2nd Annual Asian-American Conference on Problem Gambling

Dr. Fong is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

Dr. Fong completed his undergraduate and medical school at Northwestern University in Chicago. He then came to UCLA and finished his residency in adult general psychiatry in 2002 and was the first accredited addiction psychiatry fellow at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute (2002-2004).

He is the co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program (UGSP). The purpose of this program is to examine the underlying causes and clinical characteristics of gambling disorder in order to develop effective, evidence-based treatment strategies.

Since 2009, he has been the director of the UCLA Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship, a one-year accredited program that provides clinical training in addiction psychiatry.

Finally, he is part of the faculty leadership of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative, a multidisciplinary effort to examine the full impact of cannabis on the body, mind and brain.

Arya Gadekar, BA in Psychology from Texas A&M International University. Currently a graduate student at University of Illinois- Springfield in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is a part of the Graduate Public Service Internship (GPSI intern) program and is part of the Bureau of Planning, Performance Assessment and Federal Programs at IDHS SUPR. Arya’s focus is on gambling disorder programs. She has played college golf for 4 years at TAMIU and is also part of the Women's Golf program at UIS. 

Dr. Serena King received her M.A and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Minnesota and is a Licensed Psychologist. She is Full Professor of Psychology at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She publishes widely in addiction, mental health, and gambling. Her published work has appeared in journals such as Addiction, Public Health, International Gambling Studies, Journal of Gambling Studies, and Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.  She has an active research and clinical agenda with a variety of collaborations in the areas of gambling, gaming disorder, and substance use. Dr. King was the recipient of an early career research grant from the International Center for Responsible Gaming and has served as a consultant for grants from the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Alliance on Problem Gambling.  Dr. King has led several community-level and large-scale research studies on problem gambling, and developed prevention and outreach programs in the Southeast Asian Refugee community of Minnesota. She conducts trainings for individuals, agencies, and treatment centers.  Dr. King developed the first formal collaboration between the Hazelden-Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies and an undergraduate psychology program and cares deeply about training the next generation of addiction and mental health professionals.  She develops psychoeducational materials for community leaders and health care professionals in the areas of addiction, mental health, and problem gambling.

Abdullah Mahmood, LSW, LCDCIII-GAMB, ICGC-I, OCPS, ICPS has worked extensively in prevention, treatment, administration, as well as having direct services with clients on MAT, clients with substance use disorder, and clients with disordered gambling. He oversees the gambling intervention program at Maryhaven, a local treatment agency in Columbus, OH. He has also worked previously with the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio.
Abdullah attended Columbus State Community College for his associate’s degree and attended The Ohio State University, where he recently completed a bachelor’s degree in Social Work. He is currently working towards his master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Cleveland State University.