Dr. Joseph Liberto is the National Mental Health Director, Substance Use Disorders. He has served over 30 years in VA, occupying several leadership positions in the areas of clinical care delivery, administration, education and research. He has also held past positions as the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program Director and the Associate Director of Graduate and Post-Graduate Education for the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry. In his career Dr. Liberto has served as a member and co-chairman of VA Task Forces for the development of treatment guidelines related to substance use disorders. He has also served in several addiction-focused roles supporting VA national SUD efforts including research identifying barriers to and facilitators of sublingual buprenorphine treatment in the VA. He is also a past President of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.