R. Douglas Bruce, M.D., M.A., M.Sc.

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Clinical Interests

Dr. Bruce’s interests reside at the intersection of substance abuse/dependence and infectious diseases, particularly HIV and Hepatitis C. Dr. Bruce is currently the Medical Director of South Central Rehabilitation Center which is the first Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) to become an integrated health clinic: providing addiction medicine (buprenorphine and methadone), primary care (including HIV and Hepatitis C treatments), and mental health treatment all in one integrated setting. Dr. Bruce has worked clinically in the treatment of HIV and Hepatitis C in drug treatment settings, jail/prison, and in mobile healthcare settings. Dr. Bruce has assisted in the development and implementation of buprenorphine in each of these clinical environments. Finally, Dr. Bruce has worked over the last several years training medical providers on evidenced based treatments for addiction and HIV. Dr. Bruce has trained clinical providers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Moldova, Poland, Tajikistan, The Russia Federation, and Ukraine.

Research Interests

Dr. Bruce's scholarly work focuses on the intersection of substance abuse/dependence and infectious diseases, particularly HIV and Hepatitis C. Dr. Bruce is the recipient of a NIDA Career Development Award to improve health outcomes among drug users at the intersection of infectious diseases (especially HIV and HCV) and addiction. There are several specific sub-themes that are embedded in that overall focus and they are: 1) integration efforts to improve health outcomes; 2) pharmacokinetic interaction studies between HIV/HCV/TB treatments and treatments for substance dependence (e.g., buprenorphine/methadone); 3) ethical issues regarding the conduct of research and the provision of clinical care at the intersection of infectious diseases and addiction.

Education

B.S., Houston Baptist University, 1993, (Cum laude)

M.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, 1997

M.A., Yale University Divinity School, philosophical theology, 2003

M.Sc., Yale University School of Public Health, chronic disease epidemiology, 2008

American Board of Internal Medicine, November 2000

Certified for the prescription of buprenorphine, SAMHSA, DEA, June 2003

American Academy of HIV Medicine, 2005-2006

Recent Publications

• Kresina TF, Bruce RD, Litwin AH, Sylvestre D. Hepatitis C Treatment of Substance Users in Pharmacotherapy for Addiction. Current Hepatitis Reports 2005; 4(3):112-119.
• Bruce RD, Altice FL, Gourevitch MN, Friedland GH. Pharmacokinetic drug interactions between opioid agonist therapy and antiretroviral medications: implications and management for clinical practice. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2006 Apr 15;41(5):563-72.
• Bruce RD, McCance-Katz EF, Karasch ED, Moody DE, Morse GD. Pharmacokinetic Interactions Between Buprenorphine and Antiretroviral Drugs. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2006; 43:S216-S223.
• Bruce RD, Altice FL. Clinical Care of the HIV-Infected Drug User. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America, 2007 Mar; 21:149-179.
• Bruce RD, Dvoryak S, Sylla LN, Altice FL. HIV Treatment Access and Scale-Up for Delivery for IDU in Ukraine with Opiate Substitution Therapy with Buprenorphine – Program Description and Policy Implications. International Journal of Drug Policy, 2007 Aug; 18(4): 326-328.
• Bruce RD, Altice FL. Case Series of the Safe Use of Buprenorphine/Naloxone in Individuals with Acute Hepatitis C Infection and Abnormal Liver Transaminases. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2007; 33(6):869-874.
• Basu S, Bruce RD, Barry D, Altice FL. Pharmacological Pain Control for HIV-Infected Adults With A History of Drug Dependence. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 2007 Jun; 32:399-409.
• Bruce RD, Altice FL, Friedland GH. A Review of Pharmacokinetic Drug Interactions Between Drugs of Abuse and Antiretroviral Medications: Implications and Management for Clinical Practice. Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 2008; 1(1):115-127.
• Bruce RD, Schleifer RA. Ethical and Human Rights Imperatives to Ensure Harm Reduction Services in Prison. International Journal of Drug Policy, 2008; 19(1):17-23.
• Bruce RD, Smith-Rohrberg D, Altice FL. Pharmacological Treatment of Substance Abuse in Correctional Facilities: Prospects and Barriers to Expanding Access to Evidence-Based Therapy. In: Public Health Behind Bars. From Prisons to Communities. Greifinger R, ed. Springer, 2007. ISBN 978-0-387-71694-7

Contact

Campus Address
135 College Street, Suite 323

E-mail
robert.bruce@yale.edu

Office Phone
(203) 688-6959

Fax
(203) 737-4051