Faculty Biographies
Faculty Biographies
Steven D. Passik, PhD, is the associate attending psychologist, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the New School for Social Research in New York, and was chief fellow, Psychiatry Service, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
In 1999, Dr Passik was a faculty scholar for the Soros Foundation’s Project on Death in America. He has been editor in chief of the National Cancer Institute’s PDQ Supportive Care Editorial Board and has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. He has written more than 95 journal articles, 33 book chapters, and 50 abstracts and has been a reviewer for the Journal of Pharmaceutical Care in Pain and Symptom Control, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Psycho-Oncology, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Cancer Pain Guidelines, Cancer Investigation, and Oncology.
Dr Passik was recently named a fellow of the American Psychological Association’s Division 28 (Psychopharmacology & Substance Abuse). He has also been awarded a MayDay Fund Pain & Society Fellowship. He was awarded the American Psycho-Oncology Society Excellence in Clinical Care Award at the 2007 American Psycho-Oncology Society meeting in Austin, Texas. He also serves on the advisory board for this project. In 2008, Dr Passik will receive the American Pain Society’s Elizabeth Narcessian Award for Outstanding Educational Achievements.
Seddon R. Savage, MD, MS, is a clinician, educator, and policy consultant in addiction medicine and pain medicine. Dr Savage is an associate professor on the adjunct faculty of Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, and has directed the Dartmouth Center on Addiction Recovery and Education (DCARE) since September 2004. She earned a master’s degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, and a medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School. A board-certified anesthesiologist, she was certified in addiction medicine by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) in 1990 and is an elected fellow of ASAM. She earned a certificate of added qualifications in pain medicine from the American Board of Anesthesiology and is certified in pain medicine by the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM).
Dr Savage has held a number of national leadership positions in addiction medicine and pain medicine. She chaired the ASAM Committee on Pain from 1990 to 2003. She chaired the ASAM, America Pain Society, and AAPM’s joint Liaison Committee on Pain and Addiction from 1999 through September 2005. She has served as a consultant to the US Center for Substance Abuse Treatment on problems of prescription drug abuse and on integrating treatment of addictive disorders into primary care practice in New Hampshire. She serves on the ASAM Committee on Office Based Opioid Agonist Therapy. She is the 2004 recipient of the Maria Nyswander Humanitarian Award.
Dr Savage’s articles have appeared in the Clinical Journal of Pain and the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. She is coeditor of the pain section of the ASAM Principles of Addiction Medicine (1st, 2nd, 3rd editions). Dr Savage is frequently invited to speak at regional, national, and international meetings and has led numerous workshops and conferences on substance abuse issues and pain. She has also participated in media briefings and panels on substance abuse and pain issues.
Bill McCarberg, MD, is founder of Kaiser Permanente’s Chronic Pain Management Program in San Diego, California. Dr McCarberg received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois. He completed a medical internship and a residency in family practice at Highland Hospital, Rochester, New York. He is board-certified by the American College of Pain Medicine and the American Board of Family Practice and is also certified in geriatrics.
Dr McCarberg was on the board of directors of the American Pain Society (APS) and is on the board of directors of the National Pain Foundation. He is president of the Western Pain Society and assistant clinical professor (voluntary) at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Dr McCarberg is a member of the APS, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, and the International Association for the Study of Pain. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Shilling Compassionate Care Award, and in 1998, he was named the Highest Rated Physician by Member Appraisal of Physician Services at Kaiser Permanente. He also received APS’s Elizabeth Narcessian Award for Outstanding Educational Achievements. He has given more than 200 presentations on pain management issues and is the author of 60 publications.
Jennifer E. Bolen, JD, is the founder of The Legal Side of Pain®, a division of the J. Bolen Group, LLC. She received her juris doctorate at the College of Law at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and served nearly 14 years as an assistant US attorney with the Department of Justice. She educates health care providers on medicolegal issues regarding use of controlled substances to treat pain. She also conducts practice audits and teaches providers how to perform self-audits to improve pain management documentation practices and relationships with patients.
Rosemary C. Polomano, PhD, RN, FAAN, received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and earned her PhD from the University of Maryland School of Nursing in 1995. She began her career as a staff nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and went on to become an advanced practice nurse in oncology and pain management. In 1998, after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in laboratory research at Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr Polomano accepted a position at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine to pursue a Career Development Award from the National Institute of Nursing Research that funded her investigation of taxol-induced peripheral neuropathy in rats. She advanced to director, Outcomes Research, Department of Nursing, and associate professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Penn State College of Medicine. Dr Polomano returned to the University of Pennsylvania in August 2004.
She has participated in several national advisory boards and has been involved in many initiatives to improve pain management. She has published more than 40 articles and clinical reviews in peer-reviewed journals and more than 25 book chapters in medical and nursing textbooks. She has lectured throughout the country on pain-related topics, including assessment and management of pain in acute and long-term care.
Matthew J. Loscalzo, MSW, is the administrative director of City of Hope’s Sheri and Les Biller Patient and Family Resource Center, Duarte, California. He was trained as an oncology social worker at New York University in New York. A founding member of the Supportive Care Team at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, Mr Loscalzo has more than 27 years of experience in caring for cancer patients and their families and is a recognized pioneer and expert in the clinical, educational, and research domains of psychosocial aspects of chronic life-threatening illness. In addition to having 60 publications, he has given more than 500 professional lectures. He is also on the editorial boards of many professional journals and served on the first Institute of Medicine panel to report on dying in America. Mr Loscalzo has held leadership positions in many health-related organizations and is the past president of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and the Association of Oncology Social Workers. He is the recipient of many awards and has served as the primary investigator for multiple studies.
Thomas N. Watson, DPT, MEd, has been a practicing physical therapist for more than 34 years and has earned a master’s degree in education and a doctoral degree in physical therapy. He is experienced in treating acute and chronic pain conditions, including headaches, musculoskeletal and myofascial pain, cancer pain, neurologic and psychological pain, fibromyalgia, neuropathies, and temporomandibular joint dysfunction.
Dr Watson is a diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management (AAPM), secretary of the Board of Directors of the AAPM, commissioner on the Oregon Pain Management Commission, and a member of the Oregon Physical Therapy Association and the American Physical Therapy Association. He has lectured for the California, Oregon, and orthopedic sections of the American Physical Therapy Association and the AAPM and will be lecturing on the neurobiology of pain for the Oregon Pain Management Commission. He wrote a home-study program on chronic pain, physical therapy, and pharmacology, as well as a chapter in Weiner’s Pain Management (7th ed).
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