Winchester Physician Receives Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School

Mark Albanese, MD, a resident of Winchester and director of adult outpatient and addictions services at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), has been named a recipient of the 2015-2016 A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award presented by the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership at Harvard Medical School (HMS).

The A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award honors the memory of A. Clifford Barger, who devoted his career to bringing out the best in those who studied, trained and worked at HMS. Each year, HMS faculty members, house officers, fellows and students nominate mentors who have provided sponsorship and supported personal and professional development. A selection committee, with representatives from HMS and its affiliated hospitals, carefully reviews all nominees’ mentoring qualities and chooses the award recipients.

Dr. Albanese, one of the region’s leading addiction psychiatrists, oversees CHA’s comprehensive mental health and substance use services for adult patients in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north communities. Dr. Albanese is also on the faculty of the Division on Addiction at CHA, where he has served as an advanced fellow in addiction studies. He is an assistant professor of psychiatry at HMS.

In a nomination letter, one of Dr. Albanese’s colleagues noted that “Mark has transformed the way hundreds of medical and psychiatric trainees have viewed addiction and substance use disorders, which has inspired many of them to commit to work in this challenging field.” The nominator added, “His unassuming humility, openness to new ideas, and willingness to support mentees in pursuing their own interests are just some of the qualities that have made him an incredible mentor.”

In addition to his clinical, administrative and teaching work, Dr. Albanese is widely published in many major addictions and psychiatry journals. His work in the treatment of the dually diagnosed, opioid dependency and driving-under-the-influence offenders has improved treatment protocols and the training of therapists across the country.

Dr. Albanese, a native of East Boston, graduated from Harvard College and Cornell University Medical School. He completed an internship in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a Psychiatry residency at Massachusetts Mental Health Center. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry.

Cambridge Health Alliance is an academic community health system committed to providing high quality care in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north communities. CHA has expertise in primary care, specialty care and mental health/substance use services, as well as caring for diverse and complex populations. It includes three hospital campuses, a network of primary care and specialty practices and the Cambridge Public Health Dept. CHA patients have seamless access to advanced care through the system’s affiliation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. CHA is a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate and is also affiliated with Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine. For more information, visit www.challiance.org.