CHICAGO, June 23, 2014—Gregory W. Terman, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle has begun a two-year term as president of the American Pain Society (APS). He succeeds Roger Fillingim, PhD in the organization’s top leadership role.
Dr. Terman has been a member of the APS since 1982 and served on the APS Board of Directors since 2008. His other leadership roles in the society have included chairing the Advocacy Domain and the Scientific Program and Professional Development Committees. He has also served as a member of the Ethics Committee.
“It is a troubling era for the pain care community as we face cutbacks in pain research funding at the same time as patients with chronic pain are experiencing diminished access to care in many parts of the country,” said Terman. “As the preeminent pain organization for research, treatment, education and advocacy, the American Pain Society will continue working to address major clinical and public policy issues that effect its members, such as balancing the benefits and risks associated with pain medications and procedures, securing more funding for pain research, and enhancing access to evidence-based interdisciplinary pain care for patients in need,” he said.
Dr. Terman received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the College of William and Mary in Virginia in 1980 followed by a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience at UCLA in 1985. He graduated from the University of Miami School of Medicine in 1987 before moving to the University of Washington for an anesthesiology residency, a clinical Pain Fellowship and ultimately joining the faculty there in 1991.
Dr. Terman is also a member of the University of Washington Graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, and has studied changes that take place in the central nervous system as a result of pain and analgesic drugs for more than two decades - authoring or co-authoring more than 120 scientific articles, abstracts and book chapters. He has served as director of pain research for the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and is the current Director of the Acute Pain Service at the University of Washington Medical Center. Nationally, he was selected for the Mayday Fund’s Pain and Society Fellowship in 2011, is a special government employee working as an advisor to the FDA, has worked with SAMHSA and the ONC to guide improvements in Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and is currently a member of the oversight panel for the National Pain Strategy Project sponsored by NIH and HHS.