After a brief passage at UNICEF, he eventually became Associate Social Affaire Adviser at the UN International Drug Control Program Program (later renamed UNODC) in 1992 (a position he occupied until 2013).[3] In the early 2000s he was involved with the HIV program.[5]
In 2013, Berterame was named Chief of the INCB's Narcotics Control and Estimates Section, a position he maintained until 2025. Upon nomination of Andrés Finguerut at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in June 2020, Berterame replaced Fingerut as the INCB Secretary ad'interim,[1] until the naming of Mark Colhoun in March 2021 at that position. In April 2025, Berterame became newly "acting secretary" of the INCB,[2] effectively becoming "officer in charge" of the INCB by 2026.[6]
As INCB Narcotics Chief, Berterame participated in several INCB "country missions" including to Venezuela, Argentina,[7] Russia, Switzerland, Australia, Jamaica, Chile, or Qatar,[8] among others. In 2015, Berterame was part of the controversial mission to Uruguay which goal "was to discuss the legislation on the non-medical use of cannabis and its implementation in Uruguay."[9]
As part of INCB teams, Berterame has undertaken research focusing on access to opioid medicines for pain management and consumption patterns. His most cited work is a 2016 Lancet study examining opioid analgesic consumption across 214 countries from 2001 to 2013,[10] using INCB data, and documenting significant disparities between high-income regions and other areas. He led INCB's "Project OPIOIDS" (2018).[11]
