2015 Kathleen Foley Journalist Award

Melanie Thernstrom
The Pain Chronicles

Melanie Thernstrom is the author of The New York Times bestseller, The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering. The New York Times called it “a stellar example of literary nonfiction.” It was a finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction.

A contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, Melanie has also written for The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. She is the author of two other nonfiction books, The Dead Girl, a memoir, and Halfway Heaven: Diary of a Harvard Murder, a work of investigative journalism. She was one of the authors of the National Academy of Science and Institute of Medicine’s report, “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research.” She won a 2013 Presidential Commendation from the American Academy of Pain Medicine and is currently on the board of advisors of ACTTION (Analgesic Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks), a public private partnership designed to facilitate the development of new analgesics. She lives in Palo Alto, CA, with her family.

The award is named for Dr. Foley in recognition of her contributions to furthering professional and public understanding about the need for effective cancer and end-of-life pain management. She is an attending neurologist for the Pain and Palliative Care Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and director of the Project on Death in America sponsored by the Open Society Institute.