Presenter Biographies

Charles W. Morgan, MD, DFASAM, FAAFP  has worked as a specialist in Addiction Medicine for more than 4 decades.   In 2022 he celebrated 41 years of continuous, long term recovery, for which he is exceedingly grateful.   Through the years, he has been a passionate advocate for people in recovery, for people with active addiction and for families and friends of people with addiction, and has served on various boards of directors including Friends of Recovery New York, the Camden (NJ) Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence,  the Research Foundation for Mental Health, and others.  In the late 1990s and early 2000s Dr. Morgan was involved in the transformation of the Behavioral Health System in Philadelphia while he was Medical Director of Pennsylvania’s largest Opioid Treatment Program.  He has spoken locally, regionally and nationally both as a professional expert as well as a person in recovery.  He is the former Medical Director of the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (then the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services).   He has treated patients utilizing all modalities of treatment including outpatient to inpatient, private office to hospital consultation, in both the private and public sectors.  He doesn’t just believe, he KNOWS that there is no wrong pathway of recovery.  Dr. Morgan completed Fellowships in Addiction Medicine in Statesboro, Georgia, and in Anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania and has published scientific articles in both fields. He did graduate work in Human Genetics at Cornell University.  He is one of the Founders of the Western New York Project ECHO for Chronic Pain and Medication Assisted Treatment, and one of the Founders of Likemindeddocs, an international organization of Addiction Specialists whose commonality is the belief that recovery from addiction has a spiritual solution.  Currently Dr. Morgan is Medical Director of Addiction Services at Wayne Behavioral Health Network In Lyons, New York, and Interim Chief Medical Officer of St. Joseph’s Treatment and Recovery Centers in Saranac Lake, New York.  He is a consultant to the National Opioid Response Network and recently completed and published a project on rapid access to medication in Opioid Treatment Courts for the NYS Unified Court System. 

Ethan Gilson, MS, LCMHC, LADC has extensive experience in both mental health and substance use issues and has focused on treating adults and adolescence.  He has worked extensively with opiate addiction and MAT treatment centers since 2012 to the  present day.  Ethan has been supervised and trained in both pre and post graduate settings in individual, group, family, and couples counseling therapy.  He has experience working with a wide range of psychological issues including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use, and dependence, anxiety, dual diagnosis, and personality disorders.  Ethan has trained in brief therapy and longer term models.