John B. Woods, MD, has been named medical director for the Center for Addiction Science at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).

A graduate of the UTHSC College of Medicine, Dr. Woods also serves as an assistant professor in the College of Medicine. Prior to joining the university, Dr. Woods practiced internal medicine for 12 years in Jackson, Tennessee, with the largest multispecialty group in the state. He also started and owned a primary care practice in Jackson, worked in residential addiction treatment in Nashville, and was the medical director for an intensive outpatient program in Shelby County.

Dr. Woods said the new position affords him an opportunity to have a major impact on addiction in Tennessee. He said he thinks the backing of the university reduces the stigma surrounding addiction and treatment.

The Center for Addiction Science was launched in the College of Medicine to combat the addiction epidemic in Tennessee. In 2016, it was named the first Center of Excellence in Addiction Medicine in the country by The Addiction Medicine Foundation, now the American College of Academic Addiction Medicine.