Alexander Walley

Alexander Y. Walley, M.D., M.Sc., is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. He is the director of the Boston Medical Center Addiction Medicine Fellowship program. His research focus is on the medical complications of substance use, specifically HIV and overdose, and is an active investigator on clinical trials and cohort studies. He provides primary care and office-based addiction treatment for patients with HIV at Boston Medical Center and methadone maintenance treatment at Health Care Resource Centers. He is the medical director for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Opioid Overdose Prevention Pilot Program.

Boston University faculty appointment: 2007

Areas of Specialization

Overdose prevention, integration of addiction and medical care, addiction medicine education

Education and Training

Fellowship

• Boston University Clinical HIV/AIDS Research Training Program, Boston, MA 2006-07
• Clinical Addictions Research and Education Unit, Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 2005-2007

Residency

• Chief resident (Internal Medicine), San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco CA 2003-2004
• Resident (Internal Medicine), San Francisco General Primary Care Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA 2000-2003

Education

• MD, John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
• MSc (Epidemiology) Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
• AB (History and Literature) Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Honors & Awards

W. Andrew Spickard Mentorship Award, Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse, 2017 New Investigator/ Educator Award, Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse, 2012 Clinician Investigator Award, New England Region Society of General Internal Medicine, 2010

Key Publications

Morgan JR, Schackman BR, Leff JA, Linas BP, Walley AY. Injectable Naltrexone, Oral Naltrexone, and Buprenorphine Utilization and Discontinuation among Individuals Treated for Opioid Use Disorder in a United States Commercially Insured Population. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2018;85:90-96.

Somerville NJ, O’Donnell J, Gladden RM, Zibbell JE, Green TC, Younkin M, Babakhanlou-Chase H, Chan M, Callis BP, Kuramoto-Crawford J, Nields HM, Walley AY. Characteristics of Fentanyl Overdose – Massachusetts, 2014-2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2017; 66: 382-386.

Walley AY, Palmisano J, Sorensen-Alawad A, Chaisson C, Raj, A, Samet JH, Drainoni ML. Engagement and substance dependence in a primary care-based addiction treatment program for people infected with HIV and people at risk for HIV infection. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2015; 59:59-66.

Walley AY, Xuan Z, Hackman HH, Quinn E, Doe-Simkins M, Sorensen-Alawad A, Ruiz S, Ozonoff A. Opioid overdose rates and implementation of overdose education and nasal naloxone distribution in Massachusetts: interrupted time series analysis. British Medical Journal. 2013; 346:f174.

Walley AY, Alperen JK, Cheng, DM, Botticelli M, Castro-Donlan C, Samet JH, Alford, DP. Office-based management of opioid dependence with buprenorphine: Clinical practices and barriers. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2008; 1393-8.