Adam Bisaga, MD

Overview
Areas of Expertise / Conditions Treated
Academic Appointments
- Professor of Psychiatry at CUMC
Dr. Adam Bisaga is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Columbia University Medical Center, and a Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Dr. Bisaga received his medical degree from Jagiellonian University Medical College in Krakow, Poland. He completed his psychiatric residency at the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY and his addiction psychiatry fellowship at the Division of Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Here he received training in addiction psychiatry research under the mentorship of Drs. Marian Fischman and Herbert Kleber. Dr. Bisaga became a faculty at the Department of Psychiatry in 1999 and he was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2012.
Dr. Bisaga was a recipient of a Career Development Award and a Principal Investigator on several R01s and Center Grant Projects funded by the National Institute of Dug Abuse in the area of addiction pharmacotherapy development. His research interests include development of human laboratory and clinical trial models and testing medications to treat opioid, cocaine, and tobacco use disorders.
Besides his research contributions Dr. Bisaga’s has been actively involved in teaching medical students and practitioners. He is a Co-Director of an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship and he is directing a Mentoring Program to train physicians in medication-assistant treatment of addictions (PCSS-MAT). He has been working with UN Office of Drug Control on the development of substance abuse treatment guidelines and conducted trainings for addiction practitioners internationally. In addition to the research and teaching work at the University, Dr. Bisaga also maintains a private practice in addiction psychiatry.
Hospital Affiliations
- NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia
Languages
- Polish
Gender
- Male
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Phone Appointments
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- Copernicus Academy of Medicine
- Residency: North Shore University Hospital
- Fellowship: New York State Psychiatric Institute
Board Certifications
- Addiction Psychiatry
- Psychiatry
Honors & Awards
Castle and Connoly Top Doctor in Addiction Psychiatry (2012, 2013).
Research
Cocaine dependence pharmacotherapy and methodology of early clinical trials One of the major unmet needs in the treatment of addiction is the pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence. The Division of Substance Abuse has a very active program to develop medications for this condition. Small N clinical trials can offer initial data on the efficacy and the mechanism of action of promising medications. Dr. Bisaga and his colleagues are interested in improving the design of clinical trials to test specific, laboratory-derived hypotheses about the potential spectrum of medication efficacy and to screen for new medication. This research group is particularly interested in the effectiveness of medication that acts on inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission to modulate effects of cocaine.
Opioid dependence treatment trials: improving effectiveness of naltrexone maintenance The number of new prescription opioids and heroin users and associated has increased steadily over the past several years. While methadone maintenance remains the most effective treatment for opioid dependence, it has several limitations and is controversial. Naltrexone maintenance is an alternate treatment for opiate dependence that is promising, but currently has limited usefulness due to poor patient compliance and low patient acceptability. Dr. Bisaga and his colleagues are interested whether adding additional medications, such as glutamatergic antagonists will improve the effectiveness of naltrexone to prevent relapse in detoxified heroin-dependent individuals.
Development of human laboratory models of addictive disorders and testing novel compounds using these models Laboratory models of addictive disorders can offer unique opportunity to study mechanisms of disease and to screen for potential pharmacotherapies. Medications that block subjective effects, withdrawal symptoms, drug craving, or drug self-administration in the non-treatment-seeking volunteers who participate in the laboratory study may be effective in the treatment of addictive disorders. Currently Dr. Bisaga and colleagues are developing laboratory models of alcohol and nicotine dependence. These models will then serve to evaluate the contribution of inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission.
Research Interests
- Addiction Psychiatry
Grants
EVALUATION OF SAFETY AND PHARMACOKINETICS OF NALTREXONE IMPLANT (Federal Gov)
Sep 15 2018 - Aug 31 2023
TRAINING MEDICAL AND DENTAL STUDENTS IN SBIRT (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2015 - Sep 29 2019
PROVIDERS CLINICAL SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT (PCSS-MAT) - TRAINING AND IMPLEMENTATION (Federal Gov)
Aug 1 2016 - Jul 31 2019
PROVIDERS CLINICAL SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT (Federal Gov)
Aug 1 2016 - Jul 31 2017
SHARED PHARMACOTHERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES FOR CANNABINOID & OPIOID USE DISORDERS (Federal Gov)
Sep 1 2014 - Jun 30 2017
IMPLEMENTING PHARMACOTHERAPIES FOR OPIOD DEPENDENCE: COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIES FOR TRAINING HEALTH PROFESSIONALS (Federal Gov)
Aug 1 2013 - Jul 31 2016
IMPROVED STRATEGIES FOR OUTPATIENT OPIOID DETOXIFICATION (Federal Gov)
Jun 1 2011 - Apr 30 2015
MULTI-SITE CONTROLLED TRIAL OF COCAINE VACCINE (6 OF 6) COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SITE (Federal Gov)
Sep 15 2008 - Jul 31 2013
PIOGLITAZONE FOR THE TREATMENT OF OPIOD AND OF NICOTINE DEPENDENCE (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2010 - Jun 30 2013
DRONABINOL NALTREXONE TREATMENT FOR OPIOID DEPENDENCE (Federal Gov)
Aug 15 2009 - Jul 31 2012
INTRAVENOUS COCAINE ABUSE TREATMENT--A LABORATORY MODEL (Federal Gov)
Jan 1 1990 - May 31 2010
Selected Publications
- Bisaga A, Evans S: The acute effects of gabapentin in combination with alcohol in heavy drinkers. . Drug Alcohol Depend 2006;83: 25-32
- Bisaga A, Aharonovich E, Garawi F, Levin FR, Rubin E, Raby WN, Nunes EV: A randomized placebo controlled trial of gabapentin for cocaine dependence. . Drug Alcohol Depend 2006;81: 267-274
- Bisaga A, Daysz W, Foltin R: Antagonism of glutamatergic NMDA and mGluR5 receptors decreases consumption of food in baboon model of binge-eating disorder. . Eur. Neuropsychopharmacology 2008;18: 794-802
- Bisaga A, Aharonovich E, Cheng W, Levin FR, Mariani JM, Raby WN, Nunes EV.: A placebo controlled trial of memantine for cocaine dependence with high-value voucher incentives during a pre-randomization lead-in period.. Drug Alcohol Depend 2010;111: 97-104
- Bisaga A, Sullivan MA, Cheng W, Carpenter KM, Mariani JM, Levin FR, Raby WN, Nunes EV. : A placebo controlled trial of memantine as an adjunct to oral naltrexone for opioid dependence. Drug Alcohol Depend 2011;119: e23-9
For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov