João Goulão

ICAD - ICAD President (Institute on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies)

João Castel-Branco Goulão is the President of the Board of Directors of ICAD, I.P. (Institute for Addictive Behaviors and Dependencies) and the National Coordinator for Addictive Behaviors and Dependencies in Portugal. ICAD’s primary responsibility is to promote the reduction of both licit and illicit substance use and to decrease addictions in Portugal.

Initially a family physician, João Goulão became one of the leading advocates in the fight against drug use in Portugal. He graduated in Medicine from the University of Lisbon in 1978 and began practicing in 1983. In 1987, he joined the Taipas Center in Lisbon, established by the Portuguese Minister of Health for the treatment, recovery, and social reintegration of drug addicts. In 1997, he became the national director of Portugal’s network of drug dependency treatment centers. Currently, he serves as the president of the EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction).