Melinda Ramage, FNP-BC, CARN-AP, LCAS – President (Term 2026-2028)
Mel Ramage (she/her) is the director of the NC Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Network and an active clinician in the OTP setting. A graduate of Purdue University, she started her nursing career as a psychiatric nurse in the U.S. Navy and went on to earn her master’s degree in nursing at Western Carolina University’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program. The majority of her clinical time has been spent in high-risk obstetrics, where she learned that she is passionate about the intersection of sexual and reproductive health, chronic illness, and health care access.
Michael Baca-Atlas, MD, FASAM – Immediate Past President (Term 2026-2028)
Dr. Michael Baca-Atlas completed his undergraduate work at the University of Maryland, College Park, and medical school at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He completed his Family Medicine residency at UNC as well as an Addiction Medicine fellowship at UNC in the department of psychiatry. He serves as the associate medical director for the Tobacco Treatment Program as well as a medical consultant for UNC Horizons, a program that serves women, including those who are pregnant or parenting with substance use disorders. He serves as medical director of UNC REACH Enhanced Primary Care where he sees patients with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. He also serves as an attending on the inpatient family medicine service at UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus. He teaches addiction medicine fellows, family medicine/psychiatry/nurse practitioner residents, as well as medical and nurse practitioner students in various clinical settings. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his partner, eating breakfast for dinner, and “cooking” takeout.
Erin W. Barnes, MD – Secretary (Term 2025-2027)
I am an internal medicine physician who became interested in the intersection of infectious diseases and addiction medicine during my fellowship at Wake Forest. At that time, there were very large numbers of patients suffering and dying from injection drug use-associated infective endocarditis; they presented with both unique epidemiologic features as well as complex clinical management challenges. I pursued a Master’s degree to better understand the epidemiology, clinical challenges, pathophysiology, and treatment strategies for complex infections in this patient population. I currently co-treat addiction in certain infectious disease patients and hope to continue to grow our capabilities. I am also the co-director of the Wake Forest Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Treatment team, where I work to effectively, efficiently, and safely manage infections requiring prolonged antimicrobial therapy in a home or rehabilitation setting. We continue to explore how to better incorporate our patients with substance use disorders into this outpatient antimicrobial practice.
Elisabeth Johnson, PhD, FNP-BC, CARN-AP, LCAS – Treasurer (Term 2025-2027).
Dr. Johnson is a Clinical Assistant Professor at UNC and is the primary provider for prenatal and well-woman gynecologic care (including family planning and treatment for STDs) in the Horizons’ OB-GYN clinic. She received her BA from UNC Chapel Hill, her BSN from Columbia University, her MSN from Emory University, and her PhD from Georgia State University. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Thorp provide Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) with buprenorphine for pregnant opiate-dependent women seen in the Horizons OB-GYN clinic.
Olivia Caron, PharmD, BCACP, CPP, FNCAP – Education Committee (Term 2026-2028)Olivia Caron is a clinical pharmacist practitioner at Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC), Residency Program Director for the Pharmacy PGY2 Ambulatory Care Program, and an Assistant Professor at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She received her Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering and Bachelors of Art in Spanish from Virginia Tech. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with her Doctorate of Pharmacy and Certificate in Aging. She completed two years of residency at MAHEC with a focus in Ambulatory Care and Academia. Olivia is fluent in French and Spanish and splits her professional time between family medicine, substance use disorders, precepting, teaching, and research.
Steve North, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FASAM – Education Committee (Term 2026-2028)Dr. North is a Family Physician with additional board certifications in Addiction Medicine and Adolescent Medicine. He currently practices family medicine, addiction medicine, and adolescent medicine at Mountain Community Health Partnership, an FQHC in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina, where he is part of a multidisciplinary team caring for people who struggle with substance use disorders. He embraces the harm reduction model and low barriers to access for people who need care. Prior to returning to MCHP he helped grow and lead Eleanor Health, a primarily virtual multidisciplinary addiction medicine practice. In addition to a focus on addiction medicine, Dr. North is also passionate about school-based health care and how technology can be used to improve access to care and the quality of care patients receive. He has a special interest in helping rural physicians become more comfortable identifying and treating all substance use disorders through education and collaboration. In addition to the NCSAM board, he also currently serves as a Medical Director for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ for National Adolescent and Child Health (NRACH) ECHO Training Center and is on the boards of Impact Health, the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center and the Toe River Health District.
Logan Adams, MD – Advocacy Committee (Term 2026-2028) Logan Adams, MD is a board-certified addiction medicine physician and internist. He is the Medical Director at McLeod Centers for Wellbeing, a non-profit addiction treatment program that serves 8 counties in the Piedmont region of the North Carolina. He is passionate about bringing evidence-based care and harm reduction paradigm to clinical interactions. His research and clinical interests are in creating innovative care models to address communities most deeply impacted by the opioid overdose crisis. He completed internal medicine residency and addiction medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is from West Texas, where he attended medical school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Shonali Saha, MD – Advocacy Committee (Term 2026-2028)Dr. Saha serves as the lead physician for the ATLAS Mobile Clinic, expanding access to low-barrier substance use disorder treatment in a rural community setting. She also delivers inpatient consultation services through the Addiction Medicine Consult Service and outpatient treatment at the STAR Clinic. As Associate Program Director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship, she is dedicated to the education, mentorship, and professional development of medical students, residents, and fellows. Her work in the field of substance use disorders began in 1996, initially focused on justice-involved women receiving residential substance use treatment. Before joining UNC, Dr. Saha owned and operated a private practice in the Atlanta metropolitan area for more than a decade, providing comprehensive care for individuals with substance use disorders and their families. Dr. Saha’s clinical and research interests are diverse, encompassing improving justice system responses to substance use disorders, liberation psychology, mindfulness and other contemplative practices for mental well-being, life-saving strategies like overdose and infection prevention, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Beyond her medical practice, she is a certified yoga instructor, integrating meditation and medication to deliver optimized, evidence-based treatment to her patients. Dr. Saha also practices social medicine and actively contributes to organizations advocating for justice for individuals impacted by the War on Drugs in the southern United States.
“These are important times for NCSAM. We hope to gain insight and opinion and share educational opportunities with our NC-based medical colleagues to increase NCSAM membership in the process.”
