The MI-ACRE Program - Part 3 of 3

The MI-ACRE Leadership team includes Allison Lin, MD, MS, Co-Director; Lara Coughlin, PhD, Co-Director;  Erin E. Bonar, PhD, Director of Research Strategy; Anne Fernandez, PhD, Director of Clinical Research; and Maureen Walton, MPH, PhD, Strategic Advisor. The MI-ACRE mission: Leading impactful research, training, and clinical programs to generate positive impacts on addiction prevention and care in our communities.

Curious about Addiction Care?

If you’re a researcher, clinician or trainee interested in the field of addiction care, the message from the MI-ACRE team is “We Need You!” Dr. Coughlin wants you to know, “There’s so much room for innovation, compassion, and change in this space. Bring your lived experience, your questions, your fire—there’s a place for you here." With Dr. Bonar noting, “This is a field you would never be bored in and where there is a chance to make a real difference. This workforce currently is understaffed and undertrained, we need folks who want to be a part of helping people reach their potential and well-being goals.”

MI-ACRE Milestones

Looking back on the past two years, Dr. Lin takes pride that the MI-ACRE program is “Helping to build more of a community and seeing interest from across our department and the medical school, building bridges across researchers and clinicians, with a focus on students and trainees.”

And it’s clear the program is making great strides toward their mission. Dr. Bonar points out “There are many things to be excited about. For two years running we’ve provided necessary education to the addiction community through the Advancing Addiction Care Conference! We have also had the opportunity to brainstorm as a team and come up with ideas that are being funded by national research organizations, showing a return on investment and the magic that comes from collaboration. These new projects are going to touch a lot of lives and have the potential for high adoption to the real world!” One recent example of MI-ACRE’s successful collaboration is Drs. Coughlin and Bonar’s newly funded Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) award, a five-year multimillion dollar study testing the best way to help people quit menthol cigarettes. MI-ACRE members Drs. Fernandez, Lin and Walton are also supporting this project.

In the fall of 2024, the program launched the MI-ACRE Innovation Sessions series. These virtual and in-person meetings are meant to provide a welcoming, relaxed space to share new ideas and conversations around addiction care. “My experience leading a MI-ACRE Innovation Session was great!” said Devin Tomlinson, PhD who shared her vision for a community project at a recent session. “Those present included addiction clinicians, researchers, and trainees who were all supportive of my ideas. The most helpful part was collaboratively brainstorming ways to improve my idea and move it closer to becoming a reality. I’d strongly recommend the Innovation Session to anyone interested in sharing their ideas or having a conversation about addiction and addiction treatment.”

Announced in March 2025, this MI-ACRE Advancing Addiction Care Award reflects MI-ACRE’s ongoing commitment to supporting impactful addiction work by funding proposals for addiction training and coursework, hosting addiction training or guest speakers, and supporting community or research projects.

Current MI-ACRE Events & Opportunities

We know that when effective treatments reach people where they are – in their communities, through their healthcare providers or via innovative digital platforms, recovery becomes not just possible but probable. MI-ACRE welcomes you to attend one of their Innovation Sessions and share your ideas on advancing addiction care!

• Lead a MI-ACRE Innovation Session (in-person and virtual options available)
• Consider applying for a 2026 MI-ACRE Advancing Addiction Care Award
• If you’re interested in learning more about the MI-ACRE program, please contact Lisa Sulkowski, MI-ACRE Program Manager, at [email protected].

MI-ACRE is part of the University of Michigan Addiction Center in the Department of Psychiatry at Michigan Medicine.