Bio
My career is dedicated to improving the safety, effectiveness and availability of pain relief. Both the needs and opportunities in these areas are limitless. I have had the good fortune of working as a clinician, teacher and scientist at Stanford University and the Palo Alto VA hospital for more than two decades.
Much of my time is spent on laboratory, translational and clinical research. In the laboratory, we are pursuing several projects related to the questions of why pain sometimes becomes chronic after injuries and why opioids lose their effectiveness over time. Alterations in endogenous pain control mechanisms and the involvement of the adaptive system of immunity are central to these investigations. We would like to find ways to maximize functional recovery after surgery and other forms of trauma while minimizing the risks of analgesic use. This work involves local, national and international collaborations. Clinical trials work involves establishing the efficacy of novel forms of analgesic therapy as well as the comparative effectiveness of long-established approaches to controlling common forms of pain such as low back pain. This spectrum of pain-related pursuits continues to evolve with the rapid expansion of the field.
