As Director of the Chronic Pain Service at the VA Maryland Health Care System (VAMHCS) for the past 14 years, I have access to many potential subjects with refractory chronic non-malignant pain who have failed accepted medical and interventional pain treatments. I spend 88% of my time at the Baltimore VA Medical Center where I interact on a daily basis with primary care, interventional pain, and surgery providers, who serve as a source of additional subjects. Additionally, I have clinical proficiency from my experiences at the Johns Hopkins Pain Service and the Johns Hopkins Occupational Injury Clinic, where I routinely provided chronic pain management for more than 20 years. I have had considerable experience with the VA IRB system by virtue of serving as PI for four successful doctoral research candidates and completing a pilot acupuncture project. My peer-reviewed research publications reflect my interestS in chronic pain management in the elderly and the injured worker population. Additional research interests include the use of opioids for the management of chronic non-malignant pain and the use of non-pharmacological modalities to treat pain.

Chronic pain, Opioids, Occupational rehabilitation