Former Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow (2008-2009) Adrian Octavian Abagiu, M.D., Ph.D., from Romania has been chosen as one of three recipients of the Chimera Awards 2022, which were awarded by the European Opiate Addiction Treatment Association in May 2022. The award is given to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the effective treatment of drug addiction in general and heroin addiction in particular.
Dr. Abagiu has worked in the drug addiction field for 25 years and has helped establish Romania’s first low-threshold center for methadone substitution therapy (ARENA OMT) in 2007. Noting that most of the center’s clients were polysubstance dependent and he was trained only in diagnosis and treatment of opioid addiction, he applied for a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship to expand his knowledge in substance use prevention, treatment, and policy. Following his fellowship, he became the Romanian representative in the International Society of Addiction Medicine, the European Opiate Addiction Treatment Association, and the International Women’s and Children’s Health and Gender (InWomen) Group. He also serves as an expert in addiction for the European Academy for HIV and Infectious Diseases in Bucharest. He is currently a senior physician in infectious diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bucharest and medical coordinator at the ARENA OMT center. Under his direction, the availability of substance use treatment places has expanded substantially. He is currently the only non-psychiatrist clinician treating drug addiction in Romania.