Topic: Infections in Addiction: Bridging Infectious Disease and Substance Use Disorder

Bio: Dr. John J. Cascone is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine andInfectious Diseases by the American Board of Internal Medicine, licensed in Missouri and Kansas.

He serves as an Infectious Disease Physician with The University of Kansas Health System–St.

Francis Campus and the Kansas City VA Medical Center, and as Medical Director for multiple

long-term care and rehabilitation facilities across Missouri.

Dr. Cascone earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology and Medical Degree through the six-year

combined medical program at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine,

followed by an Internal Medicine residency at the University of Kansas and an Infectious Disease

fellowship at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.

Topic:

Novel Psychoactive Substances

Bio: Ashley Haynes is an addiction medicine board certified physician in Wichita Kansas. She completed her residency in Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine at East Carolina University and Toxicology Fellowship at UT Southwestern. She began her career in addiction during the height of the synthetic cannabinoid outbreaks in Dallas and worked heavily in a program treating pregnant patients with substance use disorder before relocating to Wichita.  She is currently working at the Robert J Dole VA in addiction medicine and is the program director for the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at KUMC-Wichita. She has continued to have a strong interest in novel agents and outbreaks.

Topic: Moderator – Panel on Harm Reduction

Bio: Niraj R. Chavan, MD, MPH, FACOG, FASAM is a Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) and Addiction Medicine physician who specializes in the management of substance use during pregnancy. He serves as the Medical Director of the Women and Infant Substance Help (WISH) Center at Saint Louis University (SLU) / SSM Health, focused on providing comprehensive prenatal care and recovery services for women with perinatal substance use disorders (SUD) in St. Louis, MO. Dr. Chavan is an Associate Professor in the Div. of MFM, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health at SLU. He also serves as the Program Director for the MFM fellowship, core faculty for the Addiction Medicine fellowship and Course Director for a 4th year elective on “Perinatal Addiction and Maternal Mental Health” at SLU School of Medicine. He is Board Certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology as well as Maternal Fetal Medicine, through the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Board Certified in Addiction Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

He has lectured extensively on various aspects of perinatal SUD management at the local, regional and national level through various platforms including the SLU College of Law – Annual Health Law Symposium, SLU Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health, Missouri Perinatal Quality Collaborative / Missouri Hospital Association, the Illinois Maternal Health Summit, the Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting (ACSM) of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ACOG), the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine (SMFM) annual conference and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Topic: Panel on Harm Reduction

Bio: Seth Dewey is a Program Director for Mirror Inc. in Wichita, Kansas, overseeing residential, outpatient, and reintegration programs that promote safety, recovery, and community connection. Grounded in lived experience and public health, he is recognized for his leadership in harm reduction, treatment, and recovery, as well as for bridging systems across health, legal, and community sectors.

He helped establish Kansas’s first Overdose Fatality Review Board while at the Reno County Health Department and has consulted on national initiatives advancing recovery-oriented care, public health integration, and community resilience. Seth’s work centers harm reduction as a philosophy of dignity, safety, and compassion.

Topic: Panel on Harm Reduction

Bio: Hello, my name is Kristin (Kri) Korte. I am a Certified Alcohol/Drug Counselor and Certified Peer Specialist licensed in the state of Missouri. I also have the MARS, PPFP and MAADC II credentials. I am currently employed with Washington University’s HBCD Study and Barnes hospital CARE Clinic for pre/post-natal women with SUD/Behavioral Health disorders. I am a consultant with UMKC’s MO Maternal Health Action Network, a member of the NIH Heal Initiative, and a trainer for the PPF (Pregnant and Parenting Families) with the Missouri Credentialing Board. I have spoken at conferences and seminars across the country.

I have been abstinent for 15 years with the help of Methadone through my clinic, Center for Life Solutions and my counselor there, Nurses for Newborns whose great nurses got me started there, friends and family who never gave up on me and God. I have metal throughout my leg from a car accident in 2001 and then a fall at work while 5 months pregnant with my youngest son resulting in a broken hip. Pain will be a constant for me, but thanks to MAT and support, addiction won’t.

I have 3 children, I gave custody of my daughter to her father voluntarily in the height of my heroin addiction, my oldest son/middle child was taken from me at the hospital, put in DFS custody and adopted by family and my youngest son is at home with me currently, attending a gifted high school in St Louis County.

I have been in countless jails and the state penitentiary twice. I have multiple felonies. I stole from stores to feed my addiction. Because of the Missouri Credentialing Board and their Peer based programs I now have letters behind my name instead of numbers.

Topic: Panel on Harm Reduction

Bio: Ayush grew up in Nepal in a community heavily affected by substance use disorder, inspiring his path into medicine. In undergrad, he focused on addiction biology and molecular pathways and also provided mental health counseling, tutoring, and mentoring to students navigating mental health challenges and substance use. Now a medical student at UNMC, he is involved with Harm Reduction Advocates, where he helps run naloxone trainings and manages the organization’s website. He is committed to promoting harm reduction and nonjudgmental, evidence-based care.