Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD
Director, Center for Mindfulness and Compassion; Director of Addiction Research, Cambridge Health Alliance; Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Zev Schuman-Olivier is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. As a board-certified addiction psychiatrist, he has been involved with research and clinical care of patients with addiction and mental illness. Dr. Schuman-Olivier is the Medical Director for Addiction Services as well as Director of Addiction Residency Education at Cambridge Health Alliance Department of Psychiatry affiliated with Harvard Medical School. He has conducted several research projects focusing on treatment of addictive disorders. He has published numerous studies on the treatment of opioid use disorder, addressing the challenges facing implementation of outpatient buprenorphine maintenance therapy. He was given the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry Young Investigator Award for his buprenorphine research.
Dr. Schuman-Olivier is also the Executive Director and Research Director of the CHA Center for Mindfulness and Compassion CHA Center for Mindfulness and Compassion and Director of CHA’s Mindful Mental Health Service and the Advanced Mindfulness and Psychotherapy Fellowship. He is a founding member of the Mindfulness Research Collaborative and is part of the NIH Science of Behavior Change Initiative. He is principal investigator of the MINDFUL-PC project, which is leading the way in integrating mindfulness into the patient-centered medical home. Prior to his psychiatry residency, he implemented the first federally-funded, randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness-oriented intervention for addictive disorders. He is now principal investigator of the multisite MINDFUL-OBOT trial, which is the first multi-site trial of mindfulness training in primary care office-based opioid treatment. He is Director of the Clinical Core for the NCCIH P01 program project grant on synergistic approaches to chronic pain treatment.
Finally, Dr. Schuman-Olivier has led the development of the MySafeRx integrated technology platform and with funding from NIDA has been studying the impact of compassionate, motivational mobile recovery coaching and remote daily supervised medication dosing on medication adherence, diversion prevention, and opioid overdose prevention during opioid use disorder treatment. He is currently Co-PI of a CDC-funded multisite R01 clinical trial of MySafeRx for engagement and retention in buprenorphine treatment and overdose prevention.
Dr. Schuman-Olivier also presents locally, regionally and nationally on topics related to mindfulness and addictions treatment, and trains residents and peers on the topics.
In his free time, Dr. Schuman-Olivier enjoys outdoor adventures (he is aiming for all NH 4,000 footers in the coming years), meditation, creating community, barefoot running, eating, and spending time with his family and his dog.
Selected Publications
- Schuman-Olivier Z, Hoeppner BB, Evins AE, Brewer JA. Finding the right match: mindfulness training may potentiate the therapeutic effect of nonjudgment of inner experience on smoking cessation. Subst Use Misuse. 2014 Apr;49(5):586-94. doi: 10.3109/10826084.2014.850254. PMID: 24611853; PMCID: PMC4096689.
- Schuman-Olivier Z, Connery H, Griffin ML, Wyatt SA, Wartenberg AA, Borodovsky J, Renner JA Jr, Weiss RD. Clinician beliefs and attitudes about buprenorphine/naloxone diversion. Am J Addict. 2013 Nov-Dec;22(6):574-80. doi: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2013.12024.x. PMID: 24131165; PMCID: PMC3801272.
- Schuman-Olivier Z, Hoeppner BB, Weiss RD, Borodovsky J, Shaffer HJ, Albanese MJ. Benzodiazepine use during buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependence: Clinical and safety outcomes. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013 Oct 1;132(3):580-6. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.04.006. PMID: 23688843; PMCID: PMC3916951.
- Schuman-Olivier Z, Noordsy D, Brunette M. Strategies for reducing antipsychotic polypharmacy. Journal of Dual Diagnosis. 2013 May 3; 9(2): p. 208-218. doi: 10.1080/15504263.2013.778767.
- Hölzel BK, Lazar SW, Gard T, Schuman-Olivier Z, Vago DR, Ott U. How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2011 Nov;6(6):537-59. doi: 10.1177/1745691611419671. PMID: 26168376.
- Schuman-Olivier Z, Albanese M, Nelson SE, Roland L, Puopolo F, Klinker L, Shaffer HJ. Self-treatment: illicit buprenorphine use by opioid-dependent treatment seekers. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2010 Jul;39(1):41-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2010.03.014. PMID: 20434868.
- Schuman-Olivier, Z. Considering buprenorphine diversion in 2010. Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory and Application. 2010, 29(11): 8.
- Schuman-Olivier Z, Brendel DH, Forstein M, Price BH. The use of palliative sedation for existential distress: A psychiatric perspective. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2008;16(6):339-51. doi: 10.1080/10673220802576917. PMID: 19085388.
- Margolin A, Schuman-Olivier Z, Beitel M, Arnold RM, Fulwiler CE, Avants SK. A preliminary study of spiritual self-schema (3-S(+)) therapy for reducing impulsivity in HIV-positive drug users. J Clin Psychol. 2007 Oct;63(10):979-99. doi: 10.1002/jclp.20407. PMID: 17828761.
- Beitel M, Genova M, Schuman-Olivier Z, Arnold R, Avants SK, Margolin A. Reflections by inner-city drug users on a Buddhist-based spirituality-focused therapy: a qualitative study. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2007 Jan;77(1):1-9. doi: 10.1037/0002-9432.77.1.1. PMID: 17352579.
- Margolin A, Beitel M, Schuman-Olivier Z, Avants SK. A controlled study of a spirituality-focused intervention for increasing motivation for HIV prevention among drug users. AIDS Educ Prev. 2006 Aug;18(4):311-22. doi: 10.1521/aeap.2006.18.4.311. PMID: 16961448.
- Schuman ZD, Abrahm JL. Implementing institutional change: An institutional case study of palliative sedation. J Palliat Med. 2005 Jun;8(3):666-76. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2005.8.666. PMID: 15992211.