About Me
Dr. Adam Gordon is excited to be an MPI and co-Director on the “University of Utah Program to Provide Pain Research Knowledge (UP3RK)” that will train the next generation of pain investigators. Drs Fritz and Gordon have collaborated on multiple projects and, importantly, been a mentor for junior scholars. Dr. Gordon has a 25+ year track record of conducting research on the quality, equity, and efficiency of health care for vulnerable populations, including those with co-occurring pain and substance use disorders. His professional mission is to improve the access and quality of care of patients who have vulnerabilities, including those with addiction disorders and co-occurring pain syndromes. Dr. Gordon is the Elbert F. and Marie Christensen Endowed Research Professor, tenured Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and the Section Chief of Addiction Medicine at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. He is a board-certified internal medicine and addiction medicine physician and is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians (FACP) and a Distinguished Fellow in the American Society of Addiction Medicine (DFASAM). Dr. Gordon is the PI of the Greater Intermountain Node (GIN), a Center site of the NIH NIDA Clinical Trials Network; He is the founder and Director of the Program for Addiction Research, Clinical Care, Knowledge, and Advocacy (PARCKA); founder and Emeritus Director of the Vulnerable Veteran Innovative Patient-Aligned-Care-Team (VIP) Initiative, a clinical-evaluation initiative at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. Dr. Gordon is a Core Faculty member of the VA Salt Lake City Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences (IDEAS) Center, a Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Center of Innovation (COIN). He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Substance Abuse (impact factor 3.9). Dr. Gordon’s methodologic skills include health services, clinical trial, large database, and implementation science research. He has received efforts on over 100 federal peer reviewed grants from the NIH, VA, AHRQ, PCORI, and SAMHSA, and has authored over 330 peer reviewed articles (40.8% authored with mentees) in high impact journals (e.g., JAMA, BMJ, Lancet; H-index=59) and presented/published hundreds of scholarly works. Dr. Gordon was awarded one of VA HSR&D’s highest honors by receipt of the 2021 VA Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) “Health System Impact Award” and received the 2022 David C. Lewis, MD Service to Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction (AMERSA) Award. He is a mentor on over a dozen current or prior VA, NIH K-, or institutional K-awards, and has been honored locally and nationally for his mentorship abilities. His mentoring mission is to develop symbiotic and collaborative relationships with scholars interested in pursuing an independent research career in pain and/or addiction fields. Dr. Gordon’s recognition as an exemplary mentor is a testament that this approach has fostered dozens of independent clinical investigational careers. Many of Dr. Gordon’s prior and current mentees have been diverse from his race/ethnicity and he accounts often for his professional and gender/race/ethnicity biases. He is particularly proud of his mentoring of women scholars; his SAj Associate Editorial board consists of more women and minorities than males and majority races/ethnicity. He strongly believes that mentees should explore their own aspirations and while Dr. Gordon introduces mentees to his own projects, he does not force them to undertake scholarship in his own work. Developing and implementing strategies for a mentees’ unique personal, professional, and investigational growth is extremely important to Dr. Gordon. His mentees generally meet with him at least monthly, and often weekly if they are junior. Dr. Gordon fosters an approach that encourages pilot and large (R01) level work, peer-reviewed scholarly publications, and training to meet the mentees’ needs. His track record of >40% of his 325 authored published peer reviewed work consisting of mentees as first, co-, and senior authors is a testament to achieving this approach. Dr. Gordon seeks to build mentees’ confidence. Not all mentoring relationships work. He fosters and acknowledges mentees’ accomplishments, both personal, professional, and investigational. Dr. Gordon encourages mentees to set the agenda for the mentor-mentee meetings, he adapts to different communication styles, and he fosters a “team based” approach on the mentoring team. Finally, Dr. Gordon dedicates specific regular mentor-mentee meetings for discussions of “mission statement”, “elevator speeches”, and academic promotion. He encourages (and financially supports) his mentees to attend professional research conferences and introduce mentees to international colleagues and scholars to enhance their collaborations with scholars who can propel the mentees’ independent careers. Above all else, Dr. Gordon celebrates his mentees’ personal accomplishments on par with their professional accomplishments.