APS Press Room
| For immediate release May 6, 2006 |
Contact: Chuck Weber (847) 705-1802 |
AMERICAN PAIN SOCIETY PRESENTS 2006 ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
SAN ANTONIO, May 6, 2006 – The American Pain Society (APS) today announced the winners of its prestigious annual achievement awards at the organization’s annual scientific meeting.
Every year, APS rewards excellence in the field of pain management by presenting six separate awards for career achievement, pain scholarship, education and public service, advocacy on behalf of children, outstanding service to APS and early career achievements. “The American Pain Society sponsors these annual awards to publicly recognize outstanding efforts in improving the understanding of pain management among health care professionals and the general public,” said APS President Dennis Turk, Ph.D. “We salute these individuals and their important contributions toward alleviating the suffering of people with chronic and acute pain.”
The Wilbert E. Fordyce Clinical Investigator Award recognizes career achievement in clinical research on pain and is awarded to Samuel F. Dworkin, DDS, PhD, professor emeritus, University of Washington School of Medicine/Dentistry, Seattle. Dr. Dworkin’s primary research interests emphasize the relationship between subjective symptoms and physiologic findings and the potential for therapeutic interventions. With support from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Dworkin established an international consortium of orofacial pain researchers. Until his recent retirement from active clinical practice, he served as attending clinical psychologist and training supervisor at the University of Washington’s outpatient psychiatric center and in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The award is named for its first recipient, Wilbert E. Fordyce, PhD.
David Julius, Ph.D., professor and vice chair, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California San Francisco, won the Frederick W.L. Kerr Basic Science Research Award for individual excellence and achievements in clinical pain scholarship. Dr Julius is involved in research to determine the molecular basis of somatosensation, the process in which the body experiences touch and temperature, with an emphasis on identifying molecules that detect pain-producing stimuli. He also is interested in understanding how this process is altered in response to tissue or nerve injury.
The John and Emma Bonica Public Service Award pays tribute to this couple for their leadership in the pain-treatment movement. It recognizes contributions by an individual or organization through public education, public service or other vehicles to communicate information about pain. The 2006 awardee is Oklahoma Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson, JD. During his term as president of the National Association of Attorneys General, Mr. Edmondson initiated a series of listening conferences to educate attorneys general throughout the US on issues related to end-of-life care. His work has generated increased awareness about effective pain management within end-of-life care settings.
In recognition of the longstanding APS interest in promoting improved pain management in pediatric health care settings, the Jeffrey Lawson Award recognizes advocacy efforts to improve pain management in children. It is named in memory of Jeffrey Lawson whose mother, Jill, campaigned aggressively against performing surgery and other procedures on children without anesthesia. This year’s winner is Bonnie J. Stevens, PhD, RN, chair, pediatric nursing research, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. Her primary research focus is on the assessment and management of pain in infants and children and the evaluation of health services models in children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses.
The Elizabeth Narcessian Award recognizes outstanding educational achievements in pain management in honor of Elizabeth Narcessian, MD, a noted educator on the appropriate use of opioids, pain assessment and rehabilitation of patients with chronic pain. The award was given to Christine Pasero, MS, RN, a prominent pain management educator and consultant based in El Dorado Hills, Calif. Ms. Pasero is co-founder and past president of the American Society for Pain Management Nursing and serves on the board of directors for the American Pain Foundation. She also is on several editorial boards, writes a quarterly column about pain management for the American Journal of Nursing and Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, and is the coauthor of Pain: Clinical Manual.
The 2006 Distinguished Service Award for outstanding and dedicated service to APS was awarded to Debra Gordon, MS, senior clinical nurse specialist, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. Ms. Gordon has served as a board member and on numerous committees and task forces for APS. She also has been involved in several national projects focused on improving pain management for the National Cancer Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
To recognize early career achievement in pain scholarship, APS created the John C. Liebeskind Early Career Scholar Award. It was presented to Laura S. Stone, PhD, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota. Dr. Stone’s publications have clarified the contribution of spinal alpha 2 adrenergic receptors to chronic pain management and opioid analgesia.