Gail D'Onofrio, MD, MS

Gail D’Onofrio, MD, MS is internationally known for her work in substance use disorders, women’s cardiovascular health, and mentoring physician scientists in developing independent research careers. For the past 25 years she has developed and tested interventions for alcohol, opioids and other substance use disorders, serving as PI on several large NIH, SAMSHA, and CDC studies that have changed clinical practice. She is currently an MPI on the New England Consortium Node as part of the NIDA’s Clinical Trials Network. She as serves as MPI on two large multisite grants including the recently funded ED-INNOVATION, testing the implementation of ED-initiated buprenorphine in 30 diverse ED across the US; and a randomized control trial comparing a long acting 7 day injection with the traditional sublingual formation of buprenorphine in engaging patients in treatment.

In addition has completed on currently is the PI on 3 large SAMHSA grants. This included a UO1 that trains residents in all primary care specialties including Emergency Medicine Primary Care, Internal Medicine, Med/Peds, Pediatrics, OB/GYN and Psychiatry on Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral for substance use and substance use disorders. She is currently the PI on a training grant that provides medical, PA and nursing students and other MD/APP providers with the education required to obtain a the DATA 2000 Waiver to prescribe buprenorphine to individuals with an opioid use disorder. Finally she is the PI on a large service grant that provides Project ASSERT, health promotion advocates to the Yale New Haven Health System EDs, Addiction Services and Primary Care that offers SBIRT and provides medications for individuals with substance use disorders.

Along with Dr. Melnick she is the MPI on a EMBED: Pragmatic trial of user-centered clinical decision support to implement EMergency department-initiated BuprenorphinE for opioid use Disorder.

A national expert in Women and Heart Disease, Dr. D’Onofrio has been an integral part of the Yale New Haven Hospital Women’s Heart Program. She was the PI on a Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) grant evaluating targeted interventions for women with cardiac risk factors in the ED Chest Pain Center. She was also a senior investigator on a large NHLBI grant studying young women with acute MI, enrolling at over 100 sites nationally. VIRGO (Variation in Recovery: Role of Gender on Outcomes of Young AM Patients. (PI: Krumholz). She published multiple papers documenting the disparities in reperfusion of patients with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarctions, and differences in symptom presentation and classification of disease among young women and men with acute myocardial infarction.

Dr. D’Onofrio is committed to training the next generation of physician scientists. She is the MPI of a NIDA-funded K12 establishing the Yale Drug use, Addiction and HIV Research Scholars (Yale-DAHRS) program, a three-year post-doctoral, interdisciplinary, Mentored Career Development Program with focused training in prevention and treatment of drug use, addiction, and HIV in general medical settings.

Finally, she is a founding Board member of Addiction Medicine, now recognized as a new specialty, subspecialty by the ABMS. She is an advocate for individuals with addictions and helped craft the CT's Governor's Strategic Plan to Reduce Opioid Deaths.