NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, Acknowledges Counselor's Achievement

For Immediate Release - Alexandria, VA

Donovan Kuehn
703-741-7686, ext. 125
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Mark C. Fratzke, MA, MAC, CSAC, CSAPA, was awarded the Mel Schulstad Professional of the Year Award for his outstanding contribution to research for and about the addiction profession by NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, at the NAADAC/ TAAP (Texas Association of Addiction Professionals) annual conference in Corpus Christi, TX, on July 8, 2005.

"I am honored to accept this award. NAADAC has made a difference in the addiction profession and I'm glad to be a part of the continuing research in fighting the disease of addiction," said Fratzke.

The Mel Schulstad Professional of the Year Award was created in 1979 by Jay Lewis, former editor and publisher of The Alcoholism Report, and peers, to recognize an individual who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to the advancement of the addiction counseling profession.

Mark C. Fratzke, MA, MAC, CSAC, CSAPA, is a behavioral neuroscientist and substance abuse counselor. For a decade and half, he has been taking the clinical observations while working as a substance abuse counselor into the laboratory, where he has helped addiction professionals gain insight into the neuro-behavioral consequences of drug abuse. His ultimate goal has been to improve the efficacy of substance abuse treatment. Fratzke has been disseminating up-to-date findings from his research; for example, the effects of caffeine on those with damage in the area of the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis, an area of the brain-stem that appears to have a predisposition for damage by alcohol; and his award winning research on the effects of methadone on short-term memory.

Most recently, Fratzke has explored the relationship between a person's psychiatric diagnosis and their propensity to abuse drugs. He has lectured at the University of Hawaii and has made many presentations to the media and at the Society for Neuroscience meetings all over the continental United States, and at various substance abuse treatment facilities in Hawaii. Fratzke currently works for the Department of Health?s Adult Mental Health Division at the Central O?ahu Community Mental Health Center coordinating treatment for mentally ill substance abusing people.