Outstanding Achievement and Service Award
37th AAAP Annual Meeting and Scientific Symposium

The AAAP Outstanding Achievement and Service Award is presented to an outstanding member of the community who works in the field of addiction and who has contributed significantly to the science, teaching, treatment, and/or advocacy related to substance use disorders and co-occurring mental illness.

The AAAP Outstanding Achievement and Service Award is presented to an outstanding member of the community who works in the field of addiction and who has contributed significantly to the science, teaching, treatment, and/or advocacy related to substance use disorders and co-occurring mental illness.




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Karen Drexler, M.D.

Dr. Karen Drexler serves as Medical Director for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, as Clinical Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and as an Attending Psychiatrist in the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. She is board-certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. 


Dr. Drexler graduated from Duke University School of Medicine and completed her psychiatry residency at Wilford Hall US Air Force Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. She served 4 years as a psychiatrist and Medical Director of the Alcohol Rehabilitation Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and on the faculty at Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio before returning home to Atlanta in 1994 where she directed the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program at the Atlanta VA Medical Center and the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at Emory University before transferring to the VA Central Office in 2014. She retired from VACO as National Mental Health Program Director for Substance Use Disorders. Her research interests include health services and translational research in addiction prevention and treatment. She enjoys running, hiking, gardening, bicycling, traveling, volunteering, and spending time with family & friends.

Karen Drexler, M.D.




Dr. Karen Drexler serves as Medical Director for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, as Clinical Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and as an Attending Psychiatrist in the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. She is board-certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Drexler graduated from Duke University School of Medicine and completed her psychiatry residency at Wilford Hall US Air Force Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. She served 4 years as a psychiatrist and Medical Director of the Alcohol Rehabilitation Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and on the faculty at Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio before returning home to Atlanta in 1994 where she directed the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program at the Atlanta VA Medical Center and the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at Emory University before transferring to the VA Central Office in 2014. She retired from VACO as National Mental Health Program Director for Substance Use Disorders. Her research interests include health services and translational research in addiction prevention and treatment. She enjoys running, hiking, gardening, bicycling, traveling, volunteering, and spending time with family & friends.