Meet the scientists
Introducing five researchers collaborating on the McGill Pain Centre cannabis trial
Following the announcement that the McGill Pain Centre would be launching a one-year pilot research project examining the potential benefits of cannabis as a pain-reliever, we thought wed take an opportunity to introduce the five McGill University Health Centre researchers collaborating on the trial:
mark.ware [at] muhc.mcgill.ca (Dr Mark Ware) is an assistant anesthesia professor at McGill, a clinician and principal investigator of the McGill Pain Centres cannabis study. He first developed an interest in using cannabis for pain management while working with adult sickle cell patients in Jamaica. Since moving to Montreal in October 1999, to participate in the Canadian Medical Marijuana Research Program, Dr Ware has worked as the Consultant Principal Investigator to the Community Research Initiative of Toronto, where he created the research strategy and pilot protocol for the use of cannabis for symptom relief in persons living with HIV/AIDS in Canada. He designed and conducted a questionnaire of the patterns and prevalence of cannabis use in the AIDS community; a survey thats now being used as a template to generate similar data from pain patients. A member of the International Cannabinoid Research Society and the Canadian Pain Society, he is also founding member and was recently appointed Scientific Director of the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CCIC); investigators interested in working under the Medical Marijuana Research Program.
Dr Gary J. Bennett is a Canada Senior Research Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry and Department of Anesthesia at McGill and director of Pain Research at the MUHCs Montreal General Hospital. He has served on the American Pain Societys Board of Directors, the Editorial Board for Pain from 1986 to 1999, the journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain, and currently serves on the Editorial Board for Pain Medicine, the journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. He was awarded the American Pain Societys Frederick W. L. Kerr Basic Science Research Award in 1996 and the American Academy of Pain Medicines Founder Award in 2001. Over the past 25 years, his research has focused on the mechanisms underlying normal and abnormal pain sensations, and the pharmacological basis of pain control.
Dr Jean-Paul Collet is an associate professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill and Director of the Randomized Clinical Trial Unit at the Jewish General Hospital, where he oversees several multicentre, national and international randomized clinical trials. He is also associate director of Clinical Research for the Lady Davis Institute and scientific advisor for the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé au Québec. His research projects in pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics have focused on everything from pain management to drug exposure. Dr Collet is a board member of the Quebec Network for Drug Use and chair of the Drug Impact Axis. He is collaborating in the development of a new approach in medicine called Patient Health Management.
Dr Ann Gamsa is a psychologist specializing in chronic pain, Dr Gamsa has been a pain clinician for 16 years and has also taught psychology and been involved in individual or group psychotherapy for two decades. Her research and writings have focused on chronic pain. She is currently interim coordinator and Director of Psychological Services at the McGill Pain Centre.
Dr Stan Shapiro is a full professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill. He is also a founding member of the Clinical Trial Research Group at McGill and a consultant to the Randomized Clinical Trials Unit at the Jewish General Hospital. He has been involved in the conception, design, analysis, and reporting of clinical trials in a wide array of content areas, including trials of pharmacological agents, behavioral interventions, and medical devices, and has served for an extended period of time on committees in both Canada and the US that review and monitor clinical trial activity. He is the co-editor of Clinical Trials Issues and Approaches.
