Mentors: Dr. Wendy Kliewer and Dr. Mary Loos, Virginia Commonwealth University
The NIDA Humphrey Fellowship helped Martin O. Agwogie establish his nongovernmental organization, the Global Initiative on Substance Abuse (GISA). GISA, which maintains a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, aims to “promote evidence-based substance use prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction through practice, capacity building, research and publication, as well as contributing to drug policies.”
Agwogie appreciates that “the NIDA fellowship program afforded me the opportunity to reflect on what could be done differently” and helped him improve his networking skills among major stakeholders in drug control toward a better working relationship and positive outcomes. He is also president of the Nigerian Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals (International Society of Substance Use Professionals, Nigeria Chapter), a national trainer on Universal Treatment Curriculum, and a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime certified master trainer.