The Advisory Council

She also serves as the Director of Psychology and Training at CHCS, a community behavioral health organization (and CCBHC) that serves as the local mental health authority for Bexar County. She holds a cross appointment as an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Community and Family Medicine at UT-Health, San Antonio. Dr. Aguilar serves as the site supervisor at CHCS for the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) rotation in the APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship for psychology interns, and trains doctoral practicum students and other interns in primary care psychology.

Dr. Aguilar obtained her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Texas A&M University, specializing in work with children, adolescents and families. She completed her American Psychological Association-accredited internship in 2003 at Saint John's Hospital in their Child and Family Development Center in Santa Monica, California. It was upon returning to her hometown, on the Texas-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where she first started working in integrated care settings. Of special interest to Dr. Aguilar are increasing access to mental health interventions, especially for the Latino population and Spanish speaking families. She previously served as the Co-Chair for the Primary Care Behavioral Health Special Interest Group (PCBH SIG) for the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association and has been active member with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Dr. Aguilar is passionate about Integrated Care and believes in its role as a means of equalizing health disparities and as a mechanism of social justice.

Dr. Barthwell had her work recognized when she was voted in as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), where she served as President. Reflecting her long-term commitment to individuals with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), she was named as the founding Chair of the Board of the Foundation for Opioid Response Effort (FORE) with a $100 million endowment. President George W. Bush nominated Dr. Barthwell in December 2001 to serve as Deputy Director for Demand Reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). As a member of the President's subcabinet, Dr. Barthwell was a principal advisor in the Executive Office of the President (EOP) on policies aimed at reducing the demand for illicit drugs.

During Dr. Barthwell's tenure, the Bush Administration widely publicized the science-based facts about the dangers of marijuana use and the harms of drug legalization. The ONDCP 25- Cities Initiative fostered local coordination of drug control efforts. In response to advocacy by Dr. Barthwell, ONDCP coordinated with the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) to provide funding for demonstration grants for screenings, brief interventions, and referrals to treatment (SBIRT). While serving in the EOP, Dr. Barthwell was an active member of the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth and the White House Domestic Violence Working Group. She worked closely with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to define the scope of its Health Services Research portfolio.

Dr. Barthwell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Wesleyan University, where she served on the Board of Trustees, and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Michigan Medical School. Following post-graduate training at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University Medical Center, she began her practice in the Chicago area. Dr. Barthwell was a founding member of the Chicago Area AIDS Task Force and hosted a weekly local cable show on AIDS. Barthwell’s public service includes appointments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Drug Abuse Advisory Committee (DAAC), the National Advisory Councils of National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). She served on the Boards of the American Association for the Treatment of Opiod Dependence (AATOD), the Legal Action Committee (LAC), the International Council on Alcoholism and Addictions (ICAA), and Educating Voices, Inc. (EVI).

As a means of promulgating standards of care in addiction medicine, Barthwell has served as a member of the American College of Occupational Medicine (ACOM) Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC) Exam Writing Sub-Committee, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organization (JCAHCO) Behavioral Health Professional and Technical Advisory Committee, and the National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council (NBAAC). She is a member of a number of Editorial Advisory Boards and is published in addiction medicine.

In 2003, Dr. Barthwell received the Betty Ford Award, given by the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA). In 1997, Dr. Barthwell's peers named her one of the "Best Doctors in America" in addiction medicine.

He completed an internal medicine residency at Harlem Hospital and a neuroendocrinology fellowship at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. With an academic appointment at Weill Medical College, Cornell University, Dr. Brown is Chief Executive Officer Emeritus and Principal Advisor of Research at START Treatment & Recovery Centers, an agency of nearly 300 employees, providing care to nearly 3,000 adults and 80 adolescents.

Dr. Brown served as Board Chair of the United States Anti-Doping Agency and was a member of the Boards of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) and the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. As former American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) President, he served on committees of the FDA, NIDA, NIAID, and the Drug Testing Advisory Board of the SAMHSA. A former member of New York State’s Public Health and Health Planning Council and the Behavioral Health Services Advisory Council, he has made scientific contributions that focused on improving treatment of substance use disorders, resulting in over 200 publications that reflect research sponsored by government and private industry.

The American College of Physicians, New York Academy of Medicine, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and CPDD bestowed the distinction of Fellow on Dr. Brown, and ASAM bestowed the recognition of Distinguished Fellow. He is Medical Advisor to the National Football League, and was honorably discharged by the U.S. Army, having received a Bronze Star for meritorious service in the Republic of Vietnam.

He is formerly the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, where he led the agency’s national effort to provide effective and accessible treatment to all Americans with addictive disorders. Dr. Clark was also the former chief of the Associated Substance Abuse Programs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, California and a former associate clinical professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Clark served as a senior program consultant to the Robert Wood Johnson, Substance Abuse Policy Program, a co-investigator on a number of the National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded research grants. He worked for Senator Edward Kennedy as a health counsel on the US Senate Committee of Labor and Human Resources.

He has received numerous awards for his contributions to the field of substance abuse treatment, including a 2008 President Rank of Distinguished Executive Award and a 2003 President Rank of Meritorious Executive Award in the Senior Executive Service. He was awarded the 2008 John P. McGovern Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine for his contributions toward increased understanding of the relationship between addiction and society. Other awards include the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service; Vernelle Fox Award from the California Society of Addiction Medicine for excellence in Addiction Medicine, Education and Public Service, 2000.

Dr. Clark received a B.A. in Chemistry from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; he holds a Medical Degree and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; where he completed a Psychiatric Residency at University Hospital, Neuropsychiatric Institute. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Harvard University Law School and completed a two-year Substance Abuse Fellowship at the DVAMC-SF. Dr. Clark received his board certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry and subspecialty certifications in Addiction Psychiatry. Dr. Clark is licensed to practice medicine in California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Michigan. He is also a member of the Washington, D.C., Bar.

He has provided and studied psychiatric rehabilitation for 50 years. He formerly directed the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center and is recognized internationally for his many contributions to transforming services toward greater alignment with client goals and the recovery process.

Along with Debbie Becker, he developed the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of supported employment. The IPS model is one of the most successful and influential evidence-based practices in psychiatric rehabilitation. Dr. Drake has devoted his career to conceiving and executing evidence-based practices. These include IPS, integrated dual disorders treatment and many other models. He has directed many randomized controlled trials. He has reviewed psychiatric rehabilitation literature and has published more than 20 books and 600 research articles.

Now partially retired, he is grateful to the many wonderful students, colleagues, and clients with whom he’s been privileged to work with over the years. Dr. Drake graduated from Duke University.

She provides technical assistance to organizations focusing on integrated care and manages the policy and advocacy efforts for CFHA.

Julie led integration of behavioral health in primary care for a mid-size hospital system for 6 years. She developed a structured training program to onboard behavioral health providers, embed them in primary care teams and provide evidence-based interventions to improve population health. Working with other local health care systems also providing integrated behavioral health, Julie helped to develop a community leadership collaborative where systems shared innovations, challenges and team trainings.

Julie has long been an advocate for improving access to behavioral health services by better engagement of individuals, providing evidence-based treatments and measurement of outcomes. Informed by her experience as a child therapist, Julie has led strategic planning grants for a local county government to improve behavioral health services and a grant to establish an evidenced based family therapy model for multi-system youth. She served on the Board of Directors and as Program Chair at a child serving behavioral health organization and has presented at national, regional and local conferences on behavioral health programming.

In these positions, Joel is responsible for developing and executing the strategic and financial direction of Cherokee, including strategic planning, mergers, acquisitions and new business development. He also provides practice consulting, focusing on integrated care, practice transformation, innovation, and alternative payment strategies. He consults extensively with national clients regarding integrated care operations, execution, integrated care financial sustainability, and value-based contracting. Previously, Joel served as Cherokee’s Chief Operating Officer for 25 years, handling the day-to-day operations of its 45 integrated care practice sites across the State. (www.cherokeehealth.com).

Prior to joining Cherokee Health Systems, Joel worked in managed care at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA Health Plans) and Partners National Health Plan. In these positions, he worked on managed care start-ups, HMO leadership and cost containment strategies.

Joel earned a master’s degree in Health Services Administration and Planning at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomsburg School of Public Health. He completed a 2-year, Kellogg-funded International Health Leadership Fellowship in the International Center for Health Leadership Development at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Logan provides strategic consultation and technical assistance on initiatives related to integrating care for populations with complex health and social needs. She leads research and projects focused on physical-behavioral health integration, innovative approaches to financing and payment for behavioral health care, and community-based workforce strategies. She also leads the Better Care Playbook, an online resource center on improving care for people with complex needs. Prior to joining CHCS in 2018, Logan worked for a public affairs consulting firm leading strategic planning, stakeholder and consumer engagement, and communications projects for clients including health plans, health systems, and labor unions. Her background also includes grassroots organizing and training on political and issue advocacy campaigns.

Drawing on her past experience as an Executive Leader of a Certified Community Behavioral Health Center and Practice Administrator of Federally Qualified Health Centers in Pittsburgh, Pa, she assists organizations in integrating behavioral health and wellness within centers and states who serve populations which are marginalized, chronically ill and severely and persistently mentally ill, including those with substance use disorder. Before joining The National Council, Kirley served as a lead consultant on technology integration, including development and infrasture strategies of electronic health records across systems. Kirley is successful in the growth and implementation of alternative payment models, partnering with health systems, hospitals, payers and centers to create value models for sustaining integrated health care.

Prior to Concert Health Dr. Little worked as a senior advisor and research faculty for the NYC THRIVE initiatives. Dr. Little also served as a Sr. Vice President for a large FQHC network across multiple counties in New York State.

Dr. Little is a nationally and internationally known speaker for her work in integrating primary care and behavioral health, developing sustainable integrated delivery systems and suicide prevention. Dr. Little was a member of the University of Washington AIMS center and National Council for Community Behavioral Health consulting teams. She is also a faculty member for the national and international Zero Suicide initiatives and has spoken on national suicide prevention strategies at the White House. She has served on many boards and served as board chair for American Heart Association NY and Association for Clinicians for the Underserved.

He is Board-Certified as an addiction psychiatrist and community psychiatrist, Board Member and Products and Services Committee Chair of the American Association for Community Psychiatry, playing a leading role in the development and dissemination of the LOCUS Family of Tools, as well as the Self-assessment for Modification of Anti-Racism Tool (SMART) for which he is co-author. He was one of the original members of the federal Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (2017-20). He is Co-Chair of the Community Psychiatry Committee of the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry, and one of the lead authors of the 2021 Report: Roadmap to the Ideal Crisis System, published by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. He is a member of the National Council’s Medical Director Institute and consults to the National Council Centers of Excellence on Integrated Care and CCBHCs. Dr. Minkoff has been recognized as a national and international leader in the strategic development of quality-driven managed behavioral health care systems and integrated services and systems for complex populations for over 25 years, through the development of the Comprehensive Continuous Integrated System of Care approach, initially developed in the 1990’s as a system design model for implementing integrated services for individuals with co-occurring mental illness and SUD. Dr. Minkoff’s tenure as a community-hospital-based Medical Director and Chief of Psychiatry extended from 1984-1999, during which he was responsible for oversight and development of every type of inpatient and outpatient MH and SUD program. He also was the Medical Director of a multi-state managed-care-oriented behavioral health hospital management company from 1990-2001, and Medical Director of a large psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts, which included both an integrated MH/SUD unit, and an integrated MI/DD unit, from 1998-2000. With David Pollack, MD, he co-edited a seminal work on public sector managed care, Public Sector Managed Mental Health Care: A Survival Manual (1997), and has been a contributor to the development of the American Society of Addiction Medicine patient placement criteria.

The vast majority of Dr. Minkoff’s work (with Dr. Cline, as ZiaPartners, Inc.) relates to helping systems reorganize themselves within limited resources, at every level, to better meet the needs and inspire the hopes of individuals and families with complex and co-occurring issues that need help. Over the past years, Dr. Minkoff and Dr. Cline have worked with systems integration activities that involve MH and SUD integration, health and behavioral health integration, integration of behavioral health and cognitive disability services (intellectual/developmental disability and brain injury) along with integration and collaboration with services that relate to the social determinants of health: housing, education, child protection, adult and juvenile justice, and so on. Dr. Minkoff, received his A.B. from Harvard College, and received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

He has devoted the entirety of his 21-year career to working with healthcare entities to develop integrated care services through his consultation work, trainings and site leadership. Dr. Serrano's clinical and research interests center around leveraging integrated care to create access and equity for underserved populations. Among many of his media creations, in 2014 Dr. Serrano edited an e-book titled, “The Implementer’s Guide To Primary Care Behavioral Health,” a practice management handbook. One of Dr. Serrano's most outstanding contributions to the field of psychology has been his passion to teach and train the future Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) workforce. In 21 years of practice he has trained hundreds of students and professionals in the practice of behavioral health consultation in primary care. Dr. Serrano is the father of three children, Emma (17), Sophia (15), & Caleb (13) and the husband of Karen, an Emergency Medicine physician. Dr. Serrano also holds an Adjunct Instructor appointment at the University of North Carolina Department of Family Medicine where he practices in the PCBH model.

Dr. Trigg was instrumental in starting public health buprenorphine treatment programs and a public health and methadone maintenance program at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque. He was the Medical Director for several opioid treatment programs (OTPS) in New Mexico. He also worked with the University of New Mexico ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Program, a collaborative model of medical education and care management, and was on the faculty for numerous buprenorphine waiver trainings throughout New Mexico. In 2007, Dr. Trigg co-convened a national roundtable meeting on Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD)) in correctional settings; an issue in which he is still involved. From 2012 to 2015, Dr. Trigg worked as a MOUD consultant in India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Burma. 

Since 2017, Dr. Trigg lives and works in New York City where he sees patients in a patient-centered, low-threshold buprenorphine program at St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction in the Bronx; one of the oldest Syringe Service Programs in NYC. He is also a consultant with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Health and for the ECHO Program at Coordinated Behavioral Care (CBC); a network of 57 community-based, non-profit providers in New York City. From 2017 to 2019 he provided technical assistance to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services through the SAMHSA State Technical Assistance Project for a State Targeted Response to the opioid epidemic.

Dr. Trigg graduated from George Washington University School of Medicine in 1981 and did his pediatric residency training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NYC and the UNM Health Sciences Center. From 1983 to 1986 he worked as a general medical officer with the Indian Health Service of the US Public Health Service in Native American communities in New Mexico and Arizona.