Our Team

Dr. Alisha Jean-Denis is a mother-scholar, a passionate advocate for youth and a dynamic leader dedicated to transforming how young people navigate complex emotional and physical challenges. Known for her ability to forge powerful partnerships and create programs that center youth voice and lived experience, she believes in the power of creativity and community. As Executive Director of Creative Healing for Youth in Pain (CHYP), she brings a deep well of experience at the intersection of nonprofit leadership, youth advocacy, and arts-based healing.

With a career spanning over two decades, Alisha has worked across sectors to elevate community-centered approaches to wellness, particularly for historically marginalized and underserved youth. Dr. Alisha’s leadership is rooted in empathy, equity, and innovation and fueled by a deep belief in young people’s resilience and the importance of meeting them with compassion, understanding, and opportunity.

Her vision for CHYP includes expanding access to interdisciplinary care, amplifying youth-led storytelling, and building inclusive systems that foster long-term creative healing. Alisha has traveled to more than 30 countries across 6 continents and leans into the humanity of people around the globe. As an avid art collector, she appreciates the arts in all their forms. Alisha attained a PhD in Social Justice Education from UMASS Amherst and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and three children, whom she calls her heart healers.

Steffie Hernandez has over seven years of experience in administrative support, working in various roles, including Administrative Assistant, Office Manager, and Project Specialist within logistics and operations. Throughout her career, Steffie has refined her organizational and communication skills, excelling in project management and mastering tools like Microsoft and Google Suites.

As someone who struggled with chronic pain as a child, she found healing through physical therapy, which not only alleviated her discomfort but also empowered her to succeed in school and life. This personal journey fuels her passion to support youth facing similar challenges. Through her work with the nonprofit, Steffie is able to give back to the community by helping the organization streamline their systems and operations to continue serving young people navigate their own path to healing.

Outside of her work with the nonprofit, Steffie enjoys connecting with nature, diving into arts and crafts, and spending time within the community. She is proud of her New Orleans and Hispanic heritage and is a passionate advocate for mental health.

Nicole is a Clinical Psychology PhD student at the University of Cincinnati, where she is training to become a pediatric psychologist. Nicole has lived experience with chronic pain and illness. She is passionate about uniting her lived experience with her research and clinical interests to improve care and treatment options for youth with chronic pain. She loves yoga, scuba diving, hiking, reading, and Facetiming her long-distance dog.

Kathy Yanes Pérez is a Clinical Psychology (PsyD) student at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with a background in public health, having earned her master’s in public health from Florida International University. Kathy’s clinical focus is on supporting children and families facing medical challenges such as cancer, diabetes, and neurological disorders. Kathy has lived with chronic GI pain and is passionate about supporting others with similar experiences. Kathy aspires to become a pediatric psychologist upon graduation. In her spare time, Kathy enjoys crocheting, staying active, and playing video games.

Brooke Greenberg is a Clinical Psychology PhD student at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL where she is conducting pediatric psychology research on disordered eating and type 1 diabetes. Brooke has lived chronic pain experience for nearly 10 years and is passionate about bringing awareness to chronic pain and the importance of peer support in one’s chronic pain journey. Brooke is excited to be working with CHYP as a Camp Supervisor this Summer and co-leading CHYPchats to foster a community of support for those in pain and to use the creative arts as a healing outlet. She aspires to become a pediatric psychologist working in a multidisciplinary chronic pain clinic. Brooke loves anything involving movement and that has been an integral part of her pain recovery journey. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, cycling and anything involving dogs!

Stephanie Punt, PhD is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience in developing and leading programs that enhance resilience and promote mind-body connection strategies.

Since 2021, Dr. Punt has been an active volunteer with Creative Healing for Youth in Pain (CHYP), contributing to creative projects that support young people’s well-being. She has also led initiatives across the U.S. aimed at fostering resilience and has worked on projects that enhance telemedicine access and address social determinants of health for school-aged children and their families in the rural Midwest.

She earned dual Bachelor’s degrees—a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry, with a minor in Environmental Science—from the University of Washington. Following her undergraduate studies, she worked as a pediatric and adult sarcoma researcher at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital. Her commitment to improving the lives of others extended to her role as an Ambassador Board member for the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation, where she supported patients and families through financial assistance and social outreach.

Her experiences working with cancer patients inspired her deep interest in the mind-body connection and its critical role in chronic illness and quality of life. Dr. Punt earned her doctorate in Psychology from the University of Kansas, with a focus in Health Psychology. To further enhance her ability to serve individuals and families of all abilities, she completed additional training through the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Punt completed a two-year neuropsychology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles.

In her personal time, she enjoys outdoor activities, spending quality moments with her family, and engaging in creative hobbies such as drawing, playing the harp, and photography.

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 Parent CHYPchat and Creating Bonds for parents and caregivers. She is also a contributor to the CHYP parenting blog and the monthly webinar series.

Dr. Lonnie Zeltzer, MD, stands as an Emerita Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Psychiatry, and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. As the prior Founder/Director of the UCLA Pediatric Pain and Palliative Care Program, her impactful contributions have shaped the landscape of pediatric pain management.

Dr. Zeltzer served as an invited member of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee on Pain Care, Research, and Education. She co-authored the IOM report on Transforming Pain in America, showcasing her expertise and commitment to advancing pain care initiatives. Recognizing her exemplary program, the American Pain Society (APS) bestowed upon her the Clinical Center of Excellence in Pain Management Award in 2009.

Dr. Zeltzer has been a trailblazer in various leadership roles, including serving as President of the Special Interest Group on Pain in Childhood in the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) and holding the position of past Secretary of the APS. Her influence extends to pivotal committees such as the NIH Steering Committee guiding pain research directions and the FDA Special Committee on Analgesia and Anesthesia Products.

In addition to her extensive involvement in shaping national guidelines, Dr. Zeltzer contributed significantly to research with over 400 publications, 85 textbook chapters, and 4 books. Among her notable works is the recent publication, “The Smart Brain Pain Syndrome.”

Beyond her academic and research achievements, Dr. Zeltzer is the co-director of the Whole Child LA pediatric complex pain clinic alongside her husband, Dr. Paul Zeltzer.

Maya is a graduate of UCLA and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She began her career as a litigator at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and thereafter served as Vice President of Legal Affairs in the Television Division of Paramount Pictures. She left Paramount to become a full-time stay-at-home mom to her three children, who are not so little anymore. Maya and her husband Jeff met Dr. Lonnie Zeltzer when their then nine-year-old son was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Under the care of Dr. Zeltzer and her incredible team of healers and therapists, their son went from being confined to a wheelchair, to sprinting across lacrosse and soccer fields. After witnessing, first hand, the incredible power of the mind-body connection and the value of creative healing techniques, she committed herself to helping others gain access to Dr. Zeltzer’s innovative and compassionate pain treatment programs.

Mercedes Kerr is President of Belmont Village Senior Living, where she is responsible for the performance and expansion of its premier portfolio of 38 existing communities and development projects, the growth and opportunity of its employees, and the care and satisfaction of its residents. Since joining Belmont Village as a partner in 2019, Ms. Kerr has successfully employed her vast enterprise leadership and capital markets experience to optimize the company’s operating and financial results during an unprecedented economic period.

Prior to joining Belmont Village, Ms. Kerr was Executive Vice President, Business & Relationship Management of Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL), where she joined in 2008. During her tenure there, Ms. Kerr led transformative initiatives and was a key player in the company’s rapid growth. While at Welltower, Ms. Kerr structured and executed partnership agreements valued at more than $15B. Ms. Kerr led the Outpatient Medical platform for Welltower and oversaw its business development function. Before this, she served as Vice President of acquisitions at Healthpeak Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DOC), where she spent 10 years and completed close to $10B of transactions. Prior to that, Ms. Kerr was a member of the real estate consulting division of EY, previously known as E&Y Kenneth Leventhal.

A well-recognized healthcare real estate professional with long and enduring relationships across the healthcare sector, Ms. Kerr has played an influential role in the senior housing industry’s evolution. She is a former member of the Board of Sunrise Senior Living and Silverado, as well as a former Executive Committee Board member at ASHA and a former Board member of the California Assisted Living Association (CALA). In addition, Ms. Kerr was appointed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee formed in response to the State of California’s Master Plan for Aging in 2019. Ms. Kerr is currently an Executive Committee Board member at Argentum, a Board member of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), and a member of the Board of Councilors at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

Ms. Kerr began her career in real estate development in her native Mexico, where she participated in some of the country’s most recognizable resort development projects. She graduated with honors from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico and obtained a Master of Real Estate Development degree from the University of Southern California. Ms. Kerr, her husband Bentley, and daughters Samantha and Daniela all live in Southern California.

Jonci’s entire career has been spent in the retail and wholesale sector and at high level management positions. She began her career with the Dayton Hudson Department Store Co. and rose to be one of the youngest Divisional Merchandise Managers. She later became president of Easy Spirit Shoes retail division. From there she became president of Nine West retail stores operations which was comprised of about 850 stores given fluctuations. For 17 years Jonci was a driving force in the success of the iconic brand, Eileen Fisher, where she served as Chief Operating Officer and then Co-Chief Executive Officer together with Eileen.

In 2017 Jonci was asked to create a Board of Directors for Eileen Fisher, Inc. She did this and then served as de facto lead director organizing and facilitating board meetings. In addition to business and board responsibilities, Jonci played an important part in the development of the People and Culture Division of the company which ultimately resulted in a B Corp designation.

She has always been thought of as a mentor as well as a leader wherever she has worked. In fact, she also found time to serve as a mentor to business school students at Westchester Community College in New York. She’s also served on the advisory board at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. Jonci is a graduate of Michigan State University and currently resides in Bedford, New York.

Carmela is a dynamic entrepreneur and the visionary owner of RED Company, specializing in meeting planning and unique event production, as well as RED Swag, a promotional items and apparel company. Under Carmela’s leadership, RED Company earned recognition as one of the Top 100 Women-Owned Businesses for seven consecutive years and one of the 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies for three years, as the Los Angeles Business Journal ranked.

Carmela attributes the success of both companies to a service-centric philosophy and a team united by a “kindRED” spirit. Together, they are dedicated to kindness and giving back through Power-full Acts of Compassion and Kindness™ initiatives and RED PACK™ Programs. 

She previously served on the Board of Directors for the Diversity Alliance for Science, which provides a platform to foster small and diverse businesses and promote inclusive procurement practices in the life science and healthcare sectors.

After her daughter was diagnosed with CRPS (Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome), Carmela joined the monthly Parent CHYPchat, a support group for parents and caregivers on similar journeys. She credits these chats with invaluable support, resources, compassion, and friendships. Carmela is committed to helping other parents and caregivers find the resources and support they need for their children suffering from chronic pain.

Michael is the Principal Parner of MKT Growth Partners, a consultancy focused on delivering growth for mission based organizations. He was formerly the Chief Growth Officer of Smaller Earth, a global cultural exchange company with offices in 14 countries worldwide. His varied background includes work with many youth-oriented companies and not-for-profits. He’s passionate about enabling travel for young people, summer camp, and the advancement of workplace learning programs and tools. Michael serves on the board for Camp Chippewa Foundation in Minnesota where he formerly worked as Executive Director, and is an advisor on various committees for civic organizations, technology start-ups and youth and art not-for-profits. He is known as an innovator and respected for his dedication to the organizations he serves. Michael resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his two sons, and travels widely and often.

Dr. Blake Windsor is Director of the Pediatric Pain, Headache, and Concussion Program at the Children’s Hospital of Prisma Health Upstate, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, and adjunct faculty in Anesthesiology and Psychiatry. He completed a pediatric pain fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and a pediatric residency at the Combined Residency Program with Harvard Medical School and Boston University. He received his MD at Mercer University School of Medicine in Savannah, GA. Dr. Windsor is board-certified in Pediatrics, Medical Acupuncture, and Headache Medicine.

Beth Wishnie is a licensed massage therapist based in Los Angeles who’s been listed as L.A’s best in W Magazine, Vanity Fair, Harper’s and Queen, Splendora and Moxly’s Head to Toe. She combines several different bodywork techniques including Swedish, Shiatsu, Deep Tissue, and Digestive and Lymphatic Massage, and specializes in Pregnancy and Postpartum Massage. She is also a certified birth doula and birth educator and has been published in The Complete Organic Pregnancy.

The other half of Beth’s life is spent as a theatre producer. Beth was the producing director of the Los Angeles based, award-winning theatre company, The Hidden Theatre. Her company, Wishnie-Strasberg Productions, won a Tony Award for the revival of Once On This Island and also produced Lifespan Of A Fact with Daniel Radcliffe and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award-winning, Accidentally Brave.  In the height of the pandemic, Beth was proud to produce Together Apart, an original zoom musical created with over 100 Alumni from her alma mater, Brown University, that raised over $40,000 for The Actors Fund. Beth is also on the board of The 24 Hour Plays, an organization that brings together creative communities to produce plays and musicals written, rehearsed and performed in 24 hours.

Beth is a supporter of Larchmont Charter School, based in Los Angeles, where she and her husband are founding parents. They currently live in Los Angeles with their two daughters and a menagerie of rescue animals.

Stacy Sanson Stills spent 20 years as an investigative journalist and producer for CNN International, Al Jazeera, BBC, and National Geographic. She focused on politics in the Middle East in graduate school and worked stories across the globe in more than 100 countries throughout the course of her career. Her vast scope of experience with humans from all walks of life and corners of the planet has lead her to rooms with global political leaders in Davos, warlord encampments in Africa, embedding with cartels in Mexico, exposing women’s right abuses within Afghanistan, and covering human trafficking and violence against women throughout Eastern Europe, Asia and Central America. Stacy now works as a trial consultant at Parris Sanson Consulting LLC, working exclusively on behalf of catastrophically injured people. Many of her clients suffer from chronic pain and are further harmed by the lack of resources available to them. Stacy’s father and mother devoted their medical careers to rural healthcare in America and through their experience she learned valuable lessons that she now brings to CHYP. Stacy is also an avid pilot and advocate for civil aviation, an experienced alpinist, wife and mother. She resides between Los Angeles and Paris, France.

Dr. Shelley Segal has been 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 completing her postdoctoral training, Dr. Segal was invited to join 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 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 affects not only 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, traveling, at the beach, and being with family and friends.

Dr. Neil Schechter is 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). This non-profit organization 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 offers technical assistance to institutions trying to improve the quality of comfort care they offer. Dr. Schechter received his medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and trained in pediatrics. He did fellowships in developmental-behavioral and 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 central 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.

Dr. Schechter has received numerous awards for his work, 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 from the American Academy of Pain Medicine for advocacy and international collaboration in pain medicine.

Dr. Tonya Palermo is a pediatric psychologist and Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the 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 is the 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, which 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 develops and evaluates innovative psychological treatments that can be delivered cheaply. 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/

Dr. Groenewald is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University. He conducts clinical research that crosses several areas related to pediatric pain, including epidemiology, health services research, sleep, and opioid use behaviors. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the International Association for the Study of Pain, and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesiology. His work on pediatric pain has been published in JAMA Pediatrics, Pediatrics, PAIN, Journal of Pain, SLEEP, and JAMA Psychiatry. Dr. Groenewald holds national leadership positions in the United States Association for the Study of Pain, including elected inaugural Chair of the Pediatric Special Interest Group in 2020 and co-chair of the Advocacy Committee in 2022. He serves on the Journal of Pain and Pediatric Anesthesiology editorial boards.

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 transition process 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 2015 from Stanford Medicine and Muse for her project “Capturing Pain: Photographic Storytelling of Youth with Chronic Pain.”

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

Dr. Rachael Coakley is a pediatric pain psychologist in the 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 the 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.

As an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Coakley 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 a fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and joined the Consultation Liaison Service for one year before beginning her current position in the Pain Treatment Service in 2006.

Dr. Coakley’s career focuses on translational research of evidence-based psychological interventions 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 widely disseminated. For her work in program development and 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 the 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 educates children living in trash dump communities in Mexico and Nicaragua. Sarah enjoys live music, the beach, snowboarding, traveling, and running with (or after) her energetic dog when not in the research lab or clinic. Sarah’s professional experiences continue to foster her appreciation for the power of mind-body interventions and social connection for youth with pain conditions.

Dr. van Tilburg is the Research Director at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in North Carolina. She also holds Professor positions at the University of North Carolina, Marshall University, University of Washington, and Campbell University. Dr. van Tilburg is an expert in gastropsychology. She develops and tests Brain-Gut treatments for gastrointestinal diseases, particularly for children.

Dr. van Tilburg has over 200 publications in her name and has received >$10M in grant funding. She has advised the FDA, EMA, NIH, and Center for Medicaid/Medicare. Dr. van Tilburg was appointed to the Rome IV and Rome V committee, which established diagnostic criteria for pediatric Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction, including Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders. She is a previously elected council member of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Association and a current elected council member of the North American Society For Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition.

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 BCH’s ACGME pain fellow training committee.

Dr. Logan’s research focuses on the 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 implementing and evaluating 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 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 and 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 pediatric representative to the Physicians Medical Marijuana Board for the State of Connecticut in 2016. In 2017, Dr. Zempsky received the M1 mentoring 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 and 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 research program 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 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 the Evidence in Motion Institute of Health Studies. She is 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 the Progressive Physical Therapy family in 1985 and joined the Pediatric Pain Management Team at UCLA in 2001, providing biofeedback and physical therapy services to children with chronic pain. She is currently a member of Whole Child Los Angeles and a member of Creative Healing for Youth in Pain. Diane is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Therapists.

Dr. Levy has a longstanding and productive research record in investigating 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.

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 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 of pain, 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, 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, establishing 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 intensive pain rehabilitation and 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 founded the American Pain Society’s first special interest group, focusing on Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents, and received the 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 is 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.

Sabine is a Physical Therapist with 30 years of experience. She has also trained in Osteopathy and Sophrology for over 20 years and is a Certified Cranio Sacral Therapist. Additionally, she has started a Certification in Visceral Manipulation.

Sabine is also a trained TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction) Specialist, having completed her training at Paris’s largest Dental Medicine department. Having moved to the United States with her family in 2004, Sabine is a double-board-certified Physical Therapist in France and the US. She received her certification in Sports Physical Therapy at INSEP (the French National Sports Institute) and spent time at the Sports Clinic of Paris, working closely with world-renowned orthopedic surgeons.

As a mother of three children, Sabine developed a special interest in pediatrics and worked for several years in a pediatric clinic after obtaining her US Physical Therapy license. She has been part of the pediatrics chronic pain team since 2017 and uses Osteopathy, Sophrology, and Physical Therapy integrative techniques to address chronic pain in youth.

Ka-Kit Hui, MD, FACP, is the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Integrative East-West Medicine, Professor, Founder, and Director of the Center for East-West Medicine at the Department of Medicine of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Hui, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, is an internationally acclaimed educator and researcher board-certified in Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology, with expertise in Geriatrics. He is a recognized authority on Chinese Medicine and integrative medicine and is bilingual in Chinese and English.

Since the 1990s, Dr. Hui has served as an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) in different areas, including Standard Terminology in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Appropriate Integration of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) into Health Systems and Health Care Services, and Quality of Academic Education in Traditional Medicine. He has also consulted with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), health insurance companies, drug companies, and the media, and has held visiting and honorary professorships in various universities worldwide.

In December 1993, Dr. Hui founded the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, which is one of the first integrative medicine centers in the United States. He has developed a model system of comprehensive care that is a patient-centered, problem-solving approach emphasizing health promotion, disease prevention, and treatment and is safe, effective, affordable, and accessible to all. The Center’s clinical program receives referrals from more than 500 physicians within UCLA for refractory problems, including many pain conditions, and continues to expand to meet the demand for a holistic patient care model at UCLA and beyond.

Dr. Rashmi Bhandari is the Stanford Pediatric Pain Psychology Director and a member of the CHYP Clinical Advisory Board. She joined the Pediatric Pain Management Clinic and Stanford faculty in 2005 and has since been working with children who have complex chronic pain conditions and their families. In addition to practicing behavioral pain medicine, Dr. Bhandari is the director of the pediatric pain psychology fellowship training. The education curriculum created for the pain psychology fellowship is now the leading standard in the field, educating future pediatric psychologists who want to specialize in pain medicine. Dr. Bhandari has extensive training in bio-behavioral interventions for chronic pain, such as biofeedback, and is certified by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

Dr. Bhandari is a committed clinician, educator, and researcher with a focus on the assessment and development of treatment interventions to improve the lives of youth with chronic pain. Decisions about the appropriate treatments, however, are dependent on accurate and useful data—data that have been lacking for adults and children who experience chronic pain. This lack of information inspired the creation of a health registry called CHOIR. Dr. Bhandari helped lead the pediatric adoption of CHOIR, called Peds-CHOIR (Pediatric Collaborative Health Outcomes Information Registry), a novel, open-source outcome-dual tracking vehicle for youth with chronic pain and their caregivers. Clinicians utilize this registry to offer patient-tailored interventions in real-time while creating opportunities to study important predictors and consequences of treatment factors.

Dr. Bhandari has successfully led the Pediatric Pain Clinic in multiple clinical innovations, including telemedicine, canine-assisted therapy, and sleep treatment interventions, to continue offering evidence-based treatments and improving access to care.

Dr. Bhandari has researched evidenced-based pediatric chronic pain treatments and identified important patient characteristics that may inform treatment outcomes. Integral to this research was the utilization of Peds-CHOIR, which was designed to track outcomes for children and adolescents with chronic pain and their caregivers. Her publications in peer-reviewed journals document the development and implementation of this registry platform and the potential for deep phenotyping of treatment-responsive and non-responsive patients.

Dr. Genevieve D’Souza is a Board-Certified Pediatric Anesthesiologist and a Pediatric Pain Physician at Stanford Health Care. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor in Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University. She is the Director of the Pediatric Anesthesia Resource center and the Medical Director of the Pediatric Pain Management Team.

She is the Senior Editor for the Visual Pearl Series for the Society of Pediatric Pain Medicine and serves on its Board of Directors.

Dr. Hannah Shapiro is a board-certified child neurologist and headache specialist. She is an assistant professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine and an attending physician in child neurology at UCSF Benioff’s Children’s Hospital. She is the Director of the upcoming Pediatric Headache Wellness Center at UCSF Benioff’s Children’s Hospital Walnut Creek.

Dr. Amanda Feinstein (she/her) is a Clinical Psychologist residing in Atlanta Georgia, licensed in Georgia and California. She works part-time as a Pediatric Pain Psychologist at the Center for Pain Relief at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Additionally, she maintains a telehealth private practice where she treats adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with chronic pain and those coping with medical conditions utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance- and Mindfulness-Based approaches, and Self-Hypnosis. Additionally, she works with AYAs with medical trauma utilizing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, which she has found to be a powerful tool for working with trauma.

Before moving to Atlanta, GA, in June 2023, she spent 9 years in Northern California. Dr. Feinstein was on faculty as an attending psychologist in the Pediatric Pain Management Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine for 6 years and completed 3 years of postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford in the Pediatric Pain Management Clinic. Her research has historically focused on resilience factors in pediatric chronic pain. Dr. Feinstein’s current research is centered on unique challenges faced by AYAs with chronic pain and the healthcare transition for this population.

Dr. Raffi Tachdjian is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is in charge of the Fellows Teaching Clinic in the Ronald Reagan Medical Center clinics. He is a Fellow of the American Academy and the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

He received his medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, followed by an internship and residency in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and then completed a fellowship and Board Certification in Adult and Pediatric Allergy, Immunology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Soon after fellowship, Dr. Tachdjian was medical director of the Pediatric Pain Program at UCLA, where he worked with Dr. Lonnie Zeltzer to maintain a team of Complementary and Alternative Medicine specialists to address patients within a biopsychosocial treatment model.

Before his career in medicine, Dr. Tachdjian received a Master’s in Public Health, followed by three years at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, where he led outbreak investigations on Pertussis that led to booster dosing to overcome the vaccine’s waning immunity. Dr. Tachdjian’s research focuses on severe asthma, hereditary angioedema, and allergic inflammation. He has served as a primary or co-investigator of over 30 NIH and other grant-funded research studies and over 35 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Tachdjian is the founder and president of the Children’s Music Fund, a charitable organization that provides Music Therapy to children and young adults with chronic or life-altering illnesses (theCMF.org).

Dr. Thomas is a licensed clinical health psychologist and specialist in pediatric medical illness and trauma. She is an internationally known expert in pediatric pain, a sought-after speaker and writer, and has trained medical professionals worldwide. As the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Meg Foundation, she leads a team of world experts in pain, technology, and design on their mission to empower kids and families to manage pain and medical anxiety. As a healthcare consultant, she helps organizations improve patient care and outcomes for patients and providers. Before starting the Foundation, she was an Assistant Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the founding Clinical Director of the Packard Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center at Stanford. Though now living in Denver, CO, she remains on an adjunct faculty of the School of Medicine, supervising and teaching.

An expert in medical hypnosis, she is also core faculty and Co-director of the Curriculum for the National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute and the creator of ImaginAction, a self-hypnosis web-based app produced with Stanford Children’s Health. Her work has been featured in academic textbooks, the mainstream media, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and US Center for Disease Control websites. She was recently honored to be part of a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a Trusted Messenger of the We Can Do This Campaign and was invited to speak at press events alongside the Surgeon General of the United States.

Soumitri Sil, PhD, is a Pediatric Psychologist at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Sil’s specialization in pediatric pain management focuses on developing and evaluating behavioral interventions to promote the health and functioning of children and adolescents with chronic sickle cell pain.

Dr. Sil received her Doctor of Philosophy in clinical child psychology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and her residency and fellowship training at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Dr. Sil’s clinical research interest centers on the assessment and treatment of chronic pain in children and adolescents with complex chronic pain conditions, such as sickle cell disease. Dr. Sil’s research program works to identify individual and family psychosocial factors that contribute to the onset and maintenance of chronic sickle cell pain and evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy interventions for chronic pain.

Vanya Green Assuied is a Board-Certified Music Therapist and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor who helps people cope with stress, pain, and disease. She works with individuals and groups in private practice and teaches, performs, and facilitates workshops in the community. She integrates strengths-based interventions into sessions, helping people tap into their innate creativity to promote relaxation and emotional expression.

She helped establish the inaugural music therapy program at UCLA Medical Center and has been a UCLA Pediatric Pain Program member since 2007. She has a Master’s Degree from New York University in Music Therapy and a Bachelor’s from Brandeis University in Neuro- anthropology and Latin American Studies. She has received various honors for her scholarship, research, and musicianship, including a Fulbright Fellowship, Susan Eliakim Siman Grant, New York University Scholarship, Justice Louis D. Brandeis Scholarship, and American Friends of Flamenco Scholarship.

She has presented workshops and authored publications on music therapy and the neurobiological processes involved in pain, music perception, and emotions in the United States and internationally. She speaks English and Spanish and has a working knowledge of French and Hebrew. In addition to her clinical work as a therapist, she performs world music and facilitates community music sessions blending sacred, traditional, and contemporary global music.

Dr. Pillai Riddell is the Tier 1 York Research Chair in Pain and Mental Health and Director of the Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt Laboratory (OUCH Lab ; www.yorku.ca/ouchlab) in the Department of Psychology of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is also a registered clinical psychologist, licensed to work with children and adults in clinical and health psychology.  As both a basic-behavioural scientist and a clinician-scientist, Dr. Pillai Riddell leads a multi-national research program that studies parents and young children during stressful painful procedures, with her research now focused in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Her research is funded by all three national Canadian research councils (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council). She has also been involved extensively in supporting EDI initiatives in research contexts at both the institutional and federal levels and is the Nominated Principal Investigator for DIVERT Mental Health. This is a multi-million dollar CIHR-funded national training program setting out to disrupt the Canadian mental health system by innovating curriculum for mental health trainees that focuses on more diverse knowledges and leverages technology to make mental health services more accessible  (divertmentalhealth.ca). Pillai Riddell is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists.  She was also awarded the 2020 Canadian Pain Society’s Outstanding Mentorship Award and the 2019 American Pain Society’s Jeffrey Lawson Award for Advocacy in Children’s Pain.

Kathleen Lemanek is a Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and a pediatric psychologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH). She also is the Director of Psychological Services in the Comprehensive Pain Services at NCH. Lemanek earned her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and completed her internship training at the Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University. Her clinical and research interests, and programmatic responsibilities center on pain management, focusing on sickle cell disease and chronic pain syndromes; adherence to medical regimens, and psychosocial adjustment to medical conditions. She has authored chapters and articles on assessment, intervention, and training, and has presented at international, national, and regional conferences. Lemanek served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology (JPP) and as newsletter editor for Progress Notes. She has been on the editorial board for JPP and Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, and is an ad-hoc reviewer for several psychology and pediatric journals, such as the Journal of Pain.

She has served as member-at-large for membership services of the Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP), treasurer of SPP, and president of SPP, as well as treasurer and Chair of the Clinical Child & Pediatric Psychology Training Council. She is a site visitor for the American Psychological Association (APA) Internship Accreditation Program and is a Fellow in the APA Divisions of 53 and 54.

Professor Christina Liossi is a globally recognised leader in paediatric pain research and clinical care. She holds the Chair in Paediatric Psychology at the University of Southampton, where she founded and directs the Pain Research Laboratory. She also serves as an Honorary Consultant Paediatric Psychologist at the Paediatric Chronic Pain Service at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. In addition, she is the Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Pain.

With over two decades of experience as both an academic and clinician, Prof Liossi has worked across the UK and Europe, delivering psychological care to children living with complex and chronic medical conditions such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, chronic kidney disease, epidermolysis bullosa, and sickle cell disease.

Prof Liossi’s research lies at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and paediatric medicine. Her work is driven by a commitment to improving the lives of young people living with pain and spans three core, interconnected areas: Cognitive and affective neuroscience of pain and development and evaluation of theory-driven, developmentally appropriate psychological Interventions.

Prof Liossi is widely credited for pioneering the use of hypnosis in paediatric oncology. Her landmark randomised controlled trials have provided compelling evidence supporting hypnosis as a safe, effective, and evidence-based intervention for managing procedure- related pain in children with cancer.

She has contributed to multiple national and international clinical guidelines for managing both acute and chronic paediatric pain, including guidelines on sedation in children and pain management in rare and complex conditions like epidermolysis bullosa. Her authored book on procedure-related cancer pain in children remains a key resource for practitioners and researchers alike.

Beyond her research and clinical work, Prof Liossi is a dedicated mentor and educator. She supervises and supports numerous doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career researchers, nurturing the next generation of leaders in paediatric psychology and pain management.

Mark Connelly, PhD, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and Research Director for the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Health at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Connelly has over 20 years of clinical and research experience in his specialty area of headache and pain management, serving in director roles for the Integrative Pain Management Program and Comprehensive Headache Clinic at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. Dr. Connelly has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications in topics related to headache and pain management, and his research has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Arthritis Foundation, Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and the National Headache Foundation. Dr. Connelly serves on scientific review panels for the NIH and is on the editorial board of leading journals in the field of pain, headache, and pediatric psychology.

Provider profile: https://profiles.childrensmercy.org/mark-a-connelly/
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark-Connelly

Viveka Chinnasamy attends Johns Hopkins University majoring in Public Health. She has a  passion for global health equity and in exploring connections between the arts and medicine. Her passions weave together through the publication of children’s books about barriers to health care and in running a poetry blog that targets taboos against mental health. She supports Creative Healing for Youth in Pain as a public health activist and student interested in expressive elements of medicine.

Aaliyah Magcasi is a tenacious and outspoken singer/actress/filmmaker whose goal is to use her creative talents in order to give a voice to those who are unable to share their stories. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in narrative filmmaking and aspires to be a successful filmmaker and entertainer as well as work as a social media marketer. As a very empathetic young woman it is through her artistic talents that she has found how beneficial creative outlets can be for people coping with chronic conditions.

As a caretaker with experience in chronic pain she understands the importance of finding creative outlets to manage chronic illness and through CHYP wants to ensure in others that there can be quality of life even with a chronic condition. She is passionate about inspiring future generations and finds great importance in having a support system and hopes to provide a safe space for those in the chronic illness community.

In the future she hopes to use her platform as an entertainer to bring light to chronic conditions that go unnoticed and encourage people to educate themselves on said community as chronic conditions aren’t always visible to the naked eye. She is excited to be a part of the CHYP team and looks forward to her journey with the organization in lifting up others and reaching people all over the globe.

Multi-percussionist, composer, and Grammy-award-winning artist Cory Hills thrives on breaking down musical barriers through creative, interdisciplinary projects. He has received degrees from Northwestern University, Queensland Conservatorium, and the University of Kansas and was awarded a research fellowship to Institute Fabrica.

Hills is an active performer, composer, and recording artist in Los Angeles and a member of the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Percussion Quartet. An advocate of new music, Hills has individually commissioned and premiered over 150 new works for percussion. He has given solo and chamber recitals across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, The United States, Mexico, and China. An advocate for percussion as an artistic discipline, Hills has been the artist-in-residence at Rocky Mountain National Park, Conservatorio de Las Rosas, a fellow at the OMI international artist’s colony, the first-ever artist-in-residence with Eighth Blackbird in Chicago, a recipient of a 2019 Bruce Geller Word Grant, and the inaugural resident for an arts in social practice fellowship through the National Endowment of the Arts and the state of Colorado.

Hills launched Percussive Storytelling, a program that brings classical music and storytelling to kids in underserved communities, in 2009. The program recently marked its 600th performance, reaching more than 170,000 children in ten countries. Hills has released two award-winning albums (The Lost Bicycle and Drum Factory) and three children’s books (The Lost Bicycle, Beatrice and the POGs, and Beatrice and the Search for the Orb). For more information, visit www.splatboombang.com.