Clinical Pain Discovery Group
Our Mission:
Bring together a multidisciplinary group of investigators from across the University of Pittsburgh campus to foster collaboration and innovation in the clinical science of pain. We were formed in close collaboration with the Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research, which focuses on basic pain discovery.
We welcome new members! Please contact Dr. Jessica Merlin at merlinjs@pitt.edu if you would like to receive emails about Clinical Pain Discovery meetings. Check out the bottom of this page for upcoming events!
Our Members
Executive Committee:
- Jessica Merlin, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine
merlinjs@upmc.edu - Maria Pacella, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
pacellam@upmc.edu - Ben Alter, MD, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor & T32 Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
alterbj@upmc.edu - Sarah Ross, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Neurobiology
saross@pitt.edu - Michael S. Gold, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurobiology
msg22@pitt.edu
CPD Group Members:
- LauraEllen Ashcraft, MSW
Doctoral Student, School of Social Work - Scott A. Brancolini, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
- Clifton W. Callaway, MD, PhD
Professor (with Tenure), Department of Emergency Medicine - Jacques E. Chelly, MD, PhD, MBA
Professor (with Tenure), Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine - Julie Wilson Childers, MD, MS
Associate Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine - Dennis C. Daley, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry - Howard B. Gutstein, MD
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine - Leslie R. M. Hausmann, PhD
Associate Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine - Valerie Hruschak, MSW
Doctor of Philosophy Candidate, School of Social Work - James W. Ibinson, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine - Manisha Jhamb, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Division of Renal-Electrolyte - Charles Jonassaint, PhD, MHS
Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine - Jordan Karp, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry - Jane M. Liebschutz, MD, MPH, FACP
Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine - Grace Lim, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine - Michael Lynch, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine - Aman Mahajan, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine - Anna Evans Phillips, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition - Shari Rogal, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition - Lindsay Sabik, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Public Health - Brian Suffoletto, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine - Bradley Taylor, PhD
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine - Ajay Wasan, MD, MS
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine - Debra Kaye Weiner, MD
Professor, Division of Geriatric Medicine - Yan Xu, PhD
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
Upcoming Events:
May 29th, 2019 — 10-11AM
2nd Floor Conference Room, 3609 Forbes Avenue
Dr. Charles Jonassaint, PHD, MHS
Pain is the #1 reason for medical visits in the U.S. yet we have limited tools for assessing pain. We still rely on the same numeric scales and pain adjectives that we have been using for the past 50 years. The most recent innovative breakthrough in pain assessment may be the Wong-Baker FACES scale which was developed in the early 80’s. Despite recent technological advancements, electronic pain scales are simply electronic versions of the paper-pencils scales we have been using for decades. The address this gap, we use a human-centered design approach to develop Painimation, a novel, electronic, pain assessment tool that utilizes a time-based medium—animation—that can be calibrated by patients to express the dynamic and multidimensional aspects of their pain experience. Our goal is to demonstrate that Painimation is not only easy-to-use and engaging but this patient-centered tool can remove barriers of age, culture, language and literacy level in pain assessment. Preliminary data suggests that Painimation improves patients’ ability to communicate their pain and may be equally as effective for discriminating pain types as other validated pain scales. In addition, we have data that suggests that Painimation can detect changes in pain post-opioid pain treatment. During our meeting I’ll be presenting our pilot data and asking for feedback and ideas on how to move this innovation forward.
June 14th, 2019 — 4PM
University Club Terrace, 123 University Place
PCPR and CPD Happy Hour
The Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research and the Clinical Pain Discovery Group will be hosting a happy hour reception on the terrace of the University Club at 4PM on June 14th, 2019. We hope you can join!