Substance Use Forum Participants

Dr. Rahul Gupta, 54, is a West Virginia native. A graduate of Delhi University, The University of Alabama, and the London School of Business and Finance, he served as Director of West Virginia’s Bureau of Public Health. In 2021, President Joe Biden appointed him Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has been actively involved in addressing substance use and addiction issues throughout much of his long career in medicine.

Josh Stein, 57, was elected the state’s Attorney General in 2017 following a seven-year stint in the N.C. Senate. He is a graduate of both Dartmouth and Harvard Universities. Among his accomplishments as Attorney General are helping spearhead a national effort to force drug companies to pay more than $50 billion as part of the opioid settlement lawsuits. Stein won the Democratic primary in March and will run against Republican Mark Robinson for governor this fall.

Brian Mann, 59, was named National Public Radio’s first full-time addiction correspondent in March 2020. Mann is an accomplished, veteran, radio journalist who has won several Edward R. Murrow Awards for his work. He is the author of the 2006 book, “Welcome to The Homeland: A Journey to the Rural Heart of America's Conservative Revolution.” Mann devoted extensive coverage to the lawsuits against opioid manufacturers.