Brian Morales is the Chief of the Counternarcotics Branch for the U.S. Department of State, working within the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Office of Global Programs and Policy (INL/GPP). As Chief of the Counternarcotics Branch, he oversees two units — Drug Demand Reduction and Drug Supply Reduction, focused mostly on synthetic drugs. He has worked on the issues of substance use prevention and treatment for 14 years, developing and implementing projects with countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Mr. Morales has collaborated with governments and civil societies to strengthen national treatment and prevention systems and help peoples around the world recover from the chronic and relapsing disease of substance use disorders.
Mr. Morales led the effort to establish the International Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals (ISSUP) in 2015, bringing together the global treatment and prevention workforce into an association that promotes professionalization through training and credentialing. In 2016, he collaborated with international partners to launch the International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction (ICUDDR) to promote academic study around the world in addiction science. In 2020, he worked with ICUDDR and the University of Kansas City to create the International Technology Transfer Centers (ITTCs) network to adopt a systems approach in building a public health and criminal justice system. He also funded the development of a global agency for credentialing of addiction professionals in 2010 – the Global Centre for Credentialing and Certification (GCCC). In 2023, Mr. Morales contributed significantly to the formation and momentum of the Secretary of State's Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, an effort bringing together 163 countries to discuss critical topics related to global synthetic drug threat responses.
In other posts at the U.S. Department of State, Mr. Morales has covered issues including democratic governance and counter-terrorism, and served as a U.S. representative to the Organization of American States, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the African Union, and other multilateral bodies. Prior to the federal government, he also worked at the Pan American Health Organization. Mr. Morales earned both a M.A. in Latin American Studies and B.S.F.S. in International Affairs from Georgetown University.