World Health Organization
Maristela Monteiro, M.D., Ph.D. is the coordinator of the unit on Management of Substance Dependence of the Mental Health and Substance Dependence Department at the World Health Organization and is the focal point in WHO for drug- and alcohol-related research. She has been working in the treatment and care area for over seven years in WHO and is also responsible for the area of alcohol and drug abuse epidemiology and treatment, capacity building for the evaluation of treatment, and coordination of several multinational studies. Dr. Monteiro is now coordinating projects in the areas of neuroscience of addiction, alcohol and injuries, brief interventions for drug problems, amphetamine type stimulants, and is part of the WHO Task Force on Alcohol Policy. Before moving to WHO, she was an associate professor or Psychopharmacology at the Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil, and has undertaken research on biological markers of alcohol abuse and dependence.