Journal of Pain Research

Dr Michael E Schatman

Dr. Schatman is a clinical psychologist who has spent the past 37 years working in multidisciplinary chronic pain management. He currently serves on the faculty of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care, and Pain Medicine as well as the faculty of the Department of Population Health's Division of Medical Ethics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

Dr. Schatman is the author of over 160 journal articles and book chapters on various aspects of chronic pain management, and lectures regularly on pain management on local, national and international bases. He is also the editor of Ethical Issues in Chronic Pain Management and Chronic Pain Management: Guidelines for Multidisciplinary Program Development, both of which were released by Informa Healthcare in 2007. Dr. Schatman is on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Pain, Pain Practice, Pain & Therapy, the World Journal of Anesthesiology, and Psychological Injury & Law. He resurrected and served as the Chairperson of the Ethics Special Interest Group of the American Pain Society from 2008-2013, serves as the Chairperson of the Ethics Committee of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, and is on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Pain Educators – which named him 2011 Clinical Pain Educator of the Year.

 @headdock

Professor E Alfonso Romero-Sandoval

Deputy Editor-in-Chief: E. Alfonso Romero-Sandoval

Section: Pre-Clinical/Scientific

Dr. Romero-Sandoval studies the molecular mechanisms of cannabinoid receptor activation in skin and immune cells in the induction of analgesia, resolution of inflammation, and promotion of tissue repair. The Romero-Sandoval laboratory explores the role of endocannabinoids in postoperative pain and its transition to persistent postoperative pain in addition to the function of phosphatases and kinases in spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system. Most recently Dr. Romero-Sandoval has focused on elucidating the role of macrophages in wound healing and the transition from acute to chronic pain in the context of diabetic neuropathy or surgical pain. The ultimate goal of the Romero-Sandoval lab is to restore the molecular mechanisms and cellular functions that are altered under pathological inflammatory and painful conditions. The Romero-Sandoval laboratory uses highly translatable clinical approaches such as the use of human primary cells, the use of clinically relevant functional assays, and the use of clinically tested nanotechnology for potential cell-directed gene therapies.  

Dr. Romero-Sandoval has held academic positions as Instructor (2007-2009) and Assistant Professor (2009-2012) at Geisel Dartmouth Medical School, Associate Professor and the Director of Research at Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy in Clinton, SC. Currently (April 2017-present) he is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology in the Pain Mechanisms Laboratory at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC.

Dr Robert B. Raffa

Section: Pharmacology

Dr. Raffa’s career has been devoted to basic science pharmacologic contributions directed to mechanistic understanding the therapeutic utility and adverse effects of analgesic drugs through research, drug discovery, teaching, and publication.

He earned undergraduate degrees in Chemical Engineering and Physiological Psychology (both from University of Delaware), graduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering (Drexel University, Philadelphia) and Toxicology (Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia), and a doctorate in Pharmacology (Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia). He was Team Co-Leader for CNS analgesics drug discovery at Johnson & Johnson (McNeil Pharmaceutical, Janssen Research Foundation, Pharmaceutical Research Institute), and is co-holder of nine patents on analgesic drugs. During his 10-year career at Johnson & Johnson, he attained the title of Research Fellow.

Dr. Raffa recently retired as Professor Emeritus after 20 years as tenured faculty at Temple University School of Pharmacy. He taught drug-receptor theory and drug-abuse in addition to multiple other topics as Course Director or Lecturer in the two-semester pharmacology sequence. He also taught an elective course in writing and publishing a review article in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In all, more than 200 students authored more than 30 publications. He received more than $3 million in research funding from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and other sources for investigation of drug action and drug abuse issues.
He is currently Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Dr. Raffa has published over 300 papers in refereed journals, is the co-author or editor of several books on pharmacology and thermodynamics. He is a Co-Editor of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. He is a past president of the Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society, and he lectures and consults worldwide on analgesics and analgesic combinations.

Dr Dawood Sayed

Section: Neuromodulation and Interventional 

Dr. Sayed is the President and Co-founder of the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN). Dr. Sayed is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Kansas Hospital. Dr. Sayed serves as the Chief of Pain medicine at the University. He established and serves as the Program Director of The Multidisciplinary Pain Medicine Fellowship at the University of Kansas. Additionally, Dr. Sayed serves as the Medical Director of Interventional Pain at the University of Kansas Comprehensive Spine Center as well as the Director of the Center of Neuromodulation at University of Kansas Hospital. He completed his Anesthesiology residency at the University of Kansas and Pain Medicine Fellowship from the Tri-Institute at Cornell Medical Center. He lectures and serves as teaching faculty for the American Society of Pain Physicians (ASIPP), North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS), and American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA). His clinical interests include spinal cord stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, implanted intrathecal drug delivery, vertebral augmentation, cancer related pain, spinal tumor ablation, and minimally invasive spine surgery. He has lectured both nationally and internationally on advanced interventional techniques for chronic pain. Dr. Sayed has published extensively in the fields of neuromodulation, interventional spine, and cancer related pain.

Dr Michael A Ueberall

Section: Musculoskeletal Pain/Rehabilitation AND Neuropathic Pain

Dr. Ueberall is associate professor for pediatrics and pediatric neurology at the University Erlangen, Germany. He is a board certified pain specialists, works as medical director of the private Institute of Neurological Sciences, Algesiology and Pediatrics (IFNAP) and chairs the Center of Excellence for Health Care Research of the German Pain Association in Nuernberg, Germany. Dr. Ueberall is president of the German Pain League (Europe’s largest umbrella organization for patients suffering from chronic pain) since 2012 and Vice-President of the German Pain Association (Europe’s largest organization of pain practitioners) since 2003.

Dr Erica Wegrzyn

Section: Opioids and Substance Abuse 

Dr. Erica Wegrzyn graduated from Western New England University College of Pharmacy. She completed a PGY-1 general practice residency at MaineGeneral Medical Center, Augusta, Maine and PGY-2 specialty residency in pain and palliative care at the Stratton VA Medical Center, Albany, New York. Currently she is an advanced practice clinical pharmacy specialist in pain management at the Stratton VA Medical Center specializing in chronic noncancer pain and palliative care. She is adjunct faculty at both Western New England University College of Pharmacy and Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. Her research interests include buprenorphine and other unique opioids as an alternative to traditional opioids, opioid transition and dosing, in-home naloxone distribution, emergency response, and technology platforms to promote opioid safety. She has numerous publications related to pharmacotherapeutics and pain. She holds consultant positions with Remitigate LLC and NovaPain Associates.  Dr. Wegrzyn has taken emergency response to another level, as she is also a NYS volunteer firefighter.

Dr Alaa Abd-Elsayed

Section: Musculoskeletal Pain/Rehabilitation

Dr. Abd-Elsayed serves as the Medical Director for UW Health Pain Services, Medical Director UW Pain Clinic, Division Chief, Chronic Pain Medicine and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

He published more than 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, more than 100 book chapters, edited 27 books and presented dozens of presentations on the national and international level.

Dr. Abd-Elsayed serves as an editor and reviewer for several high impact journals. He is actively involved in several societies including NANS, ASRA, ASPN, ASIPP, WSA and ASA.

His research interests include neuromodulation, neuropathic pain, new devices and complex regional pain syndrome.

Dr Timothy Atkinson

Section: Opioids and Substance Abuse

Timothy is currently a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Pain Management at the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System. Dr. Atkinson specializes in complex and high risk pain medication management through direct patient care and electronic consult services within the regional referral pain clinic. In collaboration with several DEA x-waivered physicians, Dr. Atkinson supervises a suboxone clinic for patients with comorbid opioid use disorder (OUD) and pain. He is the Residency Director for the PGY-2 Pain and Palliative Care Residency program at TVHS, and represents pain management on the national VA Residency Advisory Board. Dr. Atkinson represented clinical pharmacy on the workgroup updating the VA/DoD SUD guidelines. He is a strong advocate for expansion of clinical pharmacy led pain medication management. His research interests include opioid equivalencies, serum level monitoring, pain management in specialty disease states, and the elderly.

Professor Krishnan Chakravarthy

Section: Neuromodulation and Interventional AND Minimally Invasive Spine Procedures 

Dr. Krishnan Chakravarthy: University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (M.D., Ph.D. 2012, an Anesthesiology residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital (2016), Chronic Pain Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School (2017). He is Assistant Clinical Professor in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at UC San Diego and VA San Diego Health System (2017-present). He has affiliated faculty at the UCSD Department of Nanoengineering. He is Director of Clinical Pain Research UCSD Center for Pain Medicine. He is also co-director of the UCSD Institute of Engineering in Medicine Center for Mobile-health Systems and Applications (CMSA). He has published many papers in highly reputed journals in anesthesiology and pain medicine. He is a recipient of several national research awards and has had his research featured in Futurity, News Medical, and other international venues. He is a founder of five biotechnology companies.

Dr Houman Danesh

Section: Integrative/Acupuncture

Houman Danesh, MD, is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychobiology, and Georgetown University, where he obtained a Master’s degree in Physiology and Biophysics. He completed his medical School training at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

Following a medical internship at Long Island College Hospital, Dr. Danesh completed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mount Sinai and additionally completed his Fellowship in Pain Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Danesh is also certified in Medical Acupuncture and serves on the New York State Acupuncture Board.

Dr. Danesh has a particular interest in combining the benefits of interventional pain management (including transforaminal epidural injections, facet blocks, spinal cord stimulator trials, kyphoplasty, and ablations) with acupuncture, guasha, yoga, cupping, and physical therapy, to treat headaches, back pain, neck pain and joint pain. He has spearheaded the creation of the Division of Integrative Pain Management and serves as the Director.

Prof. Dr. Alexandre F DaSilva

Section: Headache and Facial Pain

Dr. Alexandre DaSilva is the Director of H.O.P.E. (Headache & Orofacial Pain Effort) Lab at University of Michigan (UM), which is a multidisciplinary team that investigates the brain as a research and therapeutic target for chronic pain disorders, including migraine, TMD, head and neck cancer pain, and neuropathic pain. He is an Associate Professor in the Biologic and Materials Sciences Department at the UM School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, where he also serves as the Director of Learning Health Systems. Dr. DaSilva has received his Doctorate in Medical Science (DMedSc) degree in Oral Biology with clinical training in Orofacial Pain at Harvard University. His thesis demonstrated for the first time in vivo the somatotopic activation (fMRI) of trigeminal pain in the peripheral and central somatosensory pathway in humans. This work was followed by a post-doctoral fellowship on Migraine Neuroimaging at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, to investigate subcortical and cortical changes in the brains of migraine patients. He was also an Instructor in the Psychiatric Department at Harvard University/McLean Hospital, where he investigated the co-localization of functional and structural cortical neuroplasticity in Trigeminal Neuropathic Pain patients. With his colleagues at the UM H.O.P.E. lab, he has developed novel technologies for pain research, treatment, and education using molecular (e.g., μ-opioid and D2/D3 dopamine), functional and structural neuroimaging (PET, fNIRS and MRI-based), non-invasive brain stimulation, mobile technology, artificial intelligence, and augmented and virtual reality tools (AV/VR). His UM H.O.P.E. team has conducted multiple clinical neuroimaging and neuromodulation research studies since 2011, enrolling both healthy volunteers and chronic pain patients, including TMD, neuropathic pain and episodic/chronic migraine.

Dr S Diwan

Section: Regenerative Pain Medicine

Dr. Sudhir Diwan, nationally and internationally recognized as a key opinion leader in the field of pain management, is the President, Advanced Spine on Park Avenue, and attending at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York. Dr. Diwan was the former Director of the Tri-Institutional Pain Fellowship Program and Division of Pain Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University for more than a decade, where he also served as associate professor of clinical anesthesiology, and the faculty at the world renowned New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Diwan has published extensively in prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals and medical books on a variety of pain management topics. He is on the Editorial Board for the Pain Physician - an official journal of the American Society of Pain Physicians (ASIPP) since 2008, and Pain Practice – official journal of World Institute of Pain (WIP) since 2009. Dr. Diwan is the Examiner for the Certification Board for American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (ABIPP) and Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP) offered by the World Institute of Pain. Dr. Diwan is Co-Editor for Intrathecal Drug Delivery for Pain and Spasticity, Vol 2, Timothy Deer, Series Editor, Elsevier-Saunders 2012, Co-Editor for Diwan-Staats’s Atlas of Pain Medicine Procedures, McGraw Hill Education 2015, and Advanced Procedures for Pain Management, A step-by-step Atlas, Springer US, 2018.

Dr. Diwan is recipient of many accolades including Raj Excellence Award by ASIPP (2021), Lifetime Achievements award by American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN - 2020), League of Presidents Award by ASIPP (2020), Distinguished Service award by ASIPP (2017), Clinical excellence award by WVSIPP (2013), and Outstanding Contribution to Pain Management award by NYSIPP (2013).

In addition to his busy pain management practice in New York City, Dr. Diwan lectures extensively and interacts regularly with experts in the field of Minimally invasive Spinal procedures, Neuromodulation, and Regenerative Medicine nationally and internationally. He has been guest speaker for many noteworthy organizations including the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN), Regional and State Societies Pain Meetings, the World Institute of Pain (WIP), NANS, INS, and numerous International Pain Societies and Congresses. Currently he is Executive Director of NYSIPP and Course Chairman of the Annual NY/NJ Pain Medicine Symposium. He is on executive boards of ASIPP and Emeritus Board Member of ASPN.

Dr Jonathan Greenberg

Section: Behavioral Approaches to Pain

Jonathan Greenberg, PhD is a research staff psychologist at the Integrated Brain Health Clinical and Research Program at the Department of Psychiatry in Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His work focuses on development of mind-body interventions for various clinical populations, as well as on the cognitive, affective and neural effects of mindfulness training. Dr. Greenberg is interested in mind-body approaches to treatment of chronic pain, mild traumatic brain injury, as well as in the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of mindfulness practice in treating and preventing depression and anxiety, enhancing cognitive functioning, improving emotion regulation and promoting well-being.
He was awarded the AlterMed Research Foundation grant, as well as two fellowships from Harvard Medical School, the Kaplen Fellowship on Depression, and the Livingston Fellowship Award. He was most recently awarded a K23 Mentored Career Development Award from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health to develop a live-video mind-body intervention to prevent persistent symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) among individuals with mTBI and comorbid anxiety. Dr. Greenberg’s background is in clinical psychology and treating primarily individuals with chronic pain, anxiety, and depression.

Dr Amitabh Gulati

Section: Cancer Pain and Palliative Care

Amitabh Gulati is an anesthesiologist and pain medicine physician currently practicing in New York City. He is an associate professor and Director of Chronic Pain, specializing in interventional cancer pain management, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, completed his anesthesiology residency at Emory University School of Medicine, and obtained his pain management fellowship diploma from Weill Cornell School of Medicine in 2007. Furthermore, Dr. Gulati completed his acupuncture certification at the Helms Medical Institute in 2007, and is licensed to practice in the state of New York.

He is currently the program director of the Weill Cornell pain management fellowship in New York City. He regularly gives lectures and teaches at workshops on topics involving ultrasound guided pain procedures, interventional procedures in cancer pain management, and neuromodulation techniques for oncologic pain. His current research involves the use of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) for the treatment of neuropathic pain and the study of interventional paradigms for cancer pain medicine. He is involved in multiple educational societies as teaching faculty or board member in the field of pain medicine. He is currently the President of the World Academy of Pain Medicine Ultrasound (WAPMU).

Dr David Keith

Section: Dental Pain

David Keith, a native of Chelmsford, UK, attended Guy’s Hospital Dental School, University of London, where he received his BDS degree in 1966. He obtained his Fellowship in Dental Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1970. While he was working at King’s College Hospital in London there was an exchange program with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston, MA and he was subsequently invited back to join the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) Staff. He was appointed to the Faculty of Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) in 1973. He obtained his DMD from that institution in 1983.
Dr. Keith is Professor of OMFS at HSDM and Visiting OMFS at MGH. He initiated the Orofacial Pain training program at MGH/HSDM which is the only Hospital based American Dental Association Committee of Dental Accreditation approved program in the United States. He also started the Orofacial Pain Lecture series for Undergraduates at HSDM in their Evidence based curriculum. He was Cochair of the Massachusetts Governor’s Working Group on Dental Education on Prescribing Drug Misuse 2015-2016. He continues to collaborate with Faculty from the MGH and all three Boston Dental Schools and lectures frequently for the Massachusetts Dental Society on Pain Management for the Dentist. He was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the American Academy of Orofacial Pain. His clinical and research interests are Temporomandibular Joint Disorders, Orofacial pain and Prescription Opioid Use. Specifically, he has studied the role of Temporomandibular joint surgery on pain and other facial and oral pain conditions. He has published extensively on these subjects and has edited three books on Temporomandibular Joint Surgery, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Controlled Substance Risk Mitigation in the Dental setting.

Dr Jinlei Li

Section: Acute Pain and Perioperative Care

Jinlei Li, MD PhD, F.A.S.A, earned her Ph.D. degree from University of Buffalo in Buffalo, NY, M.D. degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, anesthesia residency and regional anesthesia and acute pain fellowship at Yale University. She is currently an associate professor, program director of regional anesthesia and acute pain fellowship at Yale University Department of Anesthesiology. She is a board-certified anesthesiologist and the Director of Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine at Yale New Haven Health in New Haven, CT in the united states. Dr. Li is active in American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) in both research and teaching. She has participated and/or organized multiple regional anesthesia workshops in the united states as well as internationally and her research interests are hemodynamic changes associated with regional anesthesia, local anesthetics additives, regional anesthesia and anticoagulants, as well as regional anesthesia education.

Dr Vwaire Orhurhu

Section: Regenerative Pain Medicine

Vwaire Orhurhu, MD, MPH, is an interventional pain physician at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He had his medical training at Mayo Medical School and completed his residencies at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School (General Surgery Internship) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School (Anesthesiology). He subsequently completed his chronic pain fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

He is very vast in the clinical research, diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic pain conditions. Dr. Orhurhu has a Master's in Public Health from Harvard University School of Public Health. His masters focused on quantitative methods (research study designs and statistical analysis). He has published over 140 peer reviewed articles as well as multiple book chapters in the field of anesthesiology and chronic pain management.

Dr. Orhurhu has received numerous awards, including outstanding resident teaching award at Harvard Medical School as well as numerous "Best Oral Research Presentation" awards at prominent national meetings. Dr. Orhurhu's research activities have been accepted into highly regarded journals such as JAMA, JAMA Surgery, Anesthesia and Analgesia, Annals of Surgery, Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, The Spine Journal, Pain Medicine, Pain Physician, Neuromodulation, Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, The Journal of Pain Research and many more. He is also a reviewer for numerous Pain journals in the United States and abroad.

Dr Kushang V Patel

Section: Pain in Older Adults

Kushang Patel, PhD, MPH is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is an epidemiologist and gerontologist who completed doctoral training in preventive medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch and a post-doctoral fellowship in the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging/NIH. Dr. Patel has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications related to pain, aging, and physical activity. He is broadly knowledgeable about issues related to health and aging in older adults, with particular expertise in the areas of pain management and physical function assessment. His research involves (1) investigating the epidemiology of pain and aging; (2) developing and evaluating technology-enhanced behavioral interventions to improve pain management and function among older adults; and (3) evaluating outcome assessment tools for observational studies and clinical trials of chronic pain and aging. His research is currently funded by the CDC and NIH.

Dr Erika A Petersen

Section: Surgical Approaches to Pain 

Dr. Erika A. Petersen directs the Section of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery at UAMS Medical Center. She is a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at UAMS. Dr. Petersen is a board certified neurosurgeon whose clinical practice focuses on neuromodulation, treating movement disorders, spasticity, and chronic pain through surgical procedures and stereotactic radiosurgery. Dr. Petersen's research interests focus on using high-resolution imaging to understand the functional interaction of centers within the brain and on developing new devices, indications, and methods for treating chronic pain using neuromodulation. Her collaborations with colleagues in neuroradiology, neurology, pain, and psychiatry are aimed toward identifying new applications for the use of deep brain stimulation and neuromodulation for pain.
Dr. Petersen completed her undergraduate education at Princeton University and received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She trained in neurosurgery at the University of Texas Southwestern with a fellowship in deep brain stimulation at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Dr. Petersen has served on the Joint Section on Pain of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)/Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and the CNS Scientific Programming Committee and sits on the Executive Board of the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience. She serves as associate editor of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery for Operative Neurosurgery, and is on the editorial board of Neuromodulation. Dr. Petersen lectures frequently at national and international meetings on deep brain stimulation, emerging applications of neuromodulation, and chronic pain management. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, neuromodulation, and neuroscience.

Dr Ellen Soffin

Section: Acute Pain and Perioperative Care 

Dr. Ellen Soffin is an Assistant Attending Anesthesiologist at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Clinical Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medical College (New York, NY, USA). Dr. Soffin completed medical school at King’s College Medical School (London, UK) followed by residency training in anesthesiology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD, USA) and fellowship in Regional Anesthesia & Acute Pain Medicine at HSS. She is the Chair of the Anesthesia Spine Service Workgroup and directs the department’s spine research program. Dr. Soffin’s clinical interests include anesthesia for complex spine surgery, emphasizing opioid-sparing anesthesia and applications of regional analgesia to the spine surgery patient. She is a nationally recognized expert on enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathways for spine surgery. She has published extensively on opioid-minimizing strategies for orthopedic surgery, as well as on the role of the anesthesiologist in curbing the opioid epidemic. Her work has been published in leading journals including British Journal of Anaesthesia, Anesthesia & Analgesia, Spine, European Spine Journal and Anesthesiology.

Dr Natalie H Strand

Section: Neuropathic Pain

Dr. Natalie Strand completed medical school at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in 2005. She then completed her transitional internship at Mayo Clinic, her anesthesiology residency at University of California Los Angeles, and her fellowship in interventional pain medicine at Mayo Clinic. She is an associate professor in anesthesiology and pain medicine at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, where she serves as the director for pain research and the director of neuromodulation. Dr. Strand focuses clinically on the treatment of chronic pain from musculoskeletal and nerve disorders. In addition, her research interests include diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of pain medicine; peripheral nerve stimulation; dorsal column stimulation; and graduate medical education. 

Dr Andrea Tinnirello

Section: Neuromodulation and Interventional

Born in 1978 in Brescia, Italy he obtained his medical degree in 2003, along with a master’s degree in Chronic Pain Management from the University of Parma. Since completing a residency in anesthesiology and intensive care in 2007, Dr. Andrea Tinnirello has been involved in pain management, with a specific focus on minimal invasive techniques and interventional pain management procedures for chronic joint and spinal pain.
Dr. Tinnirello currently practices in Northern Italy in two public hospitals in Iseo and Chiari. As head of anesthesiology and pain management service, which treats over 2000 patients each year, he performs more than 200 minimally invasive treatments annually. Dr. Tinnirello is particularly involved in radiofrequency denervation techniques for chronic knee, hip, shoulder and lumbar pain using both ultrasound and fluoroscopic guidance. He also currently trains residents and fellows at the University of Brescia anesthesiology residency program, and recently began teaching in their master’s degree program in Chronic Pain Management.
A member of the Italian National Anaesthesiology Society’s (SIAARTI) study group on acute and chronic pain, Dr. Tinnirello is helping in the development of national recommendations and guidelines on pain management. He has also published widely on international pain management in various peer reviewed medical journals, in addition to presenting on the topic at international meetings.

Dr Robert Twillman

Section: Ethics/Policy

Bob Twillman, Ph.D., is a pain management psychologist at Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, MO, and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Volunteer Faculty) at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City, KS. He also is the former Executive Director of the Academy of Integrative Pain Management. In that capacity, Dr. Twillman was responsible for guiding the organization in its efforts to promote an integrative approach to managing pain. He formerly served the Academy for four years as its Director of Policy and Advocacy. Dr. Twillman received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of California in Los Angeles. Prior to working for the Academy, Dr. Twillman was a full-time faculty member at the University of Kansas Medical Center, where he founded and directed the inpatient pain management program and was a co-founder of the hospital’s Palliative Care Team. Dr. Twillman also served for many years as Chair of the Prescription Monitoring Program Advisory Committee for the Kansas Board of Pharmacy.

Dr Giorgio Veneziano

Section: Pediatric Pain 

Dr. Veneziano is a pediatric anesthesiologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and clinical assistant professor at The Ohio State University. He holds board certifications in anesthesiology, pediatric anesthesiology, and pain medicine. A graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Dr. Veneziano completed medical training in anesthesiology and pediatric anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Currently, he is director the Comprehensive Pain Service in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.