Meet the Executive Staff

Since being appointed Commissioner of the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) by Governor Kathy Hochul in December 2021, Dr. Chinazo Cunningham, M.D. has firmly established data-driven decision-making, harm reduction, and equity as the agency’s guiding principles across its continuum of services involving prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery. Under her leadership, New York State overdose deaths, which had reached historically high levels, declined following the introduction of free and easily available overdose prevention supplies and increased access to medication for addiction treatment (MAT)—including new Opioid Treatment Programs, mobile medication units, and all types of MAT in all 58 jails and 42 prisons in the state. New York also emerged as a national leader in Opioid Settlement Fund distribution to better serve those impacted by addiction. In addition, Dr. Cunningham established a Problem Gambling Bureau within OASAS to raise awareness and better address gambling addictions.

Dr. Cunningham is a physician, researcher, and public health professional who brings over 25 years of expertise in substance use treatment to OASAS. Prior to joining OASAS, she served as the Executive Deputy Commissioner of Mental Hygiene at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; was a practicing physician at Montefiore Health System; and a Professor of Medicine, Family and Social Medicine, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She has more than 25 years of experience in research, care, and program development that focuses on people who use drugs. Dr. Cunningham has also partnered with community-based organizations to develop pioneering programs to promote the health of this population. She has trained hundreds of doctors to treat substance use disorders; led several research studies and published research articles focused on treating substance use disorders; and served on numerous state and national advisory committees. In October 2024, Dr. Cunningham was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine for “being a national and international leader in the conceptualization of addiction, the development of evidence-driven programmatic innovations in treatment, and the rigorous evaluation of program effectiveness.”

Tracey L. Collins is the Executive Deputy Commissioner of the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). Tracey first joined OASAS in 2008 as the Government Liaison. In 2019, she became the Director of the Office of Government Affairs and Federal Policy, responsible for the agency’s interactions with elected officials at the local, state, and federal level. In May of 2022, she transitioned to Associate Commissioner of Internal and External Affairs before assuming the role of Executive Deputy Commissioner in 2023.

Ms. Collins has extensive experience in legislative affairs and communications, with over 23 years in New York State Government. She previously served as Deputy Director for the New York State Governor’s Office of Executive Chamber Operations, Assistant Deputy Director for the New York State Attorney General’s Office of Information Services, and Assistant Coordinator/Writer and Editor for the New York State Assembly Office of Communication and Information Services. Ms. Collins is a graduate of Siena College in Loudonville, New York, earning a BA in English Literature.

Patricia Lincourt currently serves as the Acting Deputy Commissioner of Programs at the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). In her role, she oversees the divisions of Prevention, Harm Reduction, Treatment and Recovery and Criminal Justice.

Ms. Lincourt has over 35 years of clinical and administrative experience in addiction, mental health and child welfare settings. Her interests include implementation of evidence-based practice, service integration and financing of substance use services to improve outcomes. She has experience as a program director of outpatient substance use disorder services and as a clinical director. She has provided training in person-centered care, motivational interviewing, and quality improvement.

She graduated from University of New York College at Buffalo with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and from the University of New York at Albany with a master’s degree in Social Work.

Trishia Allen is the General Counsel for the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). In this role, Mrs. Allen provides guidance, direction, legal advice and support to the Commissioner and Executive Team.

Prior to Mrs. Allen’s appointment as General Counsel, she served as an OASAS Senior Attorney for five years and as an Associate Attorney for four years. Mrs. Allen focused on the implementation of Medicaid Redesign initiatives, federal parity, legislation and policy, and commercial insurance law changes impacting those suffering from substance use disorder.

Prior to working with OASAS, Mrs. Allen was a Legislative Counsel for the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources. Mrs. Allen is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and received her Juris Doctorate from Albany Law School.

Connie Burke is the Associate Commissioner for Grants Management and Special Projects at the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). In this role, she oversees the use of state and federal funding to implement initiatives that align with agency priorities and our strategic plan.

Connie first came to OASAS as an evaluator in 2005 on a National Institute on Drug Abuse methadone contingency management project until moving into a state Research Scientist role in 2008. In this role, she was part of agency efforts to develop performance metrics and contributed to the development and implementation of the Level of Care for Alcohol and Drug Treatment Referral (LOCADTR). In 2020, Connie transitioned to Associate Commissioner of Data Management, Research and Planning until assuming her current role in 2024.

Connie brings her skills in grant management, program implementation, data collection and reporting as well as collaboration and facilitation to bear in managing a portfolio that includes the State Opioid Response Grants (SOR) from SAMHSA which began in 2017, the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Supplemental Block grant awards, and the Opioid Settlement Fund. Annualized this portfolio represents over $500 million dollars in discretionary spending for special initiatives under her direction.

Deborah K. Davis was appointed as the Associate Commissioner of the Division of Fiscal Administration at the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) on January 6, 2022. In this role, she oversees the agency’s budget appropriations and spending plans, federal and state grants management and reporting, contracts and procurements, purchasing and MWBE opportunities, revenue, payments and claims, and capital financial management.

Ms. Davis has over 17 years’ experience in the public sector in financial management of behavioral health and human service agencies. Specifically, she served nearly nine years at the New York State Division of Budget in the Mental Hygiene Unit and led the Division in allocating funds in support of several statewide initiatives, including the Human Services Cost of Living Adjustment, the Not-For-Profit Prompt Contracting Initiative, and the State share of Medicaid. She has an additional nine years’ experience in various leadership roles at the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, including serving in the roles of Budget Director and Assistant Director of Financial Operations, and leading the agency in developing the financial support and infrastructure for the Governor’s Raise the Age of Juvenile Justice initiative.

Ms. Davis has also been an advocate for mental health parity and suicide prevention, serving as the founding board member of the Capital Region Chapter of the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention; U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher’s, task force to develop the National Call to Action to prevent suicide; founding member of the New York State Office of Mental Health Suicide Prevention Council; and served as a legislative assistant at MHANYS on the mental health parity bill.

Rabiah Gaynor joined the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) in June 2023 and serves as the Associate Commissioner for Criminal Justice. In this capacity, she supports the collaborative work between OASAS and various partners, such as NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, NYS Office of Court Administration, NYS Department of Criminal Justice Services, State Commission on Correction, local law enforcement agencies, among others.

Rabiah brings substantial knowledge of the criminal justice system and correctional healthcare experience to OASAS. Immediately prior to joining OASAS, she served as the Executive Director of Health Affairs for the New York City Department of Correction (NYC DOC). In that role, she was the NYC DOC liaison for all healthcare matters for incarcerated individuals, which included handling all operations, policy, and access to healthcare. Rabiah had previously served as a Mental Health Designated Parole Officer with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), where she supervised persons released from the criminal justice system and coordinated services for individuals with severe mental illness.

Rabiah has more than 14 years combined experience as a peace officer in New York State and New York City and spent several years each in education and social services delivery.

Jerry Gretzinger is the Associate Commissioner for Internal & External Affairs for the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). In this role, he oversees the agency’s Communications and Public Awareness Campaigns bureaus. Mr. Gretzinger first joined OASAS in March of 2022 as the director of Public Awareness Campaigns and expanded awareness of OASAS and the network of services it supports throughout New York State.

Mr. Gretzinger spent much of his professional career working in broadcast television as a news anchor and reporter throughout the Northeast. He received a New York Emmy for Health and Science and has been recognized by the New York and New England chapters of the Associated Press and New York State Broadcasters Association.

He also served as Vice President of Strategic Communications for a major research college, Director of Public Relations for Six Flags amusement parks and Communications and Marketing Manager and/or consultant for healthcare organizations and non-profit agencies including The Brain Injury Association of New York and Glens Falls Hospital.

A graduate of Marist College, Mr. Gretzinger resides in Saratoga County with his wife and family and can often be found performing in musicals or music revues around the Capital Region.

Andrew Heck is the Associate Commissioner for Planning, Research, Information Management, and Evaluation (PRIME) at the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). In this role, Mr. Heck works to ensure that addiction services are data-driven, evidence-based, and informed by local needs and the latest research to achieve the best outcomes for the people OASAS serves.

Mr. Heck began his OASAS career in 2008 through the New York State Public Management Intern (PMI) program and has worked extensively on facilitating statewide planning within OASAS and local services planning among Local Governmental Units (LGUs). In addition, he has nearly 20 years of experience in government and nonprofit performance measurement, management, and analysis, including with the New York State Authorities Budget Office (ABO) and Office of General Services (OGS) Business Services Center (BSC).

He graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Grace Hennessy was named Chief of Addiction Psychiatry for the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) in May 2024 and co-leads the renamed Division of Medicine, Psychiatry and Nursing. From June 2020 until May 2024, Dr. Hennessy served as the Associate Chief of Addiction Psychiatry in the Chief Medical Office. Her role is focused on the integration of substance use and mental health treatment services and she also provides psychiatric expertise for the agency’s initiatives.

Dr. Hennessy is an addiction psychiatrist with over 20-years experience treating substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders. Before joining OASAS, Dr. Hennessy was the Director of the Substance Abuse and Recovery Program (SARP) at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in New York City (NYVA) for 15 years and also served as the Section Chief for Hospital Psychiatry for 2 years. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Hennessy held several leadership roles in the New York University School of Medicine (NYUSOM) Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program before serving as Program Director from 2017 to mid-2020. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at NYUSOM and maintains an active role in teaching addiction psychiatry fellows.

Prior to her career at the NYVA, Dr. Hennessy was the Medical Director for the Partial Hospital Program for the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and a research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). During her years at McLean Hospital and NYSPI, Dr. Hennessy worked on clinical trials of medications and psychosocial interventions to treat substance use disorders and authored several book chapters and review articles on substance use disorder treatment.

Keith J. McCarthy joined the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) in February 2020, becoming the Associate Commissioner for Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement. Mr. McCarthy’s responsibilities include formulating and carrying out OASAS’ statewide policy initiatives within the areas of standards, quality assurance, performance improvement, workforce development, and investigations. He has also most recently assumed oversight of the OASAS Regional Offices and the NYS Behavioral Health Services Advisory Council (BHSAC).    

With over 25 years of experience in policy development and regulatory compliance from various levels of NYS government, Mr. McCarthy brings a broad knowledge of various issues to his position with OASAS. Having begun his career as a Graduate Fellow with the NYS Senate’s Committee on Health, advising the Committee on topics such as Medicaid, children’s health insurance, long-term care, managed care and public health, Mr. McCarthy then spent many years with the NYS Department of Health (DOH) immersed in assisted living/adult care facility and home health care issues, as well as management of the ‘‘Certificate of Need’’ process for health care facilities and providers. Upon joining the NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) in 2013, Mr. McCarthy became the Director of Inspection and Certification and was instrumental in developing and implementing telemental health and intensive outpatient services, and redesigning the oversight process for licensed providers. 

Mr. McCarthy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal Studies and Economics and a Master of Science degree from the Center for Applied Public Affairs, both from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Dr. Pamela Mund joined the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) Chief Medical Office in June 2022 as Associate Chief of Addiction Medicine. In her current role as Chief of Addiction Medicine, she co-leads the re-named Division of Medicine, Psychiatry and Nursing working to promote and support the implementation of evidence-based addiction medicine best practices in addition to providing medical expertise for the agency’s initiatives.

Following residency training in Primary Care Internal Medicine, Dr. Mund devoted 23 years to clinical practice, as a general internist and an HIV medicine and addiction medicine specialist. Her clinical career has spanned diverse treatment settings in Bronx, NY and Durham, NC, including community health centers, harm reduction medical programs, opioid treatment programs, and inpatient and outpatient addiction medicine specialty services.

As a clinician-educator at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein School of Medicine and a Duke University-affiliated Community Health Center. Mund embraced medical student and medical resident education, preparing the next generation of physicians for careers dedicated to excellence in healthcare for people who use substances and people living with HIV.

Dr. Mund readily credits much of her physician learning to the thousands of patients who, through their wisdom and stories, were her greatest educators.

Henry “Hank” Rosen joined the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) in 2023 and serves as Chief of Staff. In this capacity, he supports staff and leadership in the design and implementation of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery initiatives that seek to redress health disparities and improve outcomes and for people and communities affected by substance use and addiction.

Hank brings broad knowledge of public policy and public health to OASAS. Prior to his appointment, he served as Director of the Office of the Executive Deputy Commissioner for Mental Hygiene in the New York City Health Department, where he supported and led a range of initiatives spanning rapid responses to public health crises; press and communications; government affairs and advocacy; policy analysis and development; fundraising for new initiatives; racial justice and health equity initiatives; and other operations and management functions. Hank has also worked as a health policy consultant supporting states design and implement Medicaid reform initiatives, and as spent several years working across the U.S. with community organizations and state and local government leaders on criminal-legal system reform initiatives.

Hank received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Middlebury College and his Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Antonette Whyte-Etere is the Associate Commissioner of the Division of Addiction Treatment Centers (DATC) for the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS), overseeing 12 state operated Addiction Treatment Centers across New York State. Her statewide oversight includes regulatory compliance and fiscal oversight ensuring appropriate use of state aid resources in delivering quality care to New Yorkers accessing treatment and recovery supports in inpatient detox, rehabilitation, and residential services. She previously served as the Regional Coordinator for the NYS OASAS Long Island Regional Office.

Whyte-Etere is a qualified health professional (LCSW-R) and CASAC-Master by training, with over 30 years of experience in substance use disorder treatment and administration. She graduated with honors earning a Bachelor of Science in Social Welfare from SUNY Albany and a Master of Social Work from New York University.

Throughout her career, she has demonstrated strong supervisory, organizational, and management skills as well as foster professional partnerships to advance the agency’s mission. She served as a National Mentor for the W.F. Kellogg Foundation Multi-Cultural Executive Leadership Fellows Program and is a graduate of the NYS OASAS Talent Pool, as well as the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations and Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy’s New York State Leadership Training Institute.

In April 2019, Patricia Zuber-Wilson was appointed Associate Commissioner for the Division of Prevention at the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). In this position, she oversees policy for a continuum of substance use prevention services and problem gambling prevention, treatment and recovery supports. The mission of the division is to reach youth, families and communities across the state through educational programs, environmental prevention strategies and public awareness. The work is grounded in prevention services that are data driven and evidence based, while at the same time culturally responsive and community focused to reach people of all ages.

Ms. Zuber-Wilson has over 30 years’ experience working in various capacities in the executive and legislative branches of government. She joined OASAS in 2007 as the Director of Government Affairs and Federal Policy. In this position, she oversaw the agency’s efforts to monitor state and federal legislation, regulations and policy issues. Responsibilities also included working with local, state and federal elected officials and government agencies. Ms. Zuber-Wilson worked closely with the federally recognized Native American nations in the state and other key constituency groups.

Ms. Zuber-Wilson graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island with a BA in Organizational Behavior and Management and did graduate level coursework at the State University of New York at Albany.