University of Utah Division of Pain Medicine

Division of Pain Medicine

Advancing the field of pain medicine through interdisciplinary and innovative clinical care, education and research.

The Department of Anesthesiology has a long and prestigious history in the practice of chronic pain management stretching back to 1979 when the first interdisciplinary pain program was developed by Dr Brad Hare. The Pain Management Center’s interdisciplinary program has endured since then and remains as the only comprehensive pain program in the Intermountain West, serving all of Utah and its neighboring states. In 2000, the Pain Research Center was established under the leadership of Richard Chapman PhD, complementing the clinical operation with a robust pain research program. In 2007, our faculty created pain clinics at the VA Medical Center and and the Huntsman Cancer Institute which have subsequently grown into large interdisciplinary programs. More recently, our faculty attend at the University of Utah’s Headache Clinic.

Fellowship

The Division of Pain Medicine is home to a competitive ACGME-accrediated Pain Medicine Fellowship training 5 fellows annually. Fellows obtain training in comprehensive chronic pain management, spinal interventions, complex cancer pain management, and neuromodulation.

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Education and Research

The Division of Pain Medicine has a weekly educational and research conference in collaboration with the Pain Research Center, as well as other educational activities for our fellows, anesthesiology residents, and numerous other trainees from other specialties. Faculty are actively involved in clinical and basic science research in numerous areas including intrathecal therapy for cancer pain, cancer pain outcomes, lidocaine infusions in neuropathic pain, and novel analgesic development.

Pain Medicine Team

Pain Division — Back Row: Robert Jenkinson, MD; Carina Jackman, MD; Shane Brogan, MD; Second Row: Christina Bokat, MD, MPHIL; Daniel Odell, MD; Third Row: Bridger Bach, MD; Jill Sindt, MD; Perry Fine, MD; Front Row: Scott Junkins, MD; Akiko Okifuji, PhD; Emily Hagn, MD; Not Pictured: Newaj Abduallah, MD

The Pain Management Center serves as our core interdisciplinary practice, complemented by comprehensive pain services led by faculty at the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center, the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the Headache Clinic. Our faculty specialize in a wide range of pain management techniques, including complex spine procedures, therapeutic infusions, intrathecal therapy, and neuromodulation. They are also actively engaged in both clinical and basic science research across multiple areas, such as intrathecal therapy for cancer pain, cancer pain outcomes, lidocaine infusions for neuropathic pain, and the development of novel analgesics.