OHSAM Leadership
President
Krisanna L. Deppen
Dr. Krisanna Deppen is board certified physician in both Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. After graduating from Northeast Ohio Medical University, she completed her family medicine residency at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. She completed an Addiction Medicine Fellowship at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle Washington where her passion for caring for pregnant women with substance use disorders began. She currently works at OhioHealth-Grant Medical Center as the program director of their Addiction Medicine Fellowship. She recently completed her masters in Population Health Management at Jefferson University and looks forward to using this knowledge to expand care to our vulnerable populations.
President-Elect
James E. Sturmi
Dr. James (Jim) Sturmi was double Board-Certified in Family Medicine and Sports Medicine from 1989-2015. He served as Team Physician for Samford, Ohio State, and Denison Universities; the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets, and several High Schools. He trained multiple Family Medicine residents and Sports Medicine Fellows as Director of the Grant Sports Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Sturmi began his Recovery in June 1988, and has enjoyed abstinence from alcohol/drugs for over 36 years, less a 7-day slip. His interest in Addiction Medicine ("ADM") began in 2014 during the rapid escalation of fentanyl and subsequent Ohio overdose deaths. He achieved ABAM board certification in 2015; then ABPM-Addiction certification in 2016. He practiced at clinics in Mansfield and Portsmouth Ohio. As Medical Director, he devoted his studies to the science of Addiction Medicine, including US and Ohio regulatory compliance. In early 2018, Dr. Sturmi joined Pinnacle Treatment Centers in Columbus OH, covering Inpatient Addiction Medicine patients as well as Outpatients care with Methadone and Buprenorphine at clinics across Ohio. In December 2019, he joined BrightView Addiction Treatment Centers as Regional Medical Director and subsequently Ohio Medical Director. He supervised multiple APRNs and non-ADM boarded physicians, with responsibility for over 10,000 patients. He led BrightView's acquisition of the Lindner Center of Hope North in Mason, OH. BrightView has since grown to over 80,000 patients across 7 states. In June 2021, Dr. Sturmi joined Columbus Suboxone Doctors (CSD), an Office-Based Opioid Treatment (OBOT) clinic in the Hilltop area of Columbus. During his tenure, CSD's emphasis shifted to Harm Reduction, patient accountability, regulatory compliance; as well as screening and treatment for Hepatitis B and C; and additionally Rx PreP for patients at high risk for HIV Disease. His team consulted with Infectious Disease and Hepatology physicians' guidance. Dr. Sturmi and his Co-Owner recently opened a successful OBOT clinic in north Columbus. He is the President-Elect for the Ohio Society of Addiction Medicine, which he joined in 2021, and served as Co-Chairman of the Governance and Membership Committees. In April 2023, he and an academic Pharmacist from Case Western Reserve Co-Presented the breakout session entitled "Unmasking Opioid Use Disorder" at the Ohio Pharmacy Association's annual meeting. In October 2023, Dr. Sturmi and three other OSAM physician officers successfully lobbied the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and State Medical Board of Ohio to eliminate an expensive and unnecessary license - The Terminal Distributor of Dangerous Drugs (TDDD). This enabled more physicians to treat Ohio patients suffering from Opioid Use Disorder and other substance addictions. He describes himself as a "Tireless Advocate for Recovery"; i.e. abstinence, sober fun, and freedom from Opioids, Alcohol, and other illicit substances.
Immediate Past-President
Theodore V. Parran
"Dr. Ted Parran, born and raised in Cleveland Heights, is a 1978 graduate with honors in History from Kenyon College and a 1982 graduate from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the Baltimore City Hospital of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Following his residency, Dr. Parran was selected to be the Medical Chief Resident and in 1987 he received the Outstanding Faculty Teacher Award from the Department of Medicine. In 1988 he returned to Cleveland and the faculty of CWRU School of Medicine. Dr. Parran pursues several areas of special interest in medical education including: Doctor–Patient Communication and the development of Professionalism, Faculty Development, Continuing Medical Education, and Addiction Medicine.
In addition, Dr. Parran is board certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine, and his group practice provides medical directorship services to several Substance Abuse treatment programs in northeast Ohio. He is widely published and has been an invited speaker at national and international conferences for the past three decades. He established the Addiction Fellowship Program at CWRU School of Medicine in 1994, is a core faculty member in the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at University Hospitals and the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at MetroHealth Medical Center. Dr. Parran has served as the co-director of the Tuesday Seminars Program since 1994, the Communications Skills Curriculum co-director since 1992 and the medical director of the Program in Continuing Medical Education since 1994 - all at CWRU School of Medicine. In 2023 he was appointed as the co-director of the School of Medicine’s new Addictions Pathway. In 2007 he was named as the inaugural Isabel and Carter Wang Professor and Chair in Medical Education, and in 2018 received the School of Medicine’s outstanding pre-clinical faculty teaching award."
Treasurer
Ronald Suprenant
Dr. Suprenant is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. He is a distinguished fellow of ASAM. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. He is an active advocate through the Ohio Society of Addiction Medicine and through ASAM for patients with substance use disorders and the professionals who care for them. He has taught a variety of courses for ASAM and provides educational talks to interested groups as requested. He has practiced in both outpatient and residential addiction treatment programs. He currently maintains a private Addiction Medicine practice with offices in the Dayton and Cincinnati areas.
Secretery
Kate Berenson
After graduating from Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine, she initially pursued psychiatry before returning to study internal medicine. She completed her chief year in 2018 and also participated in a HRSA fellowship in Primary Care Transformations. Although she has a strong affinity for outpatient care, she sought to specialize in and advance treatment for substance use disorders. Ironically, the pandemic presented her with the opportunity to do so. She completed her addiction fellowship at OhioHealth in 2021 and subsequently established the Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) program at Five Rivers Health Center, an FQHC in Dayton, Ohio. This program integrates peer support, group therapy, and pharmacotherapy to address the full spectrum of substance use disorders. She is deeply invested in the program, which also incorporates primary care and infectious disease management, including Hepatitis C treatment, to provide comprehensive care.
Education Committee Chair
Neera Gupta
"Dr. Neera Gupta, MD works in Cleveland, OH as a Psychiatrist and has 21 years experience.
Dr. Gupta is board certified in Addiction Medicine and graduated from University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences in 2004. Dr. Gupta completed a residency at Emory University Hospital. At present, Dr. Gupta has received an average rating of 4.0 from patients and has been reviewed 4 times. Dr. Gupta is affiliated with Main Campus Medical Center. Dr. Gupta's office accepts new patients and has telehealth appointments. Dr. Gupta practices at Practice in Cleveland, OH."
Education Committee Co-Chair
Gregory X. Boehm
"Dr. Boehm has worked as Medical Director of detox/inpatient addiction facilities since his residency and child/adolescent fellowship in 1980. Since, 2003, he has served as Medical Director of Y-Haven, a Residential Treatment Program for 250 homeless, alcoholic or addicted men and women.
Already board-certified in Psychiatry and Child/adolescent Psychiatry, he received and has maintained his board certification in Addiction Medicine in 2006, and was ABAM recertified in 2014. He became a Fellow of the American Society for Addiction Medicine in 2015. He served as President of OHSAM 2018-2020.
He became ABPM certified in Addiction Medicine in 2020.
His teaching appointments include 5 years as Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Director of Psychopharmacology for the Child/adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Case Medical School in the early 1990's. Residents in psychiatry and family medicine rotate with him, as he has continued on faculty since 1991 at Case Medical School. In his private practice, he started IOP exclusively for pregnant, addicted women, one of the programs participating in the State of Ohio's demonstration project, the MOMS grant.
In 2017, he became Psychiatrist for Salvation Army's Early-Prison Release Program and Human-Trafficking Survivors Program. The same year, he became a CARF Certified surveyor credentialing Addiction Treatment programs as well as being appointed to the ADAMHS Board, the county Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board. Since 2019, he has served on the ASAM Board of Directors as Regional Director for Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey."
