Congratulations to Sara Gefvert, the 2022 Lane/Holden Award Winner!

The 2022 Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient Advocacy Award was presented at an Awards Reception held in conjunction with the 2022 Conference of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD) in Baltimore, Maryland on November 2, 2022.

Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient Advocacy Award

Richard Lane was a long-term heroin user who, upon release from prison in 1967, was instrumental in establishing one of the Nation’s first methadone treatment programs. In 1974, he became the Executive Director of Man Alive and later served as Vice President of the American Methadone Treatment Association (now the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence) and as Vice Chairman of the Governor’s Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Maryland. Mr. Lane was a passionate advocate for methadone treatment and, by disclosing his own treatment experiences, provided inspiration to patients and colleagues alike. Robert Holden was also a recovering heroin user, who later became the Director of PIDARC, an outpatient opioid treatment program in the District of Columbia. Holden later served as the Vice President of AATOD, succeeding Richard Lane’s term of office. This award was established in 1995 and recognizes extraordinary achievements in patient advocacy.

2022 Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient Advocacy Award awarded to 
Sara E. Gefvert, CRS/CPS, CMA of Pennsylvania

Sara Gefvert is a creative, confident, and determined self-starter who works well both independently and as a member of a team. She has parlayed her lived experience as an individual in recovery, achieving success and praise as a peer, able to work in service to others assisting them on their recovery journey. Sara currently facilitates housing opportunities for patients in care and their families. Her work as a peer has included supporting individuals who have experienced an overdose, development and delivery of peer work force trainings and events and use of self-disclosure to create awareness and understanding of medication assisted treatment (MAT) and MAT patient needs.

Sara has lectured and presented on addiction and recovery at Jefferson University Hospitals and has a recognized social media presence as the founder of MIPSA (Methadone Information and Patient Supported Advocacy) on Facebook (MIPSAfamily) and Instagram (MIPSA_METHADONE_ADVOCACY). Sara represents NAMA Recovery on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Lived Experience Advisory Group, serves as a member of the Advocates for Opioid Recovery (A.O.R.) Survivors Council, and has been featured in Optum Inc.’s “Recovery Success” video and Villanova University’s video “Relentless, A Series of Recoveries.”

In 2022, Sara became the Vice President of the National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery (NAMA Recovery).