Bio
I am the Redlich Professor and Chief of the Division of Stanford Pain Medicine. I am a physician-scientist trained and experienced in neuroimaging, psychophysics, public health, health policy, patient outcomes, and medical education. I am guided by our group’s mission—“To Predict, Prevent and Alleviate Pain”—which encompasses my three primary goals:
1.Define the factors that cause pain to become chronic after injury or surgery.
2.Discover and implement novel methods to prevent the persistence or chronification of pain.
3.Discover and test novel therapies to alleviate chronic pain.
This vision informs the multidisciplinary group I have assembled and the tools my team and I use: advanced neuroimaging, psychophysical and neurobehavioral assessments, genomics, patient- and clinician-reported outcomes, and assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
I have served as principal investigator on multiple NIH awards (P01, multiple R01s, U01, K24, T32). Additionally, I hold two endowments that provide flexible research funds to pursue innovative projects and support our junior investigators. I am the author of more than 200 journal articles and book chapters and have delivered numerous national and international lectures. Broadly, my current research falls into two categories:
1.Characterizing CNS mechanisms of the human pain experience and its modulation, and using this information to develop biomarkers.
2.Developing and utilizing an open-source learning healthcare system (CHOIR; http://choir.stanford.edu) to transform pain care and serve as a platform for innovative research in real-world clinical settings.
Additionally, we are investigating novel therapies for pain, including transcranial magnetic stimulation, virtual reality, and psychological and pharmacological therapies.
Clinical: Under my leadership, the Stanford Pain Management Center has been twice designated a Center of Excellence by the American Pain Society for our innovative, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, outcomes-based care. We have one of the largest academic pain centers in the country—Stanford Pain Management Center (https://med.stanford.edu/pain.html)—with multiple physicians from different disciplines, psychologists, physical therapists, nurses, nutritionists, and other professionals working together to understand and treat people in pain.
Mentorship: I am the program director for our NIH T32 postdoctoral training program, “Interdisciplinary Training in Pain and/or Substance Use Disorders.” I also hold an NIH K24 award that supports mentoring and the development of junior investigators. I have a long track record of mentoring researchers and clinicians as they build successful careers.
Leadership: I am a past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. I co-authored the Institute of Medicine’s report Relieving Pain in America and served as co-chair of the Oversight Committee for the HHS/NIH National Pain Strategy—an effort to establish a national health strategy for pain care, education, and research. I have received multiple awards for leadership, teaching, research, and clinical care.
