Members
Ravi Prasad, PhD, (chair) is a licensed clinical psychologist, clinical professor and director of behavioral health in the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. He has clinical and research experience in nonpharmacological treatments for chronic musculoskeletal pain and has served on several guideline development panels for treating low back pain. Prasad served as program director of the Stanford Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Pain Program, one of the few academic inpatient programs in the United States dedicated to helping patients with chronic pain decrease their reliance on opioid medication and increase use of nonpharmacological strategies. He also developed an APA-accredited pain psychology postdoctoral program that focuses on teaching trainees the role of psychology within an interdisciplinary team with an emphasis on how to deliver evidence-based care to individuals living with chronic pain.
Kathryn Mueller, MD, MPH, FACOEM, (vice chair) is a professor at the Colorado School of Public Health and former medical director for the Division of Workers Compensation in Colorado. Mueller’s research interests are in developing evidence-based guidelines for work-related musculoskeletal disorders and in disability assessment. Mueller served as one of the six section editors for the American Medical Association’s Guidelines for the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (6th Edition) and has published research in such areas as impairment ratings, use of practice guidelines and interstate variation of practice in worker compensation.
Daniel Bruns, PsyD, FAPA, is a pain psychologist and scientist-practitioner in full-time practice in Greeley, Colorado. Bruns’ published research includes studies of risk factors associated with chronic pain, clinical and forensic standards for pain assessment, spinal cord stimulation and pain assessment methods, including a 15-year study of 29 million patients with pain/injury. Bruns helped to develop 17 medical treatment guidelines for pain/injury and is the co-author of the Battery for Health Improvement 2 and the Medical Intervention Risk Report. He has served as a technical expert for the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services and for spinal cord stimulation device makers. Bruns has received multiple national awards for his work related to chronic pain, including a citation from the president of APA.
John Cagle, PhD, MSW, is an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. As a health services researcher, his efforts have focused on identifying effective models of care and support for patients with serious and life-threatening conditions and their families and implementing those models in routine practice in a variety of clinical and community settings. He has a particular interest in the psychosocial aspects of pain, including ways to address common barriers to pain management such as concern about addiction, worry about being a bother to others and stigma. To this end, he led an interdisciplinary team of researchers to conduct a clinical trial testing the efficacy of the Effective Management of Pain by Overcoming Worries to Enable Relief (EMPOWER) intervention, which was designed to address barriers to pain management in hospice (funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, R03-HS019068).
Penney Cowan is the founder and CEO of the American Chronic Pain Association, a nonprofit organization that offers peer support and education in pain management skills to people with pain, their family and friends, and health care professionals. Cowan founded the organization in 1980 after many years of living with chronic pain and taking part in a pain management program at the Cleveland Clinic. Cowan has presented at health care facilities, professional organizations and community groups on topics that include holistic approaches to patient care and nonpharmacological approaches to pain management. Cowan has also published several books and manuals geared toward individuals and families living with chronic pain.
Steven George, PT, PhD, FAPTA, is a professor and director of musculoskeletal research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and is vice chair of research in the department of orthopaedic surgery at Duke University School of Medicine. George’s primary interest is research involving biopsychosocial models for the prevention and treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain disorders. George’s research projects have been supported by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, American Physical Therapy Association and other sources. George and his collaborators have authored more than 225 peer-reviewed publications in physical therapy, rehabilitation, medical, orthopaedic and pain research journals.
Geraldine Martorella, PhD, RN, is an associate professor in the College of Nursing at Florida State University. Martorella’s published research focuses on the development and evaluation of patient-centered nursing interventions for the management of pain and the prevention of chronic pain, including complementary and alternative treatments (such as massage therapy) and web-based treatments. Her work encompasses intervention development (including studies of effectiveness and patient acceptability), clinical trials and systematic reviews.
Cindy McGeary, PhD, ABPP, is director of the clinical psychology internship program and associate professor of research in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. McGeary is co-principal investigator on several federal- and state-funded research programs that examine biopsychosocial interventions for chronic musculoskeletal pain in group or couple formats, incorporating a non-pharmacological approach built around cognitive-behavioral therapy. McGeary is a clinical therapist for a research study examining an interdisciplinary model of chronic pain treatment that integrates mental health treatment, physical therapy and rehabilitative medicine.
Lt. Col. Joseph Thomas Norris, Jr., USAF, Ret. has served for more than twenty years as an American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) support group facilitator and is head of the ACPA Members’ Advisory Committee (MAC). He has also participated in the drafting of several Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) study protocols and is actively participating as a consultant/patient partner in a PCORI-funded study focusing on communication and chronic pain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Norris authored several articles that address his personal experience of living with chronic pain and has been interviewed by several media outlets, including National Public Radio, on the topic of living with chronic pain.
Michael Schatman, PhD, CPE, has worked for 34 years in pain management and is currently on the adjunct teaching faculties of the Tufts University School of Medicine and the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed and invited journal articles and textbook chapters, and the editor of two textbooks. Schatman serves on numerous editorial boards and has served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pain Research for the past 6 years.