Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, MPH

Learn more about Dr. Salisbury-Afshar’s work with UW Health »

Education

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – BS
• Rush University Medical College – MD
• Johns Hopkins School of Public Health – MPH

Bio

Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM, DFASAM (she/her/hers) provides primary care and addiction medicine treatment with over fourteen years of clinical experience in federally qualified health centers. Salisbury-Afshar is core faculty in the UW Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program, serves as program director of the Preventive Medicine Residency, is medical director of the Compass Program – a low-barrier walk-in clinic for substance-related health concerns, and acts as the medical director of harm reduction services for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Division of Public Health. She holds a joint appointment in the UW Department of Population Health Sciences.

Salisbury-Afshar’s work focuses on enhancing the health and wellbeing of people who use substances. Board certified in family medicine, addiction medicine, and preventive medicine/general public health, her expertise lies at the convergence of these disciplines. Her multifaceted contributions span patient care, education, public health practice, and research with a specific focus on the implementation and evaluation of addiction-related programs.

Prior to her tenure at the University of Wisconsin, Salisbury-Afshar garnered extensive experience in the public and not-for-profit sectors. While serving as the medical director of Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore, she developed and oversaw the Baltimore City Overdose Prevention Plan, the Opioid Fatality Review Board, and a third-party naloxone distribution program. She subsequently served as the medical director at Heartland Alliance Health, a federally qualified health center serving people experiencing homelessness and/or living with HIV in Chicago. In this role, she oversaw clinical care delivery across multiple clinics and shelters. Instrumental in the development of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment programs, she secured several HRSA grants to fortify these services.

Salisbury-Afshar’s leadership extended to the Chicago Department of Public Health, where she crafted and executed the department’s strategy to combat the opioid overdose crisis as the medical director of behavioral health. Her initiatives included standardizing the analysis and reporting of opioid-related morbidity and mortality, creating provider education learning collaboratives, and expanding naloxone access through funding and educational initiatives.

Salisbury-Afshar also served as the Director of the Center for Addiction Research and Effective Solutions (CARES) at the American Institutes for Research before coming to the University of Wisconsin. Here, she spearheaded various projects ranging from public health overdose prevention strategy to the development of technical assistance for expanding access to evidence-based addiction treatment.

Clinical Interests

Salisbury-Afshar’s clinical interests include addiction medicine, harm reduction, and low barrier care delivery.

Teaching Interests

Salisbury-Afshar’s teaching interests include adapting care models to meet the needs of individuals who are unsheltered or involved in the criminal legal system, incorporating harm reduction philosophy into clinical care delivery, and addiction as a public health concern.

Research Interests

Salisbury-Afshar’s research interests include the implementation and evaluation of addiction-related programs with a specific focus on populations experiencing homelessness and those involved in the criminal legal system.

Publications and Presentations

• ORCID: 0000-0003-4096-6822

Awards and Honors

• 2021 “Under 40 Years of Service” Award – Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
• 2019 Distinguished Fellow – American Society for Addiction Medicine
• 2016 Karen Rotondo Award for Outstanding Service – National Healthcare for the Homeless Council