The Next Phase of the Opioid Crisis | Brown Dean of Public Health Dr. Francesca Beaudoin

In this episode, Dr. Francesca Beaudoin - emergency physician, clinical epidemiologist, and Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University - joins us to examine the next phase of the American opioid crisis. We begin with her firsthand experience on the frontlines of emergency medicine, where she witnessed the shift from prescription opioids to a fentanyl-dominated drug supply, and how that transformation reshaped overdose care in real time. From there, Dr. Beaudoin shares why emergency departments represent a critical intervention window, and how mobile opioid treatment programs are expanding access to life-saving medications like methadone. We also explore the deeper structural drivers of addiction and why lasting recovery requires more than acute stabilization. Ultimately, this conversation reframes the opioid crisis not just as a public health emergency, but as a systems-level challenge that demands coordinated policy, clinical, and community solutions.