Hawaii Addictions Conference
April 17th, 2026
7:45am - 5:00pm
When
HYBRID
Queens Conference Center
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Virtual via Zoom
Where
The University of Hawai’i John A. Burns School of Medicine and the Departments of Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology and the Hawai’i Society of Addiction Medicine are proud to present the 2026 Hawai’i Addictions Conference, Hawai’i’s premier training, education, networking, and skill-building opportunity centering on substance use. The conference will explore new horizons in the diagnosis and treatment of addictions, breakthroughs in evidence-based research, the changing climate of drug policy, and the current culture of patient care.
Keynote Speaker Highlight:
We are thrilled to announce our 2026 Keynote Speaker, Dr. Ataa Azarbar. Ataa Azarbar was born and raised in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. He completed a masters in Neuroscience at Carleton University in Ottawa, studying the kindling model of epilepsy and metabolic interventions to slow the development of seizures. Over the course of medical school at the University of Calgary, he encountered firsthand the stigma patients with substance use disorders encountered when attempting to access medical care. He selected psychiatry as a specialty as this seemed to be most likely to provide a skillset to help patients with multiple concurrent addictions and complicating mental health issues, which seemed to him to be the population most vulnerable to this. He completed a psychiatry residency at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, which was one of the main epicenters of the crystal methamphetamine and high potency opioid overdose crises in Canada. He completed an American Board of Addiction Medicine Fellowship through St. Paul’s Hospital and completed the American Board of Addiction Medicine Certifying examination. He is currently a lifetime diplomate of the American board of Addiction Medicine.
Since entering practice in 2016 he has devoted his professional time to treating patients with severe concurrent disorders or severe substance use disorders and complex pain in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings. He has pursued additional training in Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy, and electroconvulsive therapy. His primary focus is helping lead (as Medical Manager) and develop a unique, province-wide, free to access, 9 month inpatient treatment program devoted to treating severe mental illness and substance use disorders concurrently. This is a woefully understudied and complex population, living at significant risk to self and others. It is his hope that the Redfish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction will establish itself as a centre of excellence in the field of concurrent disorders and a site of knowledge generation for more effective treatment interventions. To our knowledge, there is no equivalent program in North America.
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Physicians
Social Workers
Certified Substance Abuse Counselors
Clinicians
Therapists
Psychologists
Nurses
Physician Residents
Students
Researchers and Academics
Policy Makers and Advocates
Allied Health Professionals
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This conference is approved for CSAC Credits via ADAD and Physician Credits via Queens CME.
There is a difference in CME credit offerings for virtual vs. in-person attendance. This is due to the in-person Poster Presentation Lunch & Learn, which will be observed as a lunch break for virtual participants.
Virtual participants are eligible for up to 7 CME and CE credits.
In-person participants are eligible for up to 8 CME and CE credits.
CME/CE Certificates will be issued within 30 days of conference completion. All attendees seeking credits will be required to fill out a post-conference survey in order to collect their certificate.
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Our in-person conference will offer a light breakfast, box sandwich lunch and afternoon snack. In-person attendees are also eligible for up to 8 hours of CME/CE credits, as the conference will include a Poster Presentation Lunch & Learn which will be observed as a 1 hour lunch break online.
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Yes! Virtual attendees who do not need educational credits are still welcome to join us online free of charge. Simply choose the "Virtual General Admission - FREE" option when registering. For in-person, the cost for General Admission is $20 to offset the cost of food and beverages.
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Queens recently raised their parking rates to $40 for 8 hours, so we strongly recommend that in-person attendees utilize public transportation, carpool, or park off-site. Limited $5.00 parking validations may be available on a first-come first-serve basis, but are not guaranteed.
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The doors for the conference will open at 7:30AM, leaving time for breakfast and mingling. There will also be breaks throughout the conference, as well as a 1 hour Poster Presentation Lunch & Learn.