The NPF Council of Advisors are a diverse group of people with unique sets of skills and talents. They are committed to addressing the challenges and concerns of individuals whose lives are compromised by pain.

Kenneth M. Alo', M.D., is in private practice in Houston, Texas. He has served as president of Houston Texas Pain Management Center, and on the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston, and many other hospitals in the Houston area as well as internationally. He received his medical degree from Texas A&M University College of Medicine and served as chief resident in anesthesiology at Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals in the Texas Medical Center. Dr. Alo' also completed a specialized interventional pain management/pain medicine fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals and The Methodist Hospital. He has published numerous journal articles, chapters, and reviews regarding new techniques and treatment advances in pain management, including failed back surgery syndrome, intractable headache including transformed migraine, urge incontinence, pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain and discogenic back pain. Dr. Alo' serves on the governing and editorial boards of the International Neuromodulation Society and the American Neuromodulation Society.

Gerald Aronoff, M.D., is chairman of the department of pain medicine, Presbyterian Orthopedic Hospital. From 1976-1994, he was the director of the Boston Pain Center. He is past president of both the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the North Carolina Pain Society. Dr. Aronoff is a frequent lecturer and the author of Evaluation and Treatment of Chronic Pain, Handbook on the Rational Use of Medication for Pain, and Pain Centers: A Revolution in Health Care. His most recent book, Handbook on the Pharmacological Management of Chronic Pain is in press. His major areas of interest are chronic pain rehabilitation, pharmacological management of pain and preventing disability from chronic pain. Dr. Aronoff received his medical degree from New Jersey College of Medicine and completed his psychiatric residency at Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital, followed by a fellowship in psychosomatic and consultation psychiatry at Boston University Medical Center. He is board certified in pain medicine, forensic medicine, and psychiatry, and is certified by the American Board of Independent Medical Evaluators.

Mark Disorbio, Ed.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and is the president of Integrated Therapies, founded in 1985. Integrated Therapies provides multidisciplinary treatment for patients with delayed recovery from chronic pain. Dr. Disorbio has conducted extensive research in the area of chronic pain and is the co-author of the Battery for Health Improvement-2 (BHI-2) and the Brief Battery for Health Improvement–2 (BBHI-2). These internationally recognized psychomedical tests evaluate psycho-social and medical factors related to injured patients with chronic pain conditions. These tests are also used as outcome measures for medical procedures and treatment. He received his doctorate in counseling/clinical psychology from the University of Northern Colorado and has spent most of his career diagnosing and treating patients with psychological factors related to medical conditions. Dr. Disorbio is a diplomat in forensic medical psychology.

Lucille Gallagher, ARM, is a risk management consultant in the field of enterprise risk management, consulting with business and non-profit entities in the areas of risk analysis, risk financing and risk management solutions to reduce the of cost of risk relating to all areas of risk management and insurance. She previously was vice president of risk management for Monfort, Inc., ConAgra Red Meat Companies, as well as president of Weld Insurance Co.; a Monfort wholly owned captive insurance company. Ms. Gallagher was elected national president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society for 1994-1995. In 1994, she was named "Risk Manager of the Year" by Business Insurance magazine, and received the Risk & Insurance Management Society Richard W. Bland Award for work in the legislative and regulatory areas relating to risk management and insurance issues in 1985. In October 2000, Ms. Gallagher was recognized by Business Insurance magazine as one of 100 leading women executives worldwide in the insurance/reinsurance, brokerage, benefits, risk management and educational fields. She is currently a member of the board of directors of the University of Colorado Insurance Pool, appointed by the board of regents; member of the board of directors of Arapahoe House Foundation, the largest not-for-profit alcohol and drug treatment program in Colorado, and member of the board of directors of Colorado Neurological Institute.

Richard Lieb is former chief executive officer of The Dewey Companies. He is on the board of SEI Investments, a technology and investments company located in Oaks, Pa., and OAO Technology, a technology company in Landover, Md. Mr. Lieb is vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, a director of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and on the advisory board of Cross Atlantic Capital, a venture firm located in Radnor, Pa., specializing in second stage financing of new companies located in Radnor, Pa. He served in Vietnam as platoon commander and intelligence officer from 1970 to 1971 and later was awarded a Bronze Star with a Combat "V", the Navy Achievement Medal and a Meritorious Unit Citation. He is a member of the Vietnam Memorial Corporate Council. Mr. Lieb received a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a master's degree in finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Loes, M.D., is the director of the Arizona Pain Institute. He is a monthly columnist and section editor of both Alternative/Complementary Health and Arthritis for The NPF. He serves as a consultant at SW Pain Management and is an assistant professor at the University of Arizona. Dr. Loes has had extensive training in complementary or alternative (integrative) medicine including hypnosis, acupuncture and homeopathy. He serves on a variety of committees and editorial boards and is published extensively. He has co-authored numerous books, including: Arthritis: The Doctor's Cure, The Aspirin Alternative, Healing Sports Injuries Naturally and The Healing Power of Jerusalem Artichoke Fiber, each book exploring the alternative or complementary methods of healing naturally. Dr. Loes recently wrote and published The Healing Response: Applying the Ten Principles and Laws of Healing. He earned his bachelor's degree in linguistics from the University of California at Berkeley and his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Loes completed his internal medicine residency with fellowship training in clinical pharmacology at the University of Arizona and earned further board certifications in addiction and pain medicine.

Bill McCarberg, M.D., practices family medicine at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego and is an assistant clinical professor (voluntary) for the University of California, San Diego. He served as director of the chronic pain management program for Kaiser (San Diego) from 1984 to 2003. Dr. McCarberg is president of the Western Pain Society, served on the board of directors of the American Pain Society from 2000 to 2003, and chairs several committees for various pain-related organizations, including the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Pain Society, and the National Institutes of Health. He has published numerous articles, serves on the editorial board of Pain Medicine News, is a peer reviewer for the American Pain Society Guideline for the Management of Pain in Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Juvenile Chronic Arthritis, and speaks nationally about pain management throughout the year. Dr. McCarberg was the 2003 recipient of the Elizabeth Narcessian Award for Outstanding Educational Achievements in the Field of Pain from the American Pain Society. He received his medical degree from Northwestern University and is board certified in pain medicine and family practice, with added certification in geriatric medicine.

Brenda C. McClain, M.D. DABPM, is the director of Pediatric Pain Management Services and an attending physician in pediatric anesthesiology for Yale-New Haven Hospital. She is also an associate professor in the department of anesthesiology. Dr. McClain received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, completed her residency in anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and completed a fellowship in pediatric anesthesia at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include pediatric pain related to sickle hemoglobinopathies, the impact of professional attitudes on pediatric pain management and quality of life in terminally ill children. Dr. McClain has written numerous articles and book chapters, speaks nationally and internationally, and has served on numerous national committees for organizations such as the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the American Cancer Society. She is board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine.

John McDonald, M.D., chairman of the department of anesthesiology at Harbor-University of California-Los Angeles, is a double-boarded specialist in obstetrics/gynecology and anesthesiology. He has championed the field of obstetric anesthesiology for more than 28 years as director of obstetric anesthesia at the University of Southern California and the University of Colorado, and as chairman of the department of anesthesiology at Ohio State University. His career in obstetric anesthesiology culminated in the successful publishing of Principles and Practice of Obstetric Analgesia and Anesthesia in 1994. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Board of Anesthesiology. He received his medical degree from the University of Iowa, completed his internship at the University of Oregon, his obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of Iowa and his anesthesiology residency at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Gabor Racz, M.D., is professor and chairman emeritus and director of pain services at Texas Tech University Health Science Center. He currently is working on building an international treatment/research pain center on the Lubbock, Texas, campus. In 1977, he became the first chairman of anesthesiology at Texas Tech University Health Science Center and, in 1998, was awarded a $1 million endowed chair in recognition of his "greatness in patient care, teaching and research" at Texas Tech University Health Science Center and University Medical Center. Internationally recognized for his extensive work in the treatment of CRPS, Dr. Racz is in demand as a visiting professor, consultant, advisor and author. He is a regular faculty member with education groups, including the Dannemiller Memorial Education Foundation, Pain Net, Inc., and Clinical Education Services, Inc. He has earned numerous awards and honors and has published a variety of book chapters and journal articles. Dr. Racz served as house surgeon and physician at the Royal Southern Hospital in Liverpool before coming to the United States in 1963 for an anesthesiology residency at SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, N.Y.

B. Todd Sitzman, M.D., M.P.H., currently serves as medical director of The Center for Pain Medicine, a multidisciplinary comprehensive pain clinic in Hattiesburg, Miss. He has been active in graduate clinical education, serving as consultant in anesthesiology and pain management at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, and was a member of the academic faculty of Mayo Medical School from 1997-2002. Dr. Sitzman received his medical and master of public health degrees from Tulane University, New Orleans. Following an internship in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, he received anesthesiology and pain management training at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville. Dr. Sitzman is board certified in both anesthesiology and pain medicine and has published more than 45 scientific abstracts, articles, and book chapters. He is a member of numerous national and international pain societies and holds membership on several national committees. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors of the American Board of Pain Medicine and the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

Peter Staats, M.D., is a nationally recognized pain management specialist who remains associated with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as an associate professor in the departments of anesthesiology and critical care and oncology where he was the founder and chief of the division of pain medicine in the department of anesthesiology and critical care. Dr. Staats received his BA/BS with high honors from the University of California and his medical degree from the University of Michigan. After postgraduate training at the University of Hawaii, he completed his residency at the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Staats is the author or editor of several books, including Radiographic Imaging in Pain Management and Regional Anesthesia and Interventional Pain Management. His research and findings, which have appeared in nearly 200 publications, have earned him national and international recognition. He has been featured in articles in Prevention Magazine, Modern Maturity, and USA Today. He is a frequent lecturer on topics related to the management of chronic pain and has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, The McGloughlin Report, The Discovery Channel and Good Morning America. His leadership and innovative pain management therapies, for which there are patents issued and pending, have been recognized by several professional journals, including: Who's Who In America, America's Top Doctors, "A Top Doc" published by Good Housekeeping Magazine, and the Guide To America's Top Physicians. Dr. Staats serves on the boards of the National Pain Foundation, the Academy of Pain Medicine and the American Pain Society. He is past-president of the Southern Pain Society and of the North American Neuromodulation Society. In January, Dr. Staats' research in the area of refractory pain in patients with cancer and AIDS was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Richard Stieg, M.D., M.H.S., Editor-in-Chief of the National Pain Foundation's web site, is the medical director of the Pain Medicine Center Clinic, Centennial Group in Denver, Colorado. He is an associate clinical professor of neurology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Dr. Stieg created the first comprehensive multidisciplinary chronic pain treatment center in Colorado at Boulder Memorial Hospital and served as its first medical director. He also was the executive medical director for the Pain Rehabilitation Program, Center for Spine Rehabilitation and the Colorado Rehabilitation Institute. Dr. Stieg served as the medical director of the Pain Evaluation and Treatment Institute at the University of Pittsburgh from 1987 through 1989. He has served on numerous committees and boards, most notably the AMA President's Council in 1994, treasurer of the American Pain Society in 1992, and president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine in 1994. He was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Disability and has served on the editorial staff of the Clinical Journal of Pain and Pain Medicine. Dr. Stieg received the Phillip M. Lippe Award from the American Academy of Pain Medicine in 1997. Among his numerous publications, his most recent Roadblocks to Effective Pain Treatment, explores the issues of accessibility of treatment options for the chronic pain patient. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1963.