The National Pain Foundation's Council of Advisors

The NPF Council of Advisors are a diverse group of people with unique sets of skills and talents. They are committed to addressing the challenges and concerns of individuals whose lives are compromised by pain.
 

Kenneth M. Alo', MD, is in private practice in Houston, Texas. He has served as president of Houston Texas Pain Management Center, and on the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston. He received his medical degree from Texas A&M University College of Medicine and served as chief resident in anesthesiology at Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals in the Texas Medical Center. Dr. Alo' also completed a specialized interventional pain management/pain medicine fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals and The Methodist Hospital. He has published numerous journal articles, chapters, and reviews regarding new techniques and treatment advances in pain management, including failed back surgery syndrome, intractable headache including transformed migraine, urge incontinence, pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain and discogenic back pain. Dr. Alo' serves on the governing and editorial boards of the International Neuromodulation Society and the American Neuromodulation Society.

Gerald M. Aronoff, MD, DABPM, FAADEP, currently practices at the Carolina Pain Associates, P.A. He received his medical degree from the New Jersey College of Medicine and completed his residency at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Aronoff is certified by the American Board of Pain Medicine and the American Boards of Psychiatry and Neurology. He has served on the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's "New Strategies in Pain Management" Advisory Board and chaired the American Academy of Pain Medicine's (AAPM) committee to establish guidelines for euthanasia physician assisted suicide. Dr. Aronoff is past president of the AAPM, New England Pain Association, Eastern Pain Association and the North Carolina Pain Society. Along with acting as the pain consultant to the US Food and Drug Administration's Arthritis Advisory Committee, he has authored/edited seven books and more than 80 scientific articles on chronic pain. He served as the editor-in-chief for the Clinical Journal of Pain.

Donna Bloodworth, MD, is the associate professor with Baylor College of Medicine and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia and completed her residency at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Bloodworth's interest and specialty centers around pain medicine and how to help those living with pain realize the best lifestyle they can despite or "to spite" their chronic pain situation. She is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation as well as pain medicine. Dr. Bloodworth is an active member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and has published several articles and abstracts.

Mark Disorbio, EdD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and is the president of Integrated Therapies, founded in 1985. Integrated Therapies provides multidisciplinary treatment for patients with delayed recovery from chronic pain. Dr. Disorbio has conducted extensive research in the area of chronic pain and is the co-author of the Battery for Health Improvement-2 (BHI-2) and the Brief Battery for Health Improvement-2 (BBHI-2). These internationally recognized psychomedical tests evaluate psycho-social and medical factors related to injured patients with chronic pain conditions. He received his doctorate in counseling/clinical psychology from the University of Northern Colorado and has spent most of his career diagnosing and treating patients with psychological factors related to medical conditions. Dr. Disorbio is a diplomat in forensic medical psychology.

Allen R. Dyer, MD, PhD, is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, where he has served as chair of the department. Previously he served at Albany Medical College as associate and interim chair of the psychiatry department, psychiatrist-in-chief at the Albany Medical Center Hospital, and chief medical officer of the Capital District Psychiatric Center. He was professor of health policy and management at the State University of New York at Albany. Dr. Dyer graduated from Brown University, where he received a master of medical science degree. He also received a certificate of theological studies from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif. He earned his MD degree from Duke University and also his PhD from the department of religion at Duke. Dr. Dyer completed his internship and psychiatric residency, including a year as chief resident, at Duke University Medical Center. His field of academic interest is medical ethics and health policy. Dr. Dyer has written more than 100 articles and chapters and is the author of several books including Ethics and Psychiatry: Toward Professional Definition and coauthor of A Concise Guide to Ethics in Mental Health Care. He has received a number of teaching awards including Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award in the Clinical Sciences (1998), Nancy C. A. Roeske Award for Outstanding and Sustained Contributions in Medical Education and the Caduceus Club Attending of the Year (2006).

Lucille Gallagher, ARM, is a risk management consultant in the field of enterprise risk management, consulting with business and non-profit entities in the areas of risk analysis, risk financing and risk management solutions to reduce the of cost of risk relating to all areas of risk management and insurance, including employee benefits. Ms. Gallagher previously was vice president of risk management for Monfort, Inc., ConAgra Red Meat Companies, as well as president of Weld Insurance Co.; a Monfort wholly owned captive insurance company. She served as national president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society from 1994 to 1995. Ms. Gallagher was named “Risk Manager of the Year” in 1994 by Business Insurance magazine, and received the Risk and Insurance Management Society Richard W. Bland Award for work in the legislative and regulatory areas relating to risk management and insurance issues in 1985. In October 2000, she was recognized by Business Insurance as one of 100 leading women executives worldwide in the insurance/reinsurance, brokerage, benefits, risk management and educational fields. Ms. Gallagher believes in serving her community as a volunteer. She is president of the board of directors of Arapahoe House Recovery Foundation, the largest not-for-profit alcohol and drug treatment program in Colorado and treasurer and executive committee member of the board of directors for the Colorado Neurological Institute.

Rollin M. Gallagher, MD, MPH, is the director of pain management at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, professor in the departments of psychiatry and anesthesiology at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and professor of psychiatry, anesthesiology, and public health at Drexel College of Medicine. Dr. Gallagher sits on the board of directors of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) and has served as president of the American Board of Pain Medicine (2002-2004) and on the pain examination committee of the American Board of Anesthesiology. He is former editor-in-chief of the Clinical Journal of Pain and Pain Medicine Network, and currently is editor-in-chief of Pain Medicine, the official journal of the AAPM. Dr. Gallagher’s work in pain medicine has been informed by a career background that includes family practice, psychiatry, epidemiology, pain rehabilitation, and numerous teaching and administrative positions in academic medicine. He publishes and speaks regularly at national and international symposia on topics ranging from evidence-based pain medicine, organizational models of pain management, pharmacologic and integrated pain treatment, pain and depression, rehabilitation, and workers’ compensation. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, his medical degree from Boston University, and master's in public health from Columbia University.

James E. Hagen, MS, is the director of clinical services for Integrative Treatment Centers in Denver. He has more than 20 years experience in the health care discipline, first in the pulmonary medicine field where his interest was in pulmonary medicine and exercise physiology. He participated in many research studies in the development of the new medications and participated in the US track and field Olympic trials, testing elite athletes for patient education and neuromodulation. He has lectured extensively on spinal cord stimulation and has a primary interest in neuropathic pain and stimulation. Mr. Hagen holds a bachelor of science degree from Butler University and a master of science degree in exercise physiology from the University of Washington. He is a member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and also serves on the education committee for the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine. Mr. Hagen is a charter member of the Exercise Physiology Research Group at the University of Washington.

Chris Kottenstette, PA-C, is the president of Abuse Tech, LLC, which provides engineered solutions for abuse deterrence and clinically focused education in abuse prevention, mitigation, and compliance in the field of pain medicine. Mr. Kottenstette started in patient care as an athletic trainer in high school and college, then moved to emergency services as a paramedic for 17 years. He then began training at the University of Utah in the physician assistant program where he was trained by Art Lipman, PharmD, one of the pioneers of pain management. Mr. Kottenstette has worked in family practice, orthopedic surgery and emergency medicine. He began practice in the field of pain medicine in 2001. He has been a consultant and speaker for several pharmaceutical companies including Purdue, Cephalon, Lilly and Pfizer and has spent the last two years as a medical science liaison working to promote understanding and competence in the pharmaceutical management of pain. Mr. Kottenstette was elected in 1998 to the student academy board as director-at-large and is a past president of the Colorado Academy of Physician Assistants. In 2003, he founded the PA’s in Pain Medicine special interest group of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and is currently the president. Mr. Kottenstette has been nominated for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, helped form the American Society for Pain Educators, is a member of the communication committee of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and is a board member of the Colorado Pain Initiative through which he has participated in the creation of both state and national pain guidelines.

Richard Lieb is former chief executive officer of The Dewey Companies. He is on the board of SEI Investments, a technology and investments company located in Oaks, Pa., and OAO Technology, a technology company in Landover, MD. Mr. Lieb is vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, a director of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and on the advisory board of Cross Atlantic Capital, a venture firm located in Radnor, Pa., specializing in second stage financing of new companies located in Radnor, Pa. He served in Vietnam as platoon commander and intelligence officer from 1970 to 1971 and later was awarded a Bronze Star with a Combat "V", the Navy Achievement Medal and a Meritorious Unit Citation. He is a member of the Vietnam Memorial Corporate Council. Mr. Lieb received a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a master's degree in finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael W. Loes, MD, MD (H), MDIV, BC, completed medical school at the University of Minnesota, followed by a fellowship in clinical pharmacology. His residency training was in internal medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Loes is certified by boards or qualifying exams in internal medicine, pain medicine, pain management, alcohol and chemical dependency, acupuncture, clinical hypnosis and homeopathy. The “MD (H)” is an additional license designation in homeopathy and integrative medicine. Dr. Loes co-authored three books with David Steinman: Arthritis: The Doctor’s Cure in 1998 and The Aspirin Alternative and Healing Sports Injuries Naturally in 2001. Dr. Loes independently authored The Healing Power of Jerusalem Artichoke Fiber and The Healing Response. All of these books have their roots in traditional medicine, but their heart is in functional and integrative health concepts – being wholy healthy. Being called to a second career, Dr. Loes entered Phoenix Seminary in 2001, graduating in 2007 with a master's in divinity, biblical communication. Since this time Dr. Loes has continued practice medicine in Phoenix, living in Scottsdale with his wife Lauren and five daughters. He attends Scottsdale Bible Church and teaches the awakening class on Sundays.

Bill McCarberg, MD, is the founder of the Chronic Pain Management Program for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, California. He serves on the board of directors of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) and formerly served as a board member of the National Pain Foundation. He is president of the Western Pain Society and adjunct assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine. Dr. McCarberg is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the AAPM, the American Pain Society (APS) and the International Association for the Study of Pain. He is the recipient of several awards including the Shilling Compassionate Care Award, the Elizabeth Narcessian Award for leader in the field of pain education from the APS and in 2008 was Ambassador of the Year for the National Pain Foundation. Member Appraisal of Physician Services at Kaiser Permanente has rated Dr. McCarberg in the top 10% every year since 1998. He has given more than 250 presentations on pain management issues and is the author or co-author of 80 articles, book chapters and books. He is board certified by the American College of Pain Medicine, the American Board of Family Practice and additionally certified in geriatrics. Dr. McCarberg received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois. He completed a medical internship and residency in family practice at Highland Hospital in Rochester, New York.

Brenda C. McClain, MD, is associate professor at the Yale Medical Group, specializing in anesthesiology and pediatric pain management and anesthesiology. She received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina Medical School. Dr. McClain completed her residency in anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She completed a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital in Pennsylvania.

John McDonald, MD, is the chairman for the Department of Anesthesiology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He is a double-board specialist in obstetrics and gynecology and anesthesiology. Dr. McDonald currently limits his practice to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with pelvic pain disorders. He received his medical degree from the University of Iowa, where he also completed an internship and residency. He completed a second residency at the University of Washington in anesthesiology.

James Nelson, Attorney

Gabor Racz, MD, is the president of the World Institute of Pain (WIP), and also served as the professor and chairman in the Deparment of Anesthesiology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He was born in Hungary and completed MB and ChB degrees from the University of Liverpool Medical School. He served as house surgeon and physician at the Royal Southern Hospital in Liverpool before moving to the United States in 1963 for an anesthesiology residency at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. In 1996 Dr. Racz was honored by Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center when he was awarded the first Grover Murray Professorship, recognizing his distinguished achievements in the institution as well as internationally. In December 1998, University Medical Center named Dr. Racz recipient of a $1 million endowed chair in recognition of his “greatness in patient care, teaching and research” at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and University Medical Center. Dr. Racz is a diplomat of the American College of Pain Management is board certified in pain management by the American Board of Anesthesiology. He is a WIP Fellow in Interventional Pain Practice. Dr. Racz has published numerous book chapters and journal articles describing his techniques in spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation, neurolysis and radiofrequency thermocoagulation and other procedures used in management of pain.

Mark B. Rasmussen, MBA, is the founder and principal partner of the Sweetwater Consulting Group, Inc., a consortium of senior executives offering consulting services in a variety of markets in the areas of strategy, marketing, product/program development and market research. Mark previously served as president/CEO of the National Pain Foundation from 2007 to 2009. In addition to his time at the NPF Mark has devoted considerable time in the nonprofit world as a consultant, executive or volunteer with a number of organizations including MOPS International and the Lupus Foundation of Minnesota. He is a past president of the Denver & Northern Colorado Chapter of the Christian Management Association. Before entering the nonprofit world, Mark spent more than 25 years in leadership positions in the private sector. Mark previously held senior management positions in marketing, sales management, product management, and strategic planning with a number of market leaders including General Mills and GE Capital. He received his masters of business administration from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with distinction as a Baker Scholar.

Chris Rupprecht, MSN, RN, is the nursing director for the Army’s Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management Initiative at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, DC. Her responsibilities include providing pain management for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with devastating injuries. Most of the patients have experienced severe limb injuries or amputations. Ms. Rupprecht is a registered nurse with more than 15 years of experience as a pain management nurse, program coordinator, educator and advocate. Her public speaking on pain management and regional analgesia has been extensive and well received. She is also the 2008 recipient of the Celina Field Caregiver Award from the National Pain Foundation.



B. Todd Sitzman, MD, MPH, is the medical director of Advanced Pain Therapy, a comprehensive pain clinic affiliated with Forrest General Cancer Center in Hattiesburg, Miss. He also serves as the medical consultant for the Pain Management Program at Forrest General Hospital. Dr. Sitzman is an active member of numerous national and international pain societies and is past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) and current president of the Southern Pain Society. Dr. Sitzman serves on the board of directors of the AAPM, North American Neuromodulation Society, Southern Pain Society and Mississippi Pain Society. He has authored more than 60 scientific abstracts, manuscripts and book chapters and serves on the editorial board of Pain Medicine. He is actively involved in patient advocacy and postgraduate medical education, and lectures nationally and internationally on topics related to pain pharmacology and interventional pain therapies. He has been interviewed by Parade Magazine, ABC News, New York Times, USA Today, WebMD and American Medical News. Dr. Sitzman received his medical and master of public health degrees from Tulane University in his native city, New Orleans. Following an internship in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, he received anesthesiology and pain management training at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville. Dr. Sitzman is board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine.

Peter Staats, MD, MBA, is a partner in Premier Pain Centers and currently practices and consults in pain medicine in Monmouth County, NJ. Along with being the founding secretary of the National Pain Foundation and a past president of both the American Neuromodulation Society and Southern Pain Society (SPS), he served on the boards of the American Pain Society and the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM). Dr. Staats is the former chair of the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ (ANA) task force on interventional pain. He was the founder of the division of pain medicine in the Department of Anesthesia at Johns Hopkins University, where he was the director for more than a decade. Dr. Staats currently serves on the board of directors of the American Society of Interventional Pain Practitioners and the New Jersey Society of Interventional Pain Practitioners. He received the President’s Distinguished Service Award from the SPS and the Excellence in Pain Management Award from the AAPM. He maintains a joint appointment in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and the Department of Oncology at Johns Hopkins. He is board certified by the ANA section on pain and the American Board of Pain Medicine. He has received fellowship status from both the World Institute of Pain and from the North American Neuromodulation Society. Dr. Staats has edited, co-edited, and written five books on pain medicine along with hundreds of articles, book chapters and abstracts on the diagnosis and management of complex pain problems. His research on pain, mechanisms of placebo response, psychological behaviorism theory of pain, and interventional therapies have been featured on Good Morning America, ABC’s World News Tonight and in multiple newspapers including USA Today and the Washington Post.

Richard Stieg, MD, MHS, Editor-in-Chief of www.NationalPainFoundation.org, is the medical director of the Pain Medicine Center Clinic - Centennial Group, Denver, and is an associate clinical professor of neurology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Dr. Stieg created and served as the medical director of the first comprehensive multidisciplinary chronic pain treatment center in Colorado at Boulder Memorial Hospital. He also was the executive medical director for the pain rehabilitation program at the Center for Spine Rehabilitation and the Colorado Rehabilitation Institute. Dr. Stieg was the medical director of the Pain Evaluation and Treatment Institute at the University of Pittsburgh from 1987 through 1989. He has served on numerous committees and boards, including the AMA President's Council, as treasurer of the American Pain Society, and as president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. He was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Disability and has served on the editorial boards of the Clinical Journal of Pain and Pain Medicine. His most recent publication, Roadblocks to Effective Pain Treatment, explores the issues of accessibility of treatment options for the chronic pain patient.

Nancy Wiedemer, RN, MSN, CRNP, received her bachelor of science degree in nursing from Boston College, and her master of science degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, she received an adult nurse practitioner post-graduate certificate from LaSalle University in Philadelphia. Ms. Wiedemer is the pain management coordinator at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center where she is responsible for the development of the Chronic Pain Consult Service and the Opioid Renewal Clinic, an innovative structured program for pain management in a primary care setting, for which she has received several awards. Related to this work, she is principal investigator on a grant funded research team that is investigating the characteristics of patients with different patterns of opioid use in a primary care setting. She also works in pain policy and program development, and nursing and medical education at the Philadelphia VA. On the national level, Ms. Wiedemer is a member of the Veterans Health Administration Pain Research Workgroup and the Pain Management Outcomes Workgroup.

Thomas L. Yearwood, MD, PhD, is a graduate of Tulane University, New Orleans, with a bachelor's and master's of science and doctorate in mechanical engineering (biomechanics). He is also a graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans with honors. He completed three years of surgical residency at the University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals in Seattle, and an anesthesiology residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch, in Galveston. Dr. Yearwood is board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine, and has also been awarded certification with special qualifications in pain management. He is a clinical associate professor of neurology at the University of South Alabama and a clinical associate professor of anesthesiology at the University of Florida in Gainesville.