Davida Coady Gorham Medical Professional of the Year: Kevin Leyden, BSN, RN, CARN

The Davida Coady Gorham Medical Professional of the Year Award is presented to a medical professional who has made an outstanding contribution to the addiction profession.

These dedicated addiction professionals were given awards by NAADAC leadership in their home states over the past month. You can find videos of their award acceptance speeches at www.naadac.org/2020-naadac-award-winners. The winners will also be celebrated in the Fall Issue of NAADAC’s magazine, Advances in Addiction and Recovery.The recipient of this year’s Davida Coady Gorham Medical Professional of the Year Award, Kevin Leyden, BSN, RN, CARN, has been active in the addiction profession for over three years. He is a member of the International Nurses Society on Addictions (IntNSA) and is a Certified Addictions Registered Nurse. Leyden currently serves as the Clinical Care Manager at Integrity House in Newark, NJ. At Integrity House, Leyden oversaw the Bates Program, which focused on treating boys aged 13-18 for substance use disorder. Most of these boys were mandated to go into the program in place of jail time. He has been commended for creating a safe space for the boys in this program to talk and receive guidance. Currently, Leyden works within the Medication Assisted Treatment Program at Integrity House, assisting clients who want to use Vivitrol and Naltrexone. His coworkers state that clients have great respect for him as he is not only compassionate but well educated in the treatments available.

National Addiction Professionals Day is held in September as a part of National Recovery Month, which aims to increase awareness and understanding of mental health and substance use disorders and celebrate people in recovery.