Prevention Helpline at Boston Medical Center. In 2021, he retired as a Lieutenant at a large regional ambulance service in Western Massachusetts, and had served as a first responder since 2013, having worked both as a firefighter and paramedic. He regularly shares for a national audience about his lived experience as a person who used drugs and overdose survivor. Stephen provides expert technical assistance around the topics of overdose prevention, emergency medical services and harm reduction to a variety of organizations, county and state governments across the country, including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency and the National Governors Association. He has guest lectured at Harvard University, Northeastern University, UMASS Medical School, University of Pittsburgh, Boston University, Temple University and Ohio State University, and has had research published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, American Journal of Public Health and Health Promotion Practice. In September 2023, he was featured in Episode 809 ("The Call") on This American Life.
Alexander Y. Walley, M.D., M.Sc., is Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and a general internist and addiction medicine specialist at Boston Medical Center. He has served as the medical director for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services and the Overdose Prevention Program. Since 2007, the MDPH program has trained and equipped over 100,000 people in Massachusetts’s communities with naloxone rescue kits, including people at-risk for overdose and their social networks. He provides primary care and office-based substance use care for patients with HIV at Boston Medical Center. He founded BMC’s inpatient Addiction Consult Service in 2015 and the Faster Paths low-barrier access substance use clinic in 2016. He previously was a site medical director for opioid treatment programs in Boston from 2007 to 2016. He has published over 160 peer-reviewed original research, review and case report journal articles focused on the medical complications of substance use, specifically HIV and overdose. He is principal investigator for CDC and NIH funded studies of community overdose interventions. For the NIH-funded HEALing Communities Study – Massachusetts, he served as the Care Continuum Core Director 2019-2022. For the 2022-2023 academic year he is taking a 12-month sabbatical to focus on his overdose prevention research.
MPH (she/her)
Associate Director of Research Operations
SARAH KOSAKOWSKI
Sarah Kosakowski is Associate Director of Research Operations in the Clinical Addiction and Research Education Unit at Boston Medical Center. She oversees a large research program focused on opioid overdose prevention, safer prescribing, and post-overdose outreach. Additionally, she lead efforts within the Informatics Core on the HEALing Communities Study to integrate community engagement and data driven decision making approaches into developing and implementing evidence-based strategies to reduce opioid overdose fatalities in Massachusetts communities. Sarah received her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health where she concentrated in health policy, law, and management and is passionate about translating research findings and public health data to communities in usable, interactive, and digestible formats.
Ally Cogan is a Research Project Manager in the Clinical Addiction and Research Education Unit at Boston Medical Center. She assists in the management of day-to-day operations and activities on research programs focused on opioid overdose prevention and post-overdose outreach. She received her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health where she concentrated in community assessment, program development, implementation, and evaluation. She is passionate about the development of equitable access to tailored healthcare for underserved populations and those typically overlooked by healthcare systems.
Ashley Thompson is the Call Center Coordinator for the Massachusetts Overdose Prevention Hotline. In addition to taking calls from the hotline, she oversees the screening and training of new operators, markets our services, and oversees the quality assusrance and improvement program. Ashley has supervised over 600 use events, detected 5 overdoses and was instrumental in reducing the hold time from 3 minutes to just 15 seconds.
Ashley is connected to the overdose crisis in many ways. She has lost family members, friends and patients to substance-related deaths which drives her passion to keep people who use drugs alive. Despite having numerous, serious health conditions, including as a chronic pain patient, she pours her heart into her work. She earned her B.S. in Psychology from James Madison University (2017), Master's in Clinical Psychology/Psy.M. (2020), and is currently finishing her Master's Certification in Addiction and Recovery Counseling through the School of Medicine at the University of Florida. Her areas of clinical expertise are substance use, overdose prevention, harm reduction, grief after suicide/substance use related deaths, suicide/crisis intervention, trauma/psychological first aid/PTSD.
Kimber King is the Program Assistant for the Massachusetts Overdose Prevention Helpline. She serves as the frontline operator during the week and draws on her own lived experience as an overdose survivor. She has extensive administrative responsibilities on the helpline team including quality improvement, operator training, representing the helpline in public forums, and facilitating team meetings. She has guest lectured at Harvard University, Georgetown University, Boston University, Temple University and Williams College. She was featured on This American Life Episode 809 - The Call, and the Dopey Podcast.
Tj is a Harm Reductionist and Advocate for the legalization and implementation of Overdose Prevention Centers. Their work and experience doing street outreach for unhoused folks and PWUD drives them to continue to support the community in any capacity possible. Tj is an active member of SIFMA Now! and has served on the SCS Taskforce for the City of Somerville and the Substance Use Advisory Committee for the City of Cambridge.
My name is Tasha Withrow (she/her) and I am from West Virginia. I am a person with lived experience, a practicing harm reductionist, overdose survivor, advocate, and number one fan of The Office (at least in WV). I decided to become an operator for the hotline because I know what it's like to use alone and how terrifying it can be and I also know how scary an overdose can be. After practicing abstinence based recovery for approximately a decade, I made the decision to include more harm reduction strategies and principles in my life, including being there for folks actively using drugs. Outside of harm reduction and advocacy, I have a passion for reading, traveling and music and I have the best partner, Tony, to join me on all the adventures. My dream is to see harm reduction fully embraced in West Virginia and with more Appalachians having access to care and more lives saved.
Samantha is a dedicated advocate for addiction recovery, a harm reductionist, and overdose survivor with personal experience in overcoming addiction and almost eight years of beautiful sobriety.
Samantha is the CEO and founder of the addiction recovery/personal development blog, Progressing Not Perfecting. She is a Shatterproof Ambassador, a member of the NAADAC, and a Sober Curator. She works hard to be a beacon of hope and support for all those whose lives have been touched by addiction and shows the world that change is indeed possible.
As a certified addiction recovery & professional coach, Samantha brings a unique blend of personal understanding and professional expertise to her role as an operator. She is committed to providing compassionate, non-judgmental, support and life-saving assistance to individuals and families affected by substance use disorder, and is working hard to build a community of the same.
Samantha is a passionate advocate for harm reduction, overdose prevention, and the well-being of those affected by addiction. She firmly believes in the power of harm reduction and strives to make a positive impact on all that she comes on contact with. She is dedicated to helping individuals find the resources and support they need whether actively using or on their journey toward recovery, offering hope and a listening ear when it's needed most.
I have been in Harm reduction utilizing, volunteering & working in the field for almost a decade. I’m happy to provide a safe, non-judgmental space for people in the community.
Sibylle is an advocate for harm reduction and full decriminalization. She has lived experience as a drug user and hotline caller that drives her to give back in any way possible.
I've seen people struggle with addiction basically my whole life without the means of staying safe that we see in today's harm reduction efforts. I was lucky in my addiction to have the resources I had and I want to be able to give back and help others in the same way.
Abby had worn many different hats in her life before finding the field of substance use. Her head first introduction to the harm reduction world was as a research project manager at Boston Medical Center/Brandeis University, coordinating several studies working with people who use drugs. She was radicalized by the staff at all of the drug user health programs and now works to move others in that direction. Abby is excited about the amazing work that the MOPH has already done and honored to be a small part of it. If she’s not nose deep in a research project, you can find her rock climbing, skiing, biking, or creepily taking pictures of other people’s jobs.
Sarah Ahern, NREMT, RCP, CARC is a person with lived and living experience with substances, a harm reductionist, a certified recovery coach and licensed EMT. She has been supporting folx who use drugs and folx seeking recovery for well over a decade. She is driven by the mission of supporting folx where they are at achieve wellness and safety with use as they desire. She has advocated at a local, state, and national level for harm reduction and recovery support services. Her motivation to support has always been her lived /living experience and with personal losses due to substance use.
Hi! I’m Beyer. I graduated from Northeastern University in 2023 with a degree in Human Services, and I learned about the helpline through one of my courses. I joined as an operator because I believe in working for harm reduction and empowering the voices of those with lived experience. I’m grateful to be able to help provide this space for the community and excited to see MOPH grow!
