Maryland’s Opioid Restitution Fund (ORF) Advisory Council was established in 2022 to provide recommendations regarding the use of prescription opioid-related legal settlement funds. As specified by state statute (Maryland Health General Article §7.5–903), the council consists of 12 members who serve for two years. For all inquiries, email [email protected].

ORF Advisory Council Recommendations

ORF Advisory Council Meetings

Next ORF Advisory Council Regular Meeting:
Tuesday, March 31, 2026 (in person)
4–5 pm
Crowne Plaza, Annapolis
173 Jennifer Rd. (Room TBD)
Annapolis, MD 21401

NOTE: This meeting is taking place during the 2026 Best Practices Conference, hosted by Maryland’s Office of Overdose Response. Registration for the conference is not required to attend this meeting.

Previous Meetings Archive

Visit our ORF Advisory Council Meetings Archive to view meeting minutes and recordings from past ORF Advisory Council meetings.

ORF Advisory Council Membership

Lauren Levy, JD, MPH (Chair)
Cecil County Health Officer
Maryland Association of Counties Representative

Ms. Levy has served as the Health Officer for Cecil County since 2019. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law.

Sen. Dawn Gile
Maryland General Assembly

Sen. Gile was recently elected to the Maryland Senate, representing the 33rd Legislative District (Anne Arundel County). She currently serves on the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Gile earned her B.A. in 2002 from Rockford University, majoring in psychology. She received her Juris Doctor in 2006 from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and is presently an attorney in private practice. She is also a past president of Military Spouse JD Network and serves on the Board of Trustees for Rockford University.

Del. Samuel Rosenberg
Maryland General Assembly

Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg has been a member of the House of Delegates since 1983 and currently serves as House chair of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review. Delegate Rosenberg is a graduate of City College, Amherst College, and Columbia University Law School. He co-teaches Legislation at the University of Baltimore Law School and the University of Maryland School of Law.

Emily Keller
Special Secretary of Overdose Response
Maryland’s Office of Overdose Response

On February 1, 2023, Emily Keller began her role as Special Secretary of Overdose Response in the Moore-Miller administration. She previously served as Mayor of Hagerstown since being elected in 2020, the first woman to hold the position. Before her term as mayor, Emily served as a councilwoman on the Hagerstown City Council since 2016. She formerly served as the co-chair of Washington Goes Purple, she was a member of the Opioid Senior Policy group in Washington County, and she served on the Board of Directors of the Phoenix Foundation, which opened Maryland’s first recovery high school.

Alyssa Lord
Deputy Secretary of the Behavioral Health Administration
Maryland Department of Health

Alyssa Lord serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Behavioral Health Administration at the Maryland Department of Health. She has over 20 years of experience in community and population health. Prior to joining MDH, Ms. Lord served in a number of leadership positions that combined direct service, advocacy, policy, and strategy in New York and New Jersey. Most recently, she was Vice President, Healthcare Strategy at a housing, healthcare, and workforce development nonprofit where she was responsible for setting the vision for healthcare, behavioral health, and substance use services for homeless and unstably housed New Yorkers.

Perrie Briskin
Deputy Secretary of Health Care Financing and Medicaid
Maryland Department of Health

Perrie Briskin serves as the Chief of Staff for Maryland Medicaid. Before joining the Maryland Department of Health, she was a Senior Advisor to the Director of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program Services at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. She also served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to her work in public service, she worked in global health with Population Services International, supporting digital health system implementation across multiple countries.

David Myles, M.D.
Councilmember, City of Rockville
Maryland Municipal League Representative

Dr. Myles, elected in November 2019, is serving his first term as a Rockville councilmember. He completed his pediatrics medical training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He first moved to Maryland in 2010, following medical and graduate school at Yale University, and is a proud Morehouse College alumnus. Dr. Myles served three years of active duty in the United States Navy and deployed for seven months on a humanitarian medical mission providing pediatric care in Central and South America. In 2016, on completion of that active-duty assignment, he returned to Rockville. Dr. Myles worked previously as a pediatrician in an emergency department in rural Maryland — an experience that prompted him to join Montgomery County’s Mental Health Advisory Committee as a physician representative. He currently works full-time as a general pediatrician at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Meghan O’Brien Westwood, MSW, LCSW-C
Executive Director
Maryland Treatment Centers, Inc.

Ms. Westwood is the executive director of Maryland Treatment Centers, Inc. In this role, she oversees a full continuum of Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services throughout central Maryland. She currently serves on Montgomery County’s Overdose Fatality Review Team and Overdose Intervention Team. She earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Catholic University in 1993.

Marcus D. Webster II
Children & Youth Program Manager
Ashley Addiction Treatment Centers Adolescent Clubhouse

Mr. Webster is a graduate of Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. He has served as the Crisis Intervention Team Specialist for Eastern Shore Crisis Response Services in Cecil County, as the Program Advocate for Voices of Hope, a member of the Board of Session for Grove Presbyterian Church, and as the Building Association President for the Beta Chi Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity.

Pete Fitzpatrick, RN, BSN, CFRN, NRP
Nurse & Paramedic
Children’s National Health System

Pete Fitzpatrick, RN, BSN, CFRN, NRP, is a nurse and a paramedic with over 30 years of experience responding to emergencies and caring for the sick and injured. After losing his son, Sam, to a fentanyl overdose in 2022, Pete has become an advocate working to advance harm reduction strategies and treatment options for young people suffering from substance use disorder. A graduate of UMBC, he lives in Catonsville, Maryland, with his wife, Kim, their other two children, Mikey and Danny, and their dog, Zelda.

Rachel Pedersen
Program Director
Voices of Hope

Rachel Pedersen is the Program Director at Voices of Hope in Harford County, overseeing harm reduction, outreach, and recovery support programs. A Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, Registered Peer Supervisor, and Certified Community Health Worker in long-term recovery for 28 years, she brings both expertise and lived experience to her work. Rachel earned her Master of Public Administration in 2020 and Master’s in Nonprofit Management and Leadership in 2022 from Walden University, and is committed to empowering individuals, reducing stigma, and building a compassionate community.

Malik Burnett, MD, MBA, MPH
University of Maryland

Dr. Burnett currently serves as an Assistant Professor in Addiction Medicine at the University of Maryland Midtown Campus, a consultant for the Maryland Addiction Consultation Service, and as medical director of several community opioid treatment programs. Additionally, he serves as Vice Chair of the American Society of Addiction Medicine Legislative and Public Policy Committee. He previously served as the Medical Director for the Center for Harm Reduction Services for the Maryland Department of Health, where he oversaw the statewide naloxone distribution and syringe service programs. He attended Duke University, where he completed undergraduate, medical, and business training. He earned his MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed his residency training in general preventive medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and his addiction medicine fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Angel Traynor
Founder and Director
Serenity Sistas

Angel Traynor is the founder and director of Serenity Sistas, which operates six certified recovery residences in Maryland. She holds degrees in Addictions Counseling and Human Services with a Social Law Option. Ms. Traynor is also a Recovery Coach Professional (RCP) facilitator and a Prevention Specialist in the State of Maryland, and she currently serves as the coordinator of Recovery Anne Arundel, which functions as the county’s Recovery-Oriented System of Care. Currently, Ms. Traynor serves on the Anne Arundel County Overdose Prevention team and became a member of the Annapolis Police Foundation Board.

Karen Valentine
Maryland Office of the Attorney General