Regina LaBelle is a professor of addiction policy at Georgetown University, where she also founded and directs the Master of Science in Addiction Policy and Practice program at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. This interdisciplinary graduate program equips students with expertise in both policymaking and the science of addiction.
In addition to her academic role, Regina is a distinguished scholar and the director of the Center on Addiction Policy at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law. Her work sits at the intersection of law and public health, focusing on identifying policies to reduce overdoses and leveraging legal frameworks to enhance access to quality addiction treatment and recovery services.
Regina has an extensive background in public service, having served at both the local and federal levels of government. In the Biden Administration, she was appointed acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), where she oversaw the development of the administration’s drug policy priorities. During the Obama administration, Regina served as chief of staff at ONDCP, playing a key role in the agency’s response to the opioid epidemic and other critical drug policy issues, including the implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy.
Before her federal service, Regina worked as legal counsel to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, advising on high-profile city initiatives. She also taught policy and ethics as an adjunct professor at the Seattle University Institute for Policy Studies from 1998 to 2005.
Regina earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from Boston College. She is a member of the Washington State Bar and serves on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Independent Ethics Board. Additionally, she is an appointed member of the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (NACDA), which advises the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
