I practice integrative pain and supportive care medicine at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Salt Lake City Health Care System where I established the Holistic Medicine Service. I serve as the VA National Lead for Massage Therapy with the Integrative Health Coordinating Center. I am medical director for Suncrest Hospice of Utah. As a voluntary servant in the state department of health I have made contributions in regulatory and policy areas of my expertise. Currently I serve with the Utah Medicaid Drug Utilization Review Board. I retired (July 2023) from the University of Utah after 25 years in pain medicine and palliative care at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I acted as a pain medicine and palliative care consultant at Primary Children's Medical Center for over twenty years. I was a founding member of both the Pain and Palliative Care Guidelines Panels of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. I am a Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and a Faculty Scholar of the Open Society Institute's Project on Death in America. I have been licensed in massage therapy for 45 years, and study complementary/alternative medicine now known as complementary/integrative health.
I have conducted research on neuropathic pain, opioids, novel nonopioid analgesics and cannabinoids.
I have a background in the performing arts. I enjoy spending time with my family, especially in the outdoors, dancing and making music.
It is of paramount importance to me that physicians advocate for the doctor-patient relationship so that we may fulfill our oath to relieve human suffering.
