Allen J. Brenzel, MD, MBA

Dr. Brenzel earned an MD from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He joined the UK Faculty after completing a combined residency training program in Adult and Child Psychiatry and Pediatrics. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Child Psychiatry, and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Psychiatry.

Since 2010, via a contract with UK, he has served as the Medical Director for the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental & Intellectual Disabilities (BHDID) within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS). With over twenty years interfacing with medical providers, state government, and payors, he has developed broad health policy expertise in many areas. He has worked to modernize the State Medicaid Plan to include a full continuum of behavioral health and substance abuse services. In partnership with other state agencies, Dr. Brenzel has worked on reducing prescription drug abuse, increasing access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), addressing buprenorphine utilization and diversion, disseminating naloxone rescue kits, and developing guidelines for Kentucky's Harm Reduction and Syringe Exchange Programs.

He was the Co­ Principal Investigator for the Kentucky, SAMHSA MAT-PDOA grant which implemented a coordinated care model to care for women with an opioid use disorder who are pregnant or parenting. He is serving as the Co-Pl for Kentucky's Opioid STR and Opioid SOR grants that will bring over $90 million federal dollars to Kentucky to address the opioid use disorder crisis over the next two years.