Dr. Shelley Segal is a licensed clinical psychologist in California since 2004. She received her PsyD from Pepperdine University and completed an internship at the Wright Institute Los Angeles. Her postdoctoral training was at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital. While at UCLA she worked with medical and nursing staff providing psychological treatment for inpatients and their families in the Department of Neurorehabilitation. At the Revlon Breast Center, she received training in assessment, interviewing and making treatment recommendations for breast cancer patients in an integrative treatment program. Upon completion of her postdoctoral training, Dr. Segal was invited to be a member of the UCLA Pediatric Pain Program. In 2009 this multidisciplinary program received a national award for Clinical Centers of Excellence from the American Pain Society (APS). She continues to collaborate with this integrative team of healthcare professionals at Whole Child LA (WCLA)… “ one of the country's premier providers of integrative mind-body treatment for children suffering pain, stress, and many common disabling conditions which can be arrested and treated before they become chronic lifelong struggles.” Dr. Segal has provided clinical supervision for Masters level students at Pepperdine University and Postdoctoral Fellows at UCLA. She is a voluntary clinical instructor Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. She is also on staff at UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Institute and Ronald Reagan Medical Center. At her private practice office in Calabasas, California, Dr. Segal specializes in treating adolescents and adults who suffer from chronic pain with goals to help a person live a better quality of life that is not consumed or controlled by pain. Through psychotherapy, a patient learns techniques for coping with the many issues that arise related to having chronic pain as well as learning to understand and manage long-term issues that interfere with well-being. It’s known that chronic pain not only impacts the individual but also family members who are living with and supporting someone in pain. Her other focuses of psychotherapy include treating mood and anxiety disorders, self-esteem issues and life and relationship problems as well as medical and neurological disorders. In her free time, Dr. Segal enjoys hiking and traveling, spending time at the beach and being with family and friends.

Dr. Anya Griffin is a pediatric psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Pain, and Perioperative Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is the Director of the Stanford Children’s Health Pediatric Rehabilitation Program (PReP), an intensive pain rehabilitation program for pediatric chronic pain with an interdisciplinary treatment team of occupational therapists, physical therapists, pain medicine providers, and pain psychologists. She has trained and worked in the field of pediatric psychology primarily with children and adolescents diagnosed with chronic pain, Sickle Cell Disease, and cancer. Dr. Griffin's research interests include pediatric chronic pain, mind-body interventions for pediatric pain management, oncology, sickle cell disease, and improving the process of transition from pediatric to adult care. She is also a board certified Dance/Movement Therapist and completed her graduate training at UCLA. She was awarded a grant in 2015 from the Stanford Medicine and Muse for her project “Capturing Pain: Photographic storytelling of youth with chronic pain.”

Dr. Neil Schechter is presently the Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital, Senior Associate in Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School. He was previously the Chief of Pain Medicine at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Dr. Schechter is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of ChildKind International (www.childkindinternational.org), a non-profit organization which emerged from the Special Interest Group on Pain in Childhood of the International Association for the Study of Pain and is now endorsed by 12 other professional societies.

ChildKind recognizes hospitals that have made an institutional commitment to providing excellent pain care to the children that they serve. ChildKind provides technical assistance to institutions trying to improve the quality of comfort care that they offer. Dr. Schechter received his medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine where he also trained in pediatrics. He did fellowships in developmental and behavioral pediatrics as well as psychosomatic pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Schechter has authored over 100 research papers, books, and chapters on pediatric pain. He is the senior author of Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents, the dominant text in the field. His main research focus has been on documenting disparities in pain treatment and subsequently the recognition and treatment of common pain problems such as needle pain and chronic pain.

Recently, his work has focused on institutional change and advocacy around pain. Dr. Schechter has served on or chaired many of the major national and international consensus committees that have addressed pediatric pain including the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Cancer Pain in Children, the Chronic Pain Task Force of the American Pain Society, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Acute Pain Guidelines, the Cochrane Review Committee on Antidepressant and Anticonvulsant Use for Chronic Pain in Children, the National Institute of Medicine Committee on Palliative Care, the Rome Foundation Committee on Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in Children and currently serves on the Lancet Commission on Paediatric Pain.

Recently, he served on the National Institutes of Health Inter-agency Committee on the Transition from Acute to Chronic Pain whose deliberations were published in Nature Neuroscience. He has lectured all over the world and has given numerous named lectureships.

For his work, Dr. Schechter has received numerous awards including the Jeffrey Lawson Award of the American Pain Society for advocacy in pediatric pain, the major US award in the field. His organization, ChildKind, has received the Robert Addison Award of the American Academy of Pain Medicine for advocacy and international collaboration in pain medicine.

Elliot Krane was born in Philadelphia, and grew up in Tucson. He attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon where he was awarded the Dana Scholarship for Excellence in Humanities and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, then returned to Tucson to attend medical school at the University of Arizona. Krane next trained in pediatrics and anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital followed by a fellowship year in pediatric anesthesiology and critical care at Boston Children's Hospital. After medical training he moved to Seattle, WA for an appointment at the University of Washington and the Seattle Children's Hospitalwhere he co-founded one of the first pain clinics for children in the U.S. In 1994 he left the Northwest to continue his career as the Chief of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Professor at Stanford University. He remained the Pediatric Anesthesiology and Pain Management Chief until 2003, at which time he stepped down, but continued as the Chief of Pain Management. He holds specialty certification in Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Pediatric Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, and Pain Management, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Krane has received the Physician’s Recognition Award in both Anesthesiology and Pediatric Critical from the American Medical Association, the Jeffrey Lawson Award for Advocacy in Children’s Pain Relief from the American Pain Society, and the Ellis N. Cohen Achievement Award from the Stanford University Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine. He also has been the recipient of grants from the Mayday Fund, the NIH, the American Medical Association, the Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists, the Diabetes Research and Education Foundation, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists as well as many pharmaceutical companies to assist them in new drug development for the treatment of pediatric pain.

Dr. Tonya Palermo is a pediatric psychologist and Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at University of Washington with adjunct appointments in Pediatrics and Psychiatry. She holds the Hughes M. and Katherine Blake Endowed Professorship in Health Psychology. Dr. Palermo serves as Associate Director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. She directs the Pediatric Pain & Sleep Innovations Lab that aims to improve the lives of children with pain and their families. Her long-standing NIH funded research investigates behavioral, psychosocial and family factors that affect pain experiences, and development and evaluation of innovative psychological treatments that can be delivered at low cost. Currently, Dr. Palermo serves as Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Pain. Dr. Palermo has developed and evaluated several internet and mobile applications to deliver cognitive-behavioral interventions for chronic pain to children and adolescents and has published two books on cognitive-behavioral therapy. Find out more about her research here: https://www.seattlechildrens.org/research/centers-programs/child-health-behavior-and-development/labs/pediatric-pain-and-sleep-innovations-lab/

I am a research psychologist with expertise in developmental and health psychology. My research centers around empowering people to better manage their health. I develop and evaluate psychosocial interventions delivered using technology. Most of these programs have focused on helping people learn the skills to better manage their pain. I also use qualitative research methods to document patients’ experiences in their own voices. I have been an investigator on grants from the National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and have published the results of my research in a range of peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Rachael Coakley is pediatric pain psychologist in the Department of Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she serves as the Director of Clinical Innovation and Outreach in Pain Medicine and the Associate Director of Psychological Services. Additionally, she is Founder and Director of “The Comfort Ability,” an internationally disseminated program that teaches evidence-based pain management skills to adolescents with chronic pain and their parents. Dr. Coakley is an Assistant Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School and holds national and international leadership positions. Dr. Coakley completed her undergraduate work at The University of Pennsylvania and her doctoral studies at Loyola University in Chicago. She completed fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and joined the Consultation Liaison Service for one year prior to beginning her current position in the Pain Treatment Service in 2006. Dr. Coakley’s career focuses on translational research of evidence-based psychological intervention for pediatric pain management. Her program, “The Comfort Ability,” is currently licensed by children’s hospitals throughout the US, Canada and Australia. She has also developed a video-based intervention for sickle cell pain that is also widely disseminated. For her work in program development and for enhancing access to clinical care for patients with chronic pain, she was honored with the 2020 Carolyn Schroeder Award, a national recognition from the American Psychological Association for outstanding clinical practice. Outside her work in program development, Dr. Coakley enjoys writing and lecturing to help educate parents and providers about chronic pain. Her 2016 book, "When Your Child Hurts: Effective Strategies to Increase Comfort, Reduce Stress and Break the Cycle of Chronic Pain"(Yale University Press), won a national book award for best parenting book (NAPPA). Her writing is also featured in her ongoing Psychology Today column, the Washington Post, and numerous other publications. Rachael’s creative healing includes: meditation, yoga, writing, reading, painting, drawing, and hiking

Dr. Sarah Martin is a licensed clinical psychologist and a postdoctoral fellow in the UCLA Pediatric Pain and Palliative Care Program. Sarah received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Georgia State University and completed her clinical internship at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. As a doctoral student in the Child Health and Medical Pain Lab, Sarah was interested in how psychological and social factors affect pain experiences in youth. Sarah completed most of her clinical training in pediatric and hospital settings, providing cognitive-behavioral interventions to children and young adults with medical conditions. She also received focused supervision on the needs of underrepresented pediatric patients with hematology and oncology conditions. Currently, Sarah's research – funded by the National Institutes of Health – examines effects of self-hypnosis and social factors on physiological pain responses in adolescents with sickle cell disease. She has multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals and presents her research at national and international conferences. On a community level, Sarah serves as a board member for a non-profit organization – Responsibility – that provides education to children living in trash dump communities in Mexico and Nicaragua. When not in the research lab or clinic, Sarah enjoys live music, the beach, snowboarding, traveling, and running with (or after) her very energetic dog. Sarah’s professional experiences continue to foster her appreciation for the power of mind-body interventions and social connection for youth with pain conditions.

Emeran Mayer, MD, is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology and Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Executive Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and Founding Director of the Goodman Luskin Brain Gut Microbiome Center. He is a world renowned gastroenterologist and neuroscientist with 35 years of experience in the study of clinical and neurobiological aspects of how the digestive system and the nervous system interact in health and disease and has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Mentor Award from the American Gastroenterological Association, the Ismar Boas medal from the German Society for Gastroenterology and Metabolic Disease and the 2016 David McLean award from the American Psychosomatic Society. He is the editor of The Mind Gut Connection Newsletter, which brings you online posts about a wide range of topics related to the Brain Gut Microbiome system, from the hard science to delicious recipes for a healthy gut.

Deirdre Logan, Ph.D. ABPP, is Director of Psychology Services in the Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care & Pain Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) and Associate Professor of psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Logan received her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Michigan and completed postdoctoral training at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she subsequently served on faculty in the Department of Anesthesia. She has led the pain psychology program at BCH since 2007. She also directs the postdoctoral fellowship program in pediatric pain psychology and is a member of the ACGME pain fellow training committee at BCH. Dr. Logan’s research focuses on psychological aspects of pediatric chronic pain, with emphasis on the roles of school and family systems in the child’s pain experience. An additional area of focus is on implementation and evaluation of care innovations in intensive interdisciplinary pediatric pain rehabilitation. She has published over 80 peer reviewed papers. Currently Dr. Logan is working on ways to use digital health technology, particularly augmented and virtual reality interventions, to advance the treatment of pediatric chronic pain conditions.

Dr. Zempsky is the Francine L. and Robert B. Goldfarb-William T. Zempsky, MD Endowed Chair for Pain and Palliative Medicine at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and the Associate Chair for Research and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Dr. Zempsky received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and completed a pediatric residency on the Harriet Lane Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also completed a fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. In 2012, he received a Masters in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Zempsky is an international expert on the pediatric pain management. He has published numerous research papers and holds several ongoing NIH grants regarding pain in youth with sickle cell disease, obesity, fibromyalgia, neurofibromatosis, postoperative pain and pain-related stigma. Dr. Zempsky has received major awards including the prestigious Donaghue Investigator Award, as well as the Mayday Pain and Society Fellowship to enhance his abilities in pain advocacy. Dr. Zempsky is a co-editor of the Oxford Textbook of Pediatric Pain the leading text in the field, the 2nd edition was published in 2021. His division was designated a Center of Clinical Excellence by the American Pain Society in 2014 and is also one of the first 3 programs in the world to receive the ChildKind certification focused on improving pain management for all children. Dr. Zempsky was elected as Chair of the Pediatric Special Interest Group of the American Pain Society in 2015. He was appointed as the pediatric representative to the Physicians Medical Marijuana Board for the State of Connecticut in 2016. In 2017 Dr. Zempsky received the M1mentoring grant from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Zempsky is on the Board of Directors for ChildKind and on the advisory board of the Meg Foundation.

Sara Ahola Kohut is a clinical health psychologist and researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children. She holds appointments within the SickKids Research Institute as well as both the Department of Psychiatry and Institutes for Medical Science at the University of Toronto. Clinically, Dr. Ahola Kohut works exclusively with children and adolescents living with chronic disease and their families. Her program of research focuses on building resilience in youth with chronic disease and covers two main foci: 1. building meaningful peer and social supports and 2. mindfulness-based approaches to living with chronic disease (exploring both mechanisms and interventions). Dr. Ahola Kohut’s work also capitalizes on innovative approaches via the Internet to improve access to resources and interventions.

Diane graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Health Science and her Certificate in Physical Therapy from California State University, Northridge. She has since completed her clinical doctorate degree with a specialization in musculoskeletal physical therapy practice from Evidence in Motion Institute of Health Studies. She is currently Board Certified by the American Physical Therapy Association in Orthopedic Physical Therapy. She initially worked at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where she became certified through the Biofeedback Society of California to utilize biofeedback with patients with chronic pain. She joined Progressive Physical Therapy family in 1985 and became a member of the Pediatric Pain Management Team at UCLA in 2001, providing biofeedback and physical therapy services to children with chronic pain in. She is currently a member of Whole Child Los Angeles and a member of Creative Healing for Youth in Pain. Diane is currently a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Therapists.

Rachel Zoffness PhD is a pain psychologist, educator, medical consultant, author, and leader in the field of pain medicine. She serves on the Boards of the Society of Pediatric Pain Medicine; the American Association of Pain Psychology, where she founded the Pediatric Division; and CHYP. Dr. Zoffness is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCSF School of Medicine, where she teaches pain education for medical residents. She authored The Chronic Pain and Illness Workbook for Teens, the first book of its kind to offer child-friendly pain management techniques for children, teens, parents and providers. A knowledge-mobilizer, she piloted the Psychology Today column “Pain, Explained,” and created a multidisciplinary pain-training program for health providers. She writes for major scientific and lay publications, speaks at international conferences, and consults on the development of interdisciplinary pain programs around the world. Dr. Zoffness trained at Brown University, Columbia University, UCSD, SDSU, the NYU Child Study Center, and St. Luke's-Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. Her second book, The Pain Management Workbook, a book for adults offering pain education and science-based techniques for pain management, was released in December 2020.

Dr. Levy has a longstanding and productive research record in the investigation of the psychosocial aspects of health, especially chronic pain in children. Her research in this area has spanned from observational studies of familial genetic and behavioral patterns to intervention studies designed to reduce the impact of these conditions. She has received funding from NIH for several large studies, and has numerous publications on the psychological aspects of interventions for adults and children suffering from chronic abdominal pain. She has been elected to Fellow status in many professional organizations, and also serves as the Chair of the Psychosocial Committee for the Rome V Committee for Disorders of Gut Brain Interactions.

Blake is a pain and headache physician specializing in the treatment of complex pain and headache conditions affecting children, adolescents and young adults in the Carolinas. He is Director/Chief of the Division of Pediatric Pain & Headache Medicine and Medical Director of the Pediatric Concussion Program at the Children's Hospital of Prisma Health Upstate. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. He leads a multidisciplinary group of pain specialists from the fields of medicine, nursing, psychology, and physical therapies, and is the first comprehensive program like it in the Carolinas. Blake is a graduate of the pediatric pain fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital with Harvard Medical School and completed a residency in Pediatrics with the Boston Combined Residency Program with Harvard Medical School and Boston University. He completed his medical degree at Mercer University School of Medicine in Savannah, GA. He is board certified in Pediatrics, Medical Acupuncture, and Headache Medicine by the United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties. He and his team lead a busy program that performs complex pain evaluations for refractory or prolonged pain and headache. The team engages in a multidisciplinary approach using tools such as non-addictive medications, interventional procedures, coping and self-regulatory strategies, physical and functional rehabilitation, medical acupuncture and other integrative treatments. The goal is a comprehensive approach to complex medical diagnoses and symptoms that results in a comprehensive treatment plan to meet children and their families where they are, and help them escape the cycle of pain.

Cindy Steinberg is the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the U.S. Pain Foundation and Policy Council Chair for the Massachusetts Pain Initiative. She is a nationally prominent and articulate spokesperson for the needs of people living with pain. Ms. Steinberg has won numerous awards for her pain policy accomplishments. Her dedication to pain advocacy was sparked when she sustained a severe crush injury that left her with daily back pain. In 2015, she was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to serve on his Opioid Working Group and subsequently as a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Drug Formulary Commission. At the federal level, she has served on the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC), a high-ranking pain policy oversight committee managed by the National Institutes of Health. In 2018, Ms. Steinberg was appointed by the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, to serve on the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force created by Congress and was the only patient and pain advocate appointed to the panel. In February of 2019, Ms. Steinberg was invited to testify before the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee at a hearing on “Managing Pain During the Opioid Crisis”.

Melanie Noel, PhD, RPsych is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Calgary and a Full Member of the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. She directs the PEAK (Pain Education, Advocacy, Knowledge) Research Laboratory within the Vi Riddell Pain & Rehabilitation Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Canada. Dr. Noel’s expertise is on children’s memories for pain and co-occurring mental health issues and pediatric chronic pain. She published guiding conceptual models of children’s pain memory development, co-occurring PTSD and chronic pain, and fear-avoidance. In recognition of her contributions to advancing knowledge of the psychological aspects of children’s pain, Dr. Noel received early career awards from the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), the Canadian Pain Society, the American Pain Society, the Canadian Psychological Association, and the Society of Pediatric Psychology. She was named Avenue Magazine Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40 (Class of 2017), a Killam Emerging Research Leader (2020), and the Killam Memorial Leader Chair (2021).

Dr. Weisman is the Medical Director and Jane B. Pettit Chair in Pain Management at Children’s Wisconsin and Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Weisman is quadruple board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Anesthesiology and Pediatric Anesthesiology. He has served on multiple pain guideline panels which have established pain management standards.  In addition, he served on an expert panel for the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine to establish priorities for opioid prescribing. He is the past chair of the American Pain Society Special Interest Group on Pain in Infants, Children and Adolescents. He has served He is a founding and Executive Committee member of PRN-Pain (Pediatric Research Network-Pain). He has been honored as a recipient of the Jeffrey Lawson Award for Advocacy in Children’s Pain Relief, American Pain Society. The Pain and Headache Center at Children’s Wisconsin provides a full range of pain-related services for children, including an intensive pain rehabilitation, the Integrated Healing Program, for children with functional disability due to pain or functional neurologic disorders.

GARY A. WALCO, PhD is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine (adjunct Pediatrics and Psychiatry) at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Director of Pain Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital. He has conducted multiple studies on pain treatment and assessment in children. Dr. Walco was the founder of the American Pain Society’s first special interest group, focusing on Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents, and received their Jeffrey Lawson Award for Advocacy in Children’s Pain Relief (2003) and their Distinguished Service Award (2019). Dr. Walco is a past chair of the Pain Committee for the Children’s Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance and served on the core committee for Palliative Care in the Children’s Oncology Group. He was the president elect of the American Pain Society and is a past president of the special interest group on Pain in Childhood of the International Association for the Study of Pain. Dr. Walco currently sits on editorial boards for Pain, the Journal of Pain, the Clinical Journal of Pain (past associate editor), and did so formerly for the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics and the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. Dr. Walco is a founding member and currently on the Board of Directors for ChildKind International. He has consulted on analgesic trials for children and served on the FDA’s Analgesic and Anesthetic Drug Products Advisory Committee.

Samantha Levy, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who received her Ph.D. from Georgia State University in the Child and Family specialty track. During her clinical, child centered internship at UCLA, she became involved with the Pediatric Pain Program. Subsequently, she obtained her postdoctoral training there. Depending on the specific situation, Dr. Levy works either with whole families, individual children/teens, or parents. She employs an array of psychological orientations (e.g. CBT, play therapy, mindfulness, hypnotherapy, ACT, IFS), to help the children/teens with their pain and any accompanying emotional issues. She helps the families understand the connection between the physical pain and emotional difficulties (mind/body connection). She teaches parenting skills and helps parents facilitate their child’s difficult, courageous journey back to functioning more fully in the world again. Dr. Levy runs the chyp monthly open parent group and the CHYP small group parent groups. She is also a contributor to the CHYP parent blog.