Nationally Recognized Behavioral Scientist Dr. Kelly Dunn Named Director of the Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced today the appointment of Kelly Dunn, PhD, MBA, one of the nation’s leading researchers on opioid use disorder, as the inaugural Director of the School’s Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine. She will also serve as a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry with a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurobiology at UMSOM.

Dr. Dunn is currently a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine with a joint appointment in Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

Dr. Dunn has been the Principal Investigator on projects totaling more than $21 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health. She has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed publications in the area of substance use and opioid use disorder. 

The Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine, launched in 2023 with a major gift from the Kahlert Foundation, is uniquely positioned to bring together leading addiction experts from across basic science and clinical care to transform the prevention, treatment, education, and research of addiction.

“With addiction, substance use disorder, and overdose deaths reaching epidemic proportions here in Maryland and in the U.S., we are extremely pleased to attract a top academician and leader in this field to move the Institute forward with a long-term impact,” said Dean Gladwin.

Growing up in rural Central New York in the late 1990's, Dr. Dunn watched several close friends become dependent on opioids, after first being exposed through prescription medications, and eventually go on to develop opioid use disorder (OUD). “This prompted my life-long passion for understanding motivations for opioid use, identifying methods to prevent the onset of OUD, and helping to improve treatments for OUD,” said Dr. Dunn. “I’m honored and thrilled to take the helm of the Kahlert Institute and to work together with all of the stellar faculty who are world-class leaders in addiction research to advance the science of addiction medicine.”

Since 2012, Dr. Dunn has been a faculty member in the Johns Hopkins University Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit (BPRU) located within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Her current work focuses on the conduct of Phase II/III randomized controlled assessments of medications, mainly those targeted for opioid use disorder.

She has also managed trials focused on treatments for cigarette smoking and alcohol use disorder and has conducted several basic science human laboratory examinations of drug effects, which is complemented by a body of work focused on epidemiological and machine-learning analyses of publicly available datasets.

She has held multiple leadership roles in the substance use field, including serving as President for the American Psychological Association’s Society for Psychopharmacology and Substance Use and the College on the Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) as well as Co-Editor of the Journal of Addiction Medicine and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology.

“Dr. Dunn's current work in the field is impressive,” said Greg Kahlert, President of The Kahlert Foundation. “I am confident with her experience, passion and collaborative spirit, she will help find treatments and cures for those suffering from addiction. I could not be more excited that she is the first director of the Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine.” 

Dr. Dunn is currently the principal investigator on a multisite examination of a treatment for co-morbid pain in people with opioid use disorder. She is also an investigator on a Phase II trial examining the use of the drug suvorexant to treat sleep disorders, withdrawal, and craving in people initiating treatment with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.

Other studies include a combination laboratory/clinical trial examining phenotypes of opioid withdrawal and a pilot trial examination of suvorexant for cocaine use in people being treated for OUD. Dr. Dunn recently completed a series of human laboratory trials examining genetic contributions to opioid sensitivity and opioid-cannabinoid interactions for pain treatment in healthy and clinical populations.

In addition to her numerous peer-reviewed original and review publications, Dr. Dunn edited the Oxford Handbook on Opioids and Opioid Use Disorder. She received her PhD Degree from the University of Vermont in 2009 and earned an MBA Degree from Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business in 2019.