Medical Education and Research Foundation

What Medical Education and Research Foundation does

The Medical Education and Research Foundation for the Treatment of Addiction (MERF) is a California-based 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation founded in 1981 to address the documented gap in physician education regarding substance use disorders (SUDs). The foundation operates as a sister organization to the California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM) and serves physicians-in-training (residents and fellows), teaching faculty, and program directors across California, the West Coast, and the broader Southwest. Its core beneficiaries are residents in psychiatry, family practice, and internal medicine, with roughly half of historical scholars coming from psychiatry programs.

MERF's offerings center on two flagship programs: the MERF Scholars Program, an annual scholarship that selects residents, fellows, and faculty teams to attend the CSAM Annual Conference with reduced-rate registration, preconference workshops (including Motivational Interviewing), and yearlong mentored activities such as journal clubs, case discussions, and scholarly projects; and the MERF MATES (Mentored Learning Experience for Medication Assisted Treatment Providers) program, a specialized MAT training initiative that served approximately 80 physicians and SUD providers between 2019-2021 with funding from the California Health Foundation and California Department of Health Care Services. MERF also curates a library of educational resources on addiction science, epidemiology, and medical education methodologies. The organization does not sell products or charge tuition; all services are delivered through human mentorship at conferences and community-led engagement within residency training networks.

MERF's revenue model relies entirely on private donations from small foundations and individuals, supplemented by periodic programmatic grants from state-level funders. Operations are volunteer-intensive — mentors participate without honorarium and organizational work is donated — which keeps expenditures minimal relative to programmatic reach. The foundation is governed by a board of clinicians and professionals with deep addiction medicine credentials drawn from institutions including Keck USC, Harbor UCLA, Stanford, UCSF, the Betty Ford Center, and various tribal and community health systems. Tax identification: 94-2788893.

Name

Medical Education and Research Foundation

Legal name

Medical Education and Research Foundation for the Treatment of Addiction

Website

https://merfweb.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

MERF is a California-based 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1981 that provides scholarships and mentored learning experiences for medical residents, fellows, and faculty in addiction medicine, operating as the sister organization to CSAM.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Education / Physician Training

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Addiction medicine education
• Medical residency scholarships
• Mentored learning experiences
• Physician training programs
• Substance use disorder education

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Private Donations: MERF is funded by private donations from small foundations and individuals. The organization benefits from significant volunteer time as mentors participate without honorarium and all organizational work and overhead is donated. Tax identification number: 94-2788893.
2. Financial Contributions: Individual contributions from donors who have witnessed the benefit of immersing physicians in specialized addiction medicine learning environments. Donations are tax-deductible under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MERF provides scholarship-funded mentored learning experiences to physicians-in-training and teaching faculty in addiction medicine, primarily through selection of MERF Scholars to attend the CSAM Annual Conference and through the MERF MATES program focused on medication-assisted treatment. Offerings include reduced-rate conference registration, preconference and Motivational Interviewing workshops, yearlong journal clubs, case discussions, faculty mentorship, scholarly projects supporting ACGME requirements, and curated addiction medicine research resources.

Product overview

MERF operates as a single unified educational offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The foundation's core activities center on providing mentored learning experiences through scholarship programs (MERF Scholars), specialized medication-assisted treatment training (MERF MATES), and curated educational resources. The MERF Scholars Program serves as the primary product, enabling residents and faculty to attend CSAM Annual Conferences with reduced registration rates, access to preconference workshops, and yearlong journal club participation. The MERF MATES program extends specialized training in medication-assisted treatment. Resources are provided as supplementary educational materials rather than standalone products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MERF Scholars Program Annual scholarship program selecting MERF Scholars (Residents, Fellows, and Faculty) from residency training programs to attend the CSAM Annual Conference and participate in MERF Scholar activities. Includes reduced-rate conference registration, preconference workshops, Motivational Interviewing workshops, MERF MAT activities, yearlong journal clubs, case discussions, scholarly projects, and faculty mentorship. Designed for physicians-in-training and teaching faculty in psychiatry, family practice, and internal medicine.
• MERF MATES (Mentored Learning Experience for Medication Assisted Treatment Providers) Mentored Learning Experience for Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) providers, delivering specialized training for physicians and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) providers through structured mentored learning experiences. Supported by grants from the California Health Foundation and the California Department of Health Care Services.
• CSAM Annual Conference Participation (MERF delivery channel) Annual multi-day addiction medicine conference delivered in partnership with the California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM), which serves as MERF's primary venue for delivering mentored learning experiences, case discussions, faculty meetings, networking, and scholarship programming. The 2025 MERF Scholars attended the conference at Orange County, CA, and the 2026 conference is scheduled for October 21-24 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County.
• Addiction Medicine Resources Library Curated collection of addiction medicine references for clinicians learning and teaching addiction medicine, including research on addiction science and brain disease, epidemiology studies, medical education materials, and addiction and chronic medical illness publications, plus selected articles, websites, and publications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 residents have received scholarships since 1999
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSAM is MERF's sister organization. MERF draws upon CSAM physician members for clinical experience, research, educational and training expertise. CSAM provides annual conferences where MERF delivers its core scholarship and mentorship programs. The partnership is foundational to MERF's existence and mission.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM): The national professional society for addiction medicine physicians; provides education, certification, and clinical guidelines that overlap with MERF's mission but at a much larger national scale, including continuing medical education and workforce development.
• Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: Large national addiction treatment and education organization; comparable in addressing physician education in addiction medicine (via the Betty Ford Center, which is represented on MERF's board) but operates a much broader treatment and research portfolio.

Direct peers

• AMA Foundation: National 501(c)(3) foundation that funds medical education, scholarships, and physician development programs; mirrors MERF's structure as a non-profit administering medical education scholarships and grants to physicians-in-training.
• California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM): MERF's sister organization and primary partner; CSAM is the state-level professional society for addiction medicine physicians that hosts the annual conference where MERF delivers its core scholarship and mentorship programs. Most directly comparable in mission and beneficiary base.
• American College of Academic Addiction Medicine (ACAAM): National organization dedicated to supporting addiction medicine fellowship programs and academic faculty; directly comparable to MERF in targeting academic physicians-in-training and faculty mentors, and a potential partner for scaling MERF's model nationally.
• AMERSA (Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Abuse): National multidisciplinary organization focused on substance use education for health professionals; overlaps with MERF in training physicians and allied health professionals in evidence-based addiction care, though with a research/curriculum focus rather than scholarships.

Emerging players

• American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) Foundation: Historical certifying body for addiction medicine physicians and related educational programming; adjacent to MERF in shaping the addiction medicine physician workforce and could complement or compete with MERF's mentoring offerings.

Regional players

• California Medical Association Foundation: California-focused physician non-profit that administers scholarships, grants, and education programs for medical students and residents; structurally similar to MERF but broader in scope (not addiction-specific) and operating in the same California physician network.

Others

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): Federal funder and educator addressing substance use disorders; comparable as a stakeholder in addiction medicine education (and cited on MERF's resources page) rather than as a direct competitor, providing grants and curriculum that MERF beneficiaries access.
• California Health Foundation: Current MERF funder (supported the MERF MATES program); comparable as a California health-focused foundation that funds addiction medicine workforce development, and a likely partner or alternative channel for similar programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Medical Education and Research Foundation