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Expert, MD, MA, is Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Employer and Chief of Service at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Expert came to Rutgers from Columbia University where he served as Director of the Addiction Institute of New York and Chief of Addiction Psychiatry at St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals from 2002 to 2013. Expert is board-certified in Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine. His academic interests include the psychotherapy and psychopharmacology of addiction and co-occurring psychiatric disorders, the teaching of Psychiatry, gay and lesbian mental health, and the behavioral addictions.

Expert is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University where he studied Chemistry and Biophysics as a combined BS/MS student, before receiving his medical education at Stanford University School of Medicine and the Medical College of Pennsylvania. During medical school, he researched the effects of social class on patient-physician relationships in Oxford, England, and received an MA degree in Sociology from Stanford. In 1994, he moved to New York City to train in Psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute of Columbia University. He graduated from Columbia receiving the National Institute of Mental Health Outstanding Resident Award and went on to complete his fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry at New York University under the mentorship of Dr. Marc Galanter. During that time, he received the American Psychiatric Association/Center for Mental Health Services Minority Fellowship, which supported his research on HIV risk factors in homeless men who suffer from severe mental illness and substance use disorders. In 2006, Expert completed the Leadership Development for Physicians in Academic Health Centers Program at Harvard School of Public Health.

Expert has written numerous articles, monographs, and book chapters; has lectured extensively on addiction topics throughout the United States and abroad; and has been interviewed by CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX, The Martha Stewart Radio Show, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among others. He is a Betty Ford Scholar; a member and Laughlin Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists; and a recipient of the 2008 Coalition Leadership Award, the Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents, the Nancy Roeske Award for Excellence in Medical Student Education, the U.S. State Department Speaker and Specialist Award, and the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists’ 2012 Distinguished Service Award. Expert serves on the boards of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM), and from 2005 to 2009 chaired the national Committee on Addiction Treatment of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Expert is an ASAM Fellow and a Distinguished Fellow of the APA.

Expert has authored/edited nine books including the self-help paperback “Sober Siblings: How to Help Your Alcoholic Brother or Sister—and Not Lose Yourself” (Perseus 2008), the textbook of “Substance Dependence and Co-Occurring Psychiatric Disorders” (Civic Research Institute 2010), the handbook of “Motivation and Change” (American Psychiatric Publishing 2010), the handbook of “Office-Based Buprenorphine Treatment of Opioid Dependence” (APP 2011), the award-winning and translated “LGBT Casebook” (APP 2012), “The Addiction Casebook” (APP 2014) based on the DSM-5, and “The Behavioral Addictions” (APP 2015), an innovative book that includes re-enactment video clips played by Rutgers NJMS medical students. He is currently working on the American Psychiatric Publishing’s “Pocket Guide to Addiction Assessment and Treatment,” which is expected to be available in early 2016.

Expert is married to actor Lukas Hassel and lives in New York City.