School of Medicine


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  • Anuj Aggarwal

    Anuj Aggarwal

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioAnuj Aggarwal, M.D., is both a practicing anesthesiologist and pain specialist. Originally from Southern California, Dr. Aggarwal completed his undergraduate studies in biology with honors at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. He earned his medical degree from University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine with distinction, completing the Health Professions Education (HPE) Pathway advanced program. He completed his internship at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, CA. He then completed his Anesthesiology residency and Pain Medicine fellowship at Stanford Hospital, joining the faculty in 2018.

    In addition to his research and clinical areas of interest of perioperative pain and orofacial pain, he is the associate program director for the pain management fellowship, theme lead and course director for pharmacology for the medical school, and associate director for Science of Medicine overseeing the teaching of the various organ blocks in the pre-clerkship curriculum. He also is an E4C (Educator for Care) faculty member, teaching clinical skills, clinical reasoning and serving as a mentor to medical students throughout their training. In addition, he is involved within the anesthesia residency education programs through various committees, mentorship of residents, and direct teaching. Formerly, he served as the director of medical student and resident clerkships in pain management and pain theme lead in the pre-clerkship curriculum.

  • Meredith Barad, MD

    Meredith Barad, MD

    Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
    Clinical Associate Professor (By courtesy), Adult Neurology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy current research interests involve novel treatment paradigms for challenging pain problems such as orofacial pain, trigeminal neuralgia and low pressure headaches. I am also interested in migraine and trigeminal autonomic cephalgias and their intersection with chronic pain.

  • Ian Carroll, MD, MS

    Ian Carroll, MD, MS

    Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are committed to promoting an understanding of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks, and ensuring that all patients who are suffering from cerebrospinal fluid leaks receive appropriate diagnosis and treatment of this devastating, chronic, and fixable condition. We believe this can be best accomplished in a multidisciplinary setting involving expertise in radiology, neurology, and interventional pain medicine.

  • QiLiang “Q” Chen

    QiLiang “Q” Chen

    Clinical Instructor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on understanding the plasticity in pain-modulating circuits in pathological pain states. I started with defining a basic functional framework that links the pain-transmission system to the pain-modulation system, through which I explored the central mechanism of sensitization in chronic pain after a peripheral injury. Based on this fundamental observation, my work now focuses on investigating the pathophysiology and the role of endogenous opioids in chronic pain related to brain injury and other forms of trauma, a topic especially relevant to chronic post-traumatic pain sufferers. Clinically, I am exploring the use of advance image-guidance in pain interventions for treating complex headache and craniofacial pain. Ultimately, I hope to translate these fundamental knowledge and technologies to patient care and provide potential new therapeutic targets to help those with pain after head injury and polytrauma.

  • Beth Darnall

    Beth Darnall

    Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain) and, by courtesy, of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (General Psychiatry & Psychology (Adult))

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab is dedicated to better characterizing and treating pain with patient-centered solutions. We specialize in the conduct of large-scale acute and chronic pain clinical trials that aim to (1) expand and scale access to behavioral medicine via digital and brief treatments; (2) reduce opioid risks via reduction for some and improved opioid access for others; (3) equip healthcare providers with brief behavioral medicine interventions to optimize health outcomes.

  • Titilola Falasinnu

    Titilola Falasinnu

    Assistant Professor of Medicine (Immunology and Rheumatology) and, by courtesy, of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain)

    BioI am primarily a lupus researcher and identify as a pain scientist and methodologist in this field. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disproportionately affects women and racial minorities and is the fifth most common cause of death among 15- to 24-year-old Black and Hispanic women in the U.S., highlighting its significant public health impact. More than half of patients with SLE experience chronic pain, often secondary to SLE itself or overlapping conditions (e.g., migraines, low back pain, fibromyalgia), contributing significantly to disability and impaired quality of life. Chronic pain is not merely a symptom but a disease in its own right—one that deserves the same rigorous study and clinical attention as comorbidities like kidney disease and cardiovascular disease in rheumatology. The enormous global burden of chronic pain underscores the urgent need for a clear, standardized definition of pain as a disease, particularly in autoimmune rheumatic diseases where pain can arise from inflammatory, nociplastic, and biopsychosocial mechanisms. Without recognizing pain as a distinct disease entity, its mechanisms remain poorly understood, and effective treatment strategies remain underdeveloped.

    I am a co-Principal Investigator of the Pain Intelligence Lab, where our mission is to advance the study of pain as a disease in rheumatology through two primary objectives. First, we develop and validate computational methods that enable clinicians and researchers to leverage electronic health records, administrative claims, and disease registries to study chronic pain as a distinct disease entity in rheumatology. By applying machine learning, natural language processing, and real-world data analysis, we seek to enhance pain phenotyping, classify distinct pain subtypes, and develop predictive models for treatment response. Second, we use a biopsychosocial framework to examine the predictive power of biomarkers and psychosocial measures in rheumatologic pain. By integrating biological, psychological, and social determinants of pain, we aim to conduct rigorous, patient-oriented research that translates targeted assessments into mechanistically informed, personalized treatment approaches for optimized clinical care. Ultimately, my long term career goal is to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice, ensuring that pain management in autoimmune rheumatic diseases is precise, equitable, and optimized for improved patient outcomes.

  • Pamela Flood

    Pamela Flood

    Adjunct Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Flood is a Professor at Stanford University who is fellowship trained in Pain Medicine and Obstetric Anesthesiology. She specializes in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain and multiple aspects of women's health including the prevention of chronic pain after childbirth. Research interests include the role of multimodal treatment in chronic pain conditions and prevention of persistent opioid use. Her research has spanned from detailed pharmacodynamic analysis, clinical trials to population health.

  • Jennifer Hah

    Jennifer Hah

    Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPerioperative Recovery of Opioids Mood and Pain Trial

  • Behnaz Jarrahi

    Behnaz Jarrahi

    Instructor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Behnaz Jarrahi is a neuroscientist specializing in neuroimaging, with expertise in data analysis, modeling, and research design. She earned a Master of Science in Management from Stanford and a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from ETH. Prior to that, she completed a bachelor's and a master's degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan and multiple bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, chemistry, and brain science with honors. Her passion for studying the brain led her to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at the UCLA Semel Institute for Human Neuroscience and Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Jarrahi currently serves as an instructor and principal investigator at Stanford, where she leads an NIH-funded research project.

  • Michele Jehenson

    Michele Jehenson

    Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr Jehenson is an avid lover of wildlife and the outdoors. She finds peace and balance in the mountains, summer and winter.
    She lives in Los Gatos , CA where she maintains a private practice at the Bay Area Pain and Wellness Center.
    She is a commentators on Health Revolution Radio and is an advocate for integrative, non-surgical treament for facial pain.

  • Ming Jeffrey Kao, PhD, MD

    Ming Jeffrey Kao, PhD, MD

    Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly Interests1. Patient-reported outcomes. Efficient, multi-feature item-response theory (IRT) based computerized adaptive testing (CAT) algorithm using item banks from PROMIS and NIH Toolbox

    2. Activity monitoring. Novel analytic framework for physical activity monitoring in the context of pain.

    3. Operations research. Multi-variable discrete and continuous optimization for Lean Hospital Management

    4. National trends in pain medication prescription

  • JT Kong

    JT Kong

    Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Jiang-Ti Kong specializes in the treatment of chronic pain syndromes with expertise in the clinical management and scientific investigation of low back pain and fibromyalgia. In addition to teaching and practicing conventional pain management, Dr. Kong also leads the acupuncture service at the Stanford Pain Management Center, offering effective treatment alternatives for patients suffering from back pain, neck pain, joint pain, headaches, and complex regional pain syndrome. Dr. Kong has developed a strong interest in the interdisciplinary study of chronic pain mechanisms and alternative treatment modalities such as acupuncture. She currently leads two NIH-funded projects investigating the mechanisms of electro-acupuncture for the treatment of chronic low back pain.

  • Albert Hyukjae Kwon, M.D.

    Albert Hyukjae Kwon, M.D.

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Kwon joined the Stanford Pain Medicine faculty in 2021. He is board-certified in Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, and board-eligible in General Pediatrics. His clinical focus is in chronic pain care transition from adolescence to adulthood and chronic pain syndromes of young adults (below age 30). Collaborating with a multidisciplinary team and leveraging digital health solutions, he is building the Stanford Adolescent and Young Adult Pain Program to bridge the Pediatric Pain Management Program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and the Stanford Pain Management Center at Stanford Hospital and Clinics.

    Dr. Kwon completed his B.S. degree in Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. As an undergraduate student, he pursued bone tissue engineering and stem cell research within the MIT Langer Lab and drug delivery research within the Laboratory for Biomaterials and Drug Delivery at Boston Children's Hospital. He then received his medical degree at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. As a medical student, he did research in neuroengineering and optogenetics in the MIT Media Lab. He completed a combined residency in Pediatrics and Anesthesiology at Boston Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital and a fellowship in Pain Medicine at Stanford Hospital.

    With his diverse research background in various engineering fields, he continues to collaborate with colleagues across academia and industry in medical device and technology development. During the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic and when a critical shortage of ICU ventilators was looming in the United States, he co-led the clinical team for the MIT Emergency Ventilator project (https://emergency-vent.mit.edu/), which published an open-source reference design for converting any manual resuscitator bag into a basic ventilator. This open-source reference design has given rise to multiple spin-off ventilator designs across the globe and continues to save countless patient lives in countries where limited critical care resources are available. Dr. Kwon is interested in building more resilient critical care healthcare systems leveraging technology that is actually designed to meet the infrastructural challenges in developing countries.

  • Jon B. Lee, MD

    Jon B. Lee, MD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
    Clinical Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine

    BioDr. Lee is board-certified in both Emergency Medicine and Pain Medicine. He works clinically as an attending physician in both the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Division of Pain Medicine at Stanford University.

    Dr. Lee offers employs multi-modal medication utilization, injection therapies, radiofrequency ablation, and neuromodulation, to help patients manage their pain and improve their quality of life. Dr. Lee’s academic interests include interventional pain management in acute care settings, ED utilization and management for acute and chronic painful conditions, and transitions of care between inpatient and outpatient settings.

  • Michael Leong

    Michael Leong

    Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly Interests- Intrathecal / Intraspinal Analgesics
    - Ziconotide (Prialt)
    - Resiniferatoxin
    - Industry-supported clinical trials

  • Joseph Liao, MD

    Joseph Liao, MD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Joseph Liao, M.D., is a double board-certified pain management specialist and anesthesiologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he brings a wealth of expertise to the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine.

    His clinical interests span a wide range of pain conditions with an emphasis on back pain, neck pain, joint pain, nerve pain, cancer-related pain, chronic post-surgical pain, and chronic post-traumatic pain. He specializes in neuromodulation, such as spinal cord stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, restorative neuromodulation, and dorsal root ganglion stimulation. Dr. Liao’s expertise extends to minimally invasive surgical spine interventions, using techniques like radiofrequency ablation, basivertebral nerve ablation, percutaneous decompression, sacroiliac joint fusion, and steroid injections. He is skilled in using ultrasonography and fluoroscopy to address spine, degenerative joint, and musculoskeletal diseases, as well as neurolysis and ablation for cancer-related pain.

    In his research, Dr. Liao focuses on innovative therapies through neuromodulation and minimally invasive spine interventions, with his work published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for multiple pain and anesthesiology journals. He is actively engaged in presenting and teaching at national and international conferences.

    Dr. Liao is an avid patient and physician advocate. He takes pride in facilitating safe care and enjoys teaching other physicians how to safely deliver anesthetics and pain care and limit injuries in various forums. He adheres to the philosophy of applying the right treatment for the right patient at the right time. His goal is to utilize minimally invasive interventions to enhance functionality, elevate quality of life, and alleviate pain.

    He serves on leadership boards and is affiliated with numerous esteemed medical associations such as the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, American Society of Pain and Neuroscience, North American Neuromodulation Society, International Association for the Study of Pain, American Academy of Pain Medicine, Pacific Spine and Pain Society, California Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, American Society of Anesthesiologists, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and World Academy of Pain Medicine United.

  • Theresa Lii, M.D., M.S.

    Theresa Lii, M.D., M.S.

    Instructor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEvaluating the analgesic and antidepressant effects of ketamine in humans

  • Kristen Klepac MacKenzie, MD

    Kristen Klepac MacKenzie, MD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Kristen MacKenzie is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine. Dr. MacKenzie graduated AOA from medical school at UCSF and then completed her anesthesia residency and pain medicine fellowships at Stanford. She works at the Stanford Pain Management Center with specialty interests in chronic pelvic and abdominal pain, as well as peripartum pain. She is the co-director for the Stanford Pelvic Pain Program as well as part of the Stanford Pelvic Health Center for interdisciplinary, multimodal care.

    She also teaches in the Stanford Medical School as the pain team lead for clinical rotations and serves a Clinical Continuity Clerkship Instructor. Additionally, Dr. MacKenzie completed the Clinical Teaching Seminar Series (CTSS) Honors Scholars Program focusing on education of non-anesthesia trained pain medicine fellows on inpatient pain management curriculum, which was a project supported by the Anesthesia Teaching Awards Scholar Program. She enjoys being able to spend time with learners and participates in the Women in Medicine mentoring program annually.

    Most recently, she completed a Stanford Faculty Medical Humanities Fellowship, focusing on the role of communication and the arts in modern medicine. She serves as the co-director for the Women's Sexual Dysfunction Case Conference as well as the Pain Division representative to the Stanford Anesthesia Communications Council.

    Outside of work, she enjoys being outdoors in the Bay Area, trail running, and spending time with her husband and two boys.

    Clinical focus:

    Pelvic pain, due to multiple causes including:
    Dyspareunia
    Painful Bladder Syndrome/ Interstitial cystitis/ Dysuria
    Endometriosis
    Fibroids
    Pelvis Congestion Syndrome
    Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
    Pudendal Nerve Pain
    Rectal/Anal Pain
    Vulvar Pain/ Vulvodynia/ Vaginismus

    Nerve entrapment syndromes, including hernia nerve entrapment

    Post-partum and Peri-partum pain
    Abdominal pain
    Musculoskeletal pain

    She focuses treatment plans around ultrasound and fluoroscopy procedures, non-opioid pain medications, non-drug treatments such as pain psychology, acupuncture, massage, movement therapy and physical therapy.

    For new patients: (650)723-6238 (telephone) and (650)320-9443 (fax)
    For existing patients: (650)723-6238 (telephone)

  • Sean Mackey, M.D., Ph.D.

    Sean Mackey, M.D., Ph.D.

    Redlich Professor, Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain) and, by courtesy, of Neurology and Neurological Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMultiple NIH funded projects to characterize CNS mechanisms of human pain. Comparative effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy and chronic pain self-management within the context of opioid reduction (PCORI funded). Single session pain catastrophizing treatment: comparative efficacy & mechanisms (NIH R01). Development and implementation of an open-source learning healthcare system, CHOIR (http://choir/stanford.edu), to optimize pain care and innovative research in real-world patients.

  • Amy Li Matecki

    Amy Li Matecki

    Adjunct Clinical Instructor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Amy (Ying Li) Matecki has been licensed to practice medicine in California since 2002 and completed her Internal Medicine Residency as Chief Resident at Highland Hospital, Alameda Health System, a UCSF affiliate, in 2004. She received her degree in Acupuncture and Chinese medicine from ACCHS in 2009. She was a Faculty Attending Physician at Department of Medicine Residency at Highland Hospital from 2004 to 2019 and Chief of the Integrative Medicine Division from 2014 to 2019. She and her colleagues from allopathic medicine and Chinese Medicine created hospital privilege policy for licensed acupuncturists in 2011 and designed policies, procedures and training methods for acupuncturists to join the medical staff to provide inpatient acupuncture services at Highland Hospital. She helped to create the first Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Residency from 2016 to 2019 at Alameda Health System Highland Hospital. Graduates from this residency program are able to work in allopathic academic teaching hospitals’ inpatient care and outpatient medical centers.

    In addition to serving in the public hospital, Dr. Matecki joined Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (ABSMC) Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2004 where she started a community hospital-based acupuncture program to bridge Eastern and Western Medicine. She has been the Medical Director of Integrative Medicine at ABSMC since 2008. Integrating Chinese Medicine into conventional oncology practice, Dr. Matecki and her team not only provide clinical care but also present and publish their findings on safety from using acupuncture and integrative medicine to reduce the pain, nausea and anxiety that frequently accompanies conventional cancer treatments. In many case level observations, Dr. Matecki and her team note that the integration of Chinese Medicine may enhance cancer patients' quality of life.

    Dr. Matecki was the principal investigator (PI) for acupuncture research for chronic post-chemotherapy fatigue in collaboration with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She presented her study on the safety of acupuncture for patients with lymphedema at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Breast Cancer Symposium in October 2009. She was co-investigator in a public hospital that studied acupuncture feasibility for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients which was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (JACM) in 2017. She is the current PI for a Chinese herbal medicine research project at ABSMC. Following her team’s previous success at Highland hospital, she pioneered the first Sutter Bay Hospital Integrative Medicine TCM Residency training program at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in 2023. https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/east-meets-west-health-system-launches-its-first-traditional-chinese-medicine-clinical-training-program/

    Dr. Matecki is an Adjunct Clinical Faculty at Stanford Health Care, a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Society of Integrative Oncology (SIO); Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP); Co-founder of International Center for Integrative Medicine (ICIM); Board member of Society of Chinese American Physician Entrepreneurs (SCAPE); House delegate for California Medical Association (CMA). Matecki is currently serving on the State California Acupuncture Board, first appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2016, reappointed by Brown in 2017 and Governor Gavin Newsom in 2021. She served as the California Acupuncture Board President from 2017-2021 and the current board member. https://www.acupuncture.ca.gov/about_us/member_profiles.shtml#matecki . She continues to work on policy and safety guidelines for hospital-based Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine practice with a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nursing staff, acupuncturists and hospital administrators.

  • Emily Moore

    Emily Moore

    Clinical Instructor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Emily Moore is a Clinical Instructor at Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine. She is passionate about helping individuals navigate pain, find fulfillment, harness motivation and flourish in their lives.

    Dr. Moore obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, from McGill University. Throughout her doctoral training, she conducted research exploring the role of psychosocial variables in pain-related disability as well as goal achievement. Dr. Moore subsequently completed a pain psychology internship at the Alan Edwards Pain Management Center in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Moore’s desire to build expertise in the biopsychosocial treatment of chronic pain prompted her to complete the Stanford Clinical Pain Psychology Fellowship. During fellowship, she received specialized training in the treatment of a wide range of chronic pain presentations, co-developed a group intervention for migraine and completed the Pain Reprocessing Therapy certification course.

    Following her training, Dr. Moore established a private practice focused on serving individuals struggling to navigate co-occurring physical and mental health challenges. Concurrently, Dr. Moore collaborated on a number of research projects aimed to optimize psychological intervention for chronic pain in a group format. She was recently recruited to return to the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine as faculty.

    Dr. Moore aims to combine research and clinical theory to develop individualized treatment plans that address unique patient needs, resonate with goals and support growth. Dr. Moore incorporates a number of evidence-based approaches, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT).

  • Garret K. Morris, MD

    Garret K. Morris, MD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Morris is a board-certified, fellowship-trained anesthesiologist with a clinical focus on pain medicine. He is also a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Pain Medicine of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Morris has expertise in chronic pain management, inpatient pain management, spine care, and functional restoration.

    He treats a wide range of pain conditions including musculoskeletal, neuropathic, visceral and mixed. With each patient in his care, Dr. Morris’ objective is to alleviate suffering using the treatment approach that is most likely to maximize effectiveness and minimize risk. The focus is on using the least invasive interventions possible to improve each individual’s function and quality of life.

    To help achieve these goals, Dr. Morris takes a holistic approach encompassing six domains of pain management: pharmacological, interventional, behavioral/psychological, physical rehabilitative, alternative and complementary therapies, and self-management. Often this approach requires a multidisciplinary team of diverse professionals with Dr. Morris overseeing care planning, implementation, and follow-up. This is especially helpful for challenging cases, where a collaborative team-based approach affords greater potential for superior outcomes.

    Dr. Morris communicates closely with referring physicians to devise holistic pain management that fits holistically into each patient’s comprehensive care plan.

    Dr. Morris has authored articles and reviews in publications including Anesthesiology, Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, American Society for Artificial Organs Journal, Cancer Detection and Prevention, and the Journal of Orthopedics & Sports Physical Therapy. He also has contributed the chapter “Occipital Nerve Block” in the textbook Comprehensive Treatment of Chronic Pain by Medical, Interventional, and Behavioral Approaches published by the American Academy of Pain Medicine. In addition, Dr. Morris has contributed online content on postoperative pain relief to the electronic forum, The Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media Lab (AIM).

    He has made presentations at conferences including the American Society of Anesthesiology Annual Meeting and the Annual Rochester (New York) Regional Anesthesia Symposium. He also has delivered invited lectures, most recently on interventional techniques for the treatment of spinal disorders as part of the Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield Project.

    Dr. Morris’ honors for clinical practice include awards from Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. He has received recognition for his scholarship from the Dannemiller Memorial Education Foundation and Midwest Anesthesia Resident’s.

  • Jordan L. Newmark, MD, QME

    Jordan L. Newmark, MD, QME

    Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsClinical Interests:
    Chronic & perioperative pain, interdisciplinary & procedural pain treatment, trauma anesthesia, spine surgery anesthesia, CRPS, nerve injury

    Academic Interests:
    - Graduate & undergraduate medical education, medical simulation & immersive learning, performance assessment & evaluation, adult learning theory, clinician selection processes, patient safety & quality of care, health equity

  • Einar Ottestad

    Einar Ottestad

    Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI have a strong interest in ultrasound for chronic pain management for diagnostics as well as therapeutics. I also have strong interest in acute pain in the hospital setting, including post-operative as well as cancer pain.

  • Heather Poupore-King

    Heather Poupore-King

    Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly Interests11/01/17 – 10/30/2022
    Role: Co-Investigator (0.10 FTE) and Director of Treatments for the Bay Area (Stanford Pain and Primary Care clinics)
    PCORI (Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute). Title: “Comparative Effectiveness of Pain Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Chronic Pain Self-Management Within the Context of Opioid Reduction.” Total: $8.8M PI: Beth Darnall

    2017- present
    Dr. King is also collaborating with Fiona Barwick, PhD, at Stanford’s Sleep Medicine Center, to develop an integrated treatment protocol for improving sleep and chronic pain. With the protocol now complete, Dr. Barwick and Dr. King plan to run the six-session group throughout 2019, collecting pre-treatment, post-treatment and follow-up data to analyze outcomes.

    2015-present
    Role: Lead Therapist, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy manualized intervention
    National Institutes of Health P01 AT006651 National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health Title: Stanford Center for Back Pain
    PI: Sean Mackey, MD, PhD

    2015 -present
    Lead Therapist, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy manualized intervention
    National Institutes of Health R01AT008561 National Center for Complementary and
    Integrative Health Title: Single Session Pain Catastrophizing Treatment: Comparative
    Efficacy & Mechanisms Multi-PI: Darnall BD & Mackey SC

  • Abdullah Qatu, MD

    Abdullah Qatu, MD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Qatu is a board-certified, fellowship-trained pain management specialist at the Stanford Health Care Pain Management Center. He is also a clinical instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Division of Pain Medicine, at Stanford University School of Medicine.

    He specializes in the diagnosis and management of many different types of pain, including nerve pain, joint pain, cancer pain, low back and neck pain. Dr. Qatu obtained his medical degree from the New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine. He continued on at NYU to complete his residency in anesthesiology after completing an internship in general surgery. He subsequently completed his pain medicine fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine.

    Dr. Qatu believes in utilizing a multimodal approach for pain management. This includes interventional, pharmacological, rehabilitative and psychological strategies. He is well-trained in a wide variety of interventional modalities that include injections, epidurals, nerve blocks, radiofrequency ablations, peripheral nerve stimulation, spinal cord/dorsal root ganglion stimulation and minimally invasive decompression. His research focuses on the clinical use of neuromodulation for various types of pain. In addition, he has investigated whether certain demographic and socioeconomic variables, as well as psychiatric illness, affect the outcomes of various orthopaedic traumas and surgeries. Dr. Qatu has presented his research at conferences throughout the U.S. and in Canada.

  • Xiang Qian

    Xiang Qian

    Stanford Medicine Endowed Director
    Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
    Clinical Professor (By courtesy), Neurosurgery

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsClinical Interests
    -Pain Medicine:
    Facial pain
    Migraine and headache
    Trigeminal Neuralgia and Glossopharyngeal neuralgia
    Cancer Pain
    Spine Disease
    Neuropathic pain
    Interventional Surgery
    CT guided Procedure
    Opioid Management

    -Facial Nerve neuralgia and neuropathy
    Hemifacial Spasm
    CT guided awake RFA of facial nerve

    Research Interests:
    -Medical device development
    -AI based headache diagnosis and management
    -CT guided intervention
    -Intra-nasal endoscopy guided procedure
    -Optogenetics
    -Mechanisms of neuropathic pain
    -Ion channel and diseases
    -Neurotoxicity of anesthetics

  • Vafi Salmasi

    Vafi Salmasi

    Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain)

    BioDr. Vafi Salmasi is an interventional pain specialist and anesthesiologist at Stanford University School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2004. He completed his anesthesiology training at the Cleveland Clinic, where he also completed a research fellowship in the Department of Outcomes Research.

    After his fellowship in Pain Medicine, Dr. Salmasi joined the Stanford University Division of Pain Medicine as a faculty member. He furthered his expertise by earning a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research and Epidemiology.

    Dr. Salmasi’s research focuses on advancing clinical knowledge through the real-world application of therapies in perioperative and pain medicine. He integrates pragmatic comparative effectiveness research into routine clinical care. At the Stanford Pain Management Center, he is an active member of the neuromodulation and advanced intervention team.

  • Kristen M. Slater, PsyD

    Kristen M. Slater, PsyD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Bio“Understanding and appreciating the totality of a person’s experience in the context of a difficult pain condition is vital in helping them heal in a way that respects their body and reduces suffering” states Dr. Kristen Slater, pain psychologist. “With a compassionate interdisciplinary care team in place, I wholeheartedly believe it is possible for anyone and everyone living with pain to pursue a meaningful and valuable life.”

    Dr. Kristen Slater earned her Doctorate of Psychology with an emphasis in Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology from Loma Linda University. She completed her APA-accredited internship at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System in Tucson, Arizona. It was there that she developed a passion for Pain Medicine after appreciating how much of an impact pain can have in all areas of life and how powerful interdisciplinary treatment of pain can be in improving one’s quality of life. She went on to receive specialized postdoctoral training and completed an APA-accredited Fellowship in Pain Psychology at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain, in 2014.

    Following her training, she was hired as the lead psychologist and Director of Behavioral Medicine and Psychological Services at Comprehensive Spine and Sports Center in Campbell, California for 5 years where she helped create and found their Functional Restoration Program and Pain Psychology Program. She also worked part-time as a Clinical Instructor at Stanford University School of Medicine and in private practice. She transitioned to Stanford full time in 2019 and is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Pain Medicine. The majority of her time is allocated towards implementing evidence-based clinical practices but she also enjoys being involved in advancing the field through research. She is involved in multiple NIH and PCORI funded clinical trials working to enhance treatment efficacy and accessibility. She is also a faculty member of the "Empowered Relief" team, and is a Master Trainer involved in teaching international workshops to train clinicians to deliver the single-session evidence-based pain relief skills class, (https://empoweredrelief.com).

    Outside of work, Dr. Slater enjoys spending time with her family. She enjoys hiking, traveling and visiting her home state of Colorado.

  • Vivianne Tawfik

    Vivianne Tawfik

    Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy overall research interest is to understand how the immune system interacts with the nervous system after injury to promote the transition from acute to chronic pain. In my clinical practice I care for patients with persistent pain that often occurs after minor trauma such as fracture or surgery. Using basic science approaches including whole system immune phenotyping with mass cytometry and genetic manipulation of peripheral and central immune cells, we seek to dissect the temporal and tissue-specific contribution of these cells to either promotion or inhibition of healing.

  • Kenneth Weber, DC, PhD

    Kenneth Weber, DC, PhD

    Assistant Professor (Research) of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain)

    BioDr. Weber's research seeks to develop markers of pain and sensorimotor function using machine-learning and advanced brain, spinal cord, and musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging. Dr. Weber aims to use these techniques to better understand the neuropathology of pain and neurological conditions and discover more effective treatments and preventative strategies.

  • Maisa Ziadni, PhD

    Maisa Ziadni, PhD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDevelopment and testing of novel interventions for chronic pain.
    Understanding mechanisms of treatment among patients with chronic with pain.
    Understanding predictors of opioid use among patients with chronic pain.