Celebrating a Pioneer:
Dr. Mark S. Gold Receives CADCA’s 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award

This award recognizes an individual whose career has had profound and sustained impact on the prevention field - a description that perfectly fits Dr. Gold’s more than four decades of groundbreaking scientific leadership.

Nationally, Dr. Gold has worked with a variety of governmental agencies concerned with drug use and youth. In addition to work with the White House’s ONDCP, NIDA, NIAAA, and NIH. Dr. Gold has worked for 30 years with the DEA. Dr. Gold has worked for DEA Administrators from Mullen, Bensinger, Lawn to the present day Administrator Michele M. Leonhart to reduce stigma and increase access to treatment.

A Four-Decade Legacy of Transformative Addiction Science

Dr. Mark Gold is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on addiction-related diseases. Over a storied career spanning 40+ years, he has developed foundational models for understanding the effects of opioids, tobacco, cocaine, and other substances - as well as food - on the brain and human behavior. His work has helped reframe addiction not as a moral failing but as a complex, chronic brain disease requiring compassion, research, and evidence-based interventions.

From pioneering research at the intersection of neuroscience and public health to shaping treatment paradigms used worldwide, Dr. Gold’s contributions have permanently elevated how clinicians, policymakers, and communities understand substance use disorders.

Continuing the Mission: Research, Teaching, and Public Education

Even after decades of influence, Dr. Gold remains an active and passionate voice in the field. Today he serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis, continuing to advance addiction science while mentoring the next generation of researchers and practitioners.

Beyond academia, Dr. Gold is committed to empowering the public. He publishes a weekly column for Psychology Today, translating emerging science on addiction into accessible, plain-language insights. These articles - which CADCA distributes to its members - help ensure community coalitions, prevention professionals, and families have the latest evidence at their fingertips.

This seamless blend of scientific rigor and public engagement exemplifies why his work remains so influential.

Why Dr. Gold’s Recognition Matters

CADCA’s Lifetime Achievement Award serves not only as recognition of past accomplishments - it highlights leaders whose impact continues to shape the future of prevention.

Dr. Gold’s work has:

• Bridged laboratory research with real-world solutions, helping communities better understand and address substance use.
• Enhanced public literacy around addiction, breaking down stigma and fostering more compassionate dialogue.
• Supported prevention coalitions nationwide, including through his educational contributions shared broadly within CADCA’s network.

His influence extends across medicine, public health, community advocacy, and national policy - making him one of the most consequential voices in modern addiction science.

A Well-Deserved Honor

CADCA’s 2026 National Leadership Forum will celebrate many leaders who uplift and transform prevention efforts across the country. Yet Dr. Mark Gold’s Lifetime Achievement Award stands as a tribute to a career that has not only advanced our scientific understanding but has also profoundly shaped the lives of individuals, families, and communities.

As the prevention field continues to evolve - especially amid ongoing challenges related to opioids, youth substance use, and behavioral health - Dr. Gold’s legacy offers both a foundation and a roadmap for progress.

His lifetime of service reminds us that meaningful change is possible when science, compassion, and community unite. We are grateful for his contributions to Hatherleigh Behavioral Health.