Dr. Neeraj Gandotra is the Chief Medical Officer of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). He chairs the Behavioral Health Coordinating Committee (BHCC) workgroup on behavioral health integration, the Buprenorphine availability workgroup, and the BHCC Overdose prevention treatment metrics workgroup. He also serves on the Operational Leadership Committee for Ending the HIV Epidemic, HRSA’s Leadership Advisory Group to Strengthen Primary Care, and other internal SAMHSA workgroups.

Previously, Dr. Gandotra served as the Chief Medical Officer for a large nationwide addiction treatment network where he developed national strategies specifically aimed at reducing risk and improving outcomes. Dr. Gandotra began his Addiction career in public health, serving an underserved community in Washington, DC, where he developed his perspective of how a nationwide approach to addiction treatment is greatly needed. As Medical Director of Addiction Treatment Services at Johns Hopkins, he was responsible for developing program policies and procedures based on new research findings with the goal of improving outcomes and reducing risk for patients with substance use disorder.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Gandotra is a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. He has worked with the Maryland State Attorney General on cases of physician misconduct, specifically those involving prescriptions of controlled substances. He has also been a consultant for the NFL player’s assistance program for substance use disorders.

Dr. Gandotra received his medical degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) School of Medicine and completed his Psychiatric residency at Howard University. He completed an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine.