We envision a world in which pain is treated effectively, so all people living with pain can lead full and productive lives.

Kate Nicholson

FOUNDER + EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

kate@nationalpain.org

Kate Nicholson, JD, worked as a civil rights attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice for 18 years, where she litigated and managed cases, coordinated federal disability policy, and drafted the current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations. Kate developed intractable pain after a surgical injury which impaired her ability to sit, stand, or walk for two decades. 

Dawn Gibson

SECRETARY

dawnmgibson@gmail.com

Dawn Gibson entered health advocacy in 2011 and founded the acclaimed twitter chat group, Spoonie Chat, in 2013, growing it into a thriving community of mutual support, friendship, solidarity for patients, and a place for medical students and clinicians curious to hear directly from patients. Dawn lives with Ankylosing Spondylitis.

Julie Reiskin

TREASURER

jreiskin@ccdconline.org

Julie Reiskin, LSCW has been Executive Director of the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (CCDC) since 1996. CCDC is the premiere organization in Colorado advocating for disability rights. Its mission is to advocate for social justice for people with all types of disabilities. As a wheelchair user with Multiple Sclerosis, Julie is deeply concerned about the laws limiting access to pain treatment and medication and their disparate impact on members of the disability community.

Lindsay Baran

lindsaybaran@gmail.com

Lindsay Baran, MS is a Research Director at NORC at the University of Chicago in the Health Care Evaluation Department. Her work focuses on stakeholder engagement, disability accessibility, and program evaluation. Prior to NORC, Lindsay worked for over 15 years in disability policy, advocacy, research, and service provision, most recently as the Policy Director at the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), a national grassroots disability rights organization. At NCIL, Lindsay worked with policymakers, partner organizations, and stakeholders across the country to coordinate and implement NCIL's legislative and advocacy activities, and she started and co-chaired NCIL’s Chronic Pain/ Opioids Task Force along with NPAC’s Kate Nicholson.

Martha Kenney, MD

martha.kenney@duke.edu

Martha Kenney, MD is a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric anesthesiologist who completed medical school, residency, and fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University. She is currently an assistant professor at Duke University in the Department of Anesthesiology, where she conducts interdisciplinary research in identifying predictors of severe and chronic pain in adolescents and young adults in SCD. Her research program is supported by 5-year K award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Dr. Kenney also holds several prominent national leadership positions, including editorial board member for The Journal of Pain. 

Quána Madison

Quána Madison is an artist, consultant, mindfulness teacher and arts-based wellness instructor. Expressive arts revived her soul after enduring cancer previvor treatments and developing disruptive life-changing chronic illnesses. She has fibromyalgia, chronic pain syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, peripheral neuropathy and autoimmune disease. She is the author of the memoir, LoSing Strength & Dexterity, a journey of pain, suffering, creative coping and searching for inner peace told through letters, poetry and reflections.

Laura Mills

lauraphylmills@gmail.com

Laura Mills is a human rights researcher and advocate. She previously worked at Human Rights Watch, where she conducted research on the right to health, disability rights, and older person’s rights in the US, Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asia.

In 2018, for Human Rights Watch, she authored a 99-page report, Not Allowed to Be Compassionate: Chronic Pain, the Overdose Crisis, and Unintended Harms in the US, which highlighted the impact of restrictive policies and practices on chronic pain patients.

Ola Ojewumi

oojewumi@gmail.com

Ola Ojewumi is an activist, writer, speaker, and non-profit founder. She is also a double organ transplant (heart and kidney) and cancer survivor. As a result of her health issues, Ola became a wheelchair user who suffers from chronic pain. As an advocate, she has advised the Obama Administration on policies to advance the lives of people living with disabilities, and she has held internships in the White House, with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic National Committee, and Congressmen Albert R. Wynn’s Congressional Office.

Laura Wandner

Laura Wandner, PhD is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on improving pain and migraine care through patient-centered research, with an emphasis on patient-reported outcomes, treatment outcomes, and engagement of people with lived experience. She also supports research workforce development and helps lead the Neurology Fellowship research rotation at Mount Sinai. Previously, Dr. Wandner served as Branch Chief of the Office of Pain Policy and Planning at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), where she led clinical pain research programs, workforce development, and data harmonization initiatives.