American Pain Society Executive Selected as Mayday Fellow

CHICAGO, Sept. 4, 2013 — Catherine H. Underwood, MBA CAE, chief executive officer of the American Pain Society (APS), has been selected by the Mayday Foundation as one of six experts in pain management to be Fellows of The Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship. The new Fellows come from across the United States and Canada, specializing in a wide range of health care disciplines, including neuroscience, primary care, physical and rehabilitation medicine, patient advocacy, and pain policy.

The Mayday Fellowship program is in its ninth year, and will continue for one more session in 2014. It provides pain care leaders with skills to advocate for effective pain management. Fellows learn how to better communicate with the media, policymakers and others to raise visibility for their issues. They will develop skills to advocate and communicate on many of the issues they deal with everyday, including the under-treatment of pain, pain research and treatment, pain education, and policies to improve pain care.

“The applicant pool was one of the largest and most impressive to date,” said Russell K. Portenoy, MD, Chairman of The Mayday Fellowship Advisory Committee, which selects the Fellows each year. “The response showed us that researchers, clinicians and advocates are becoming increasingly aware of the need for effective communication about the urgent problem of undertreated pain. More than ever, the patient’s voice must be part of the public and professional discourse about pain-related policy and practice,” he added.

Underwood has served APS as cheif executive officer since 1999. Under her leadership, the organization has become known as one of the most influential pain management professional societies in the United States and its annual scientific meeting and peer-review publication, The Journal of Pain, have been widely praised for strong, cutting-edge scientific content.

In addition to her responsibilities with APS, she previously served as executive director of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses and Wound, Ostomy Continence Nurses Society. Prior to joining the Chicago-based Association Management Center, which manages operations for APS, NANN, WOCN and more than 20 other associations, Underwood was executive vice president at the Palliative Care Center of the North Shore outside Chicago from 1998-1999 and served as vice president at Northshore University Health System (formerly Evanston Hospital) from 1991 to 1997. She is an active member of the American Society of Association Executives and the Association Forum of Chicagoland, volunteers for the Boys Scouts of America, and is a former president of the Glenview Chamber of Commerce.

“This is an exciting and challenging time for the pain community with the advent of the IOM report on Relieving Pain in America, the convening of the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC), and now the expansion of its role in the creation of a national policy on pain,” said Underwood. “I am honored to be chosen as a Mayday Fellow and look forward to this unique opportunity as I want to be able to contribute to these efforts in the most effective way possible.”

About The Mayday Fund

Established in 1992, The Mayday Fund is dedicated to further Shirley Steinman Katzenbach’s commitment to social and medical causes. Her special interest in the treatment of pain forms the core of the Fund’s mission. Over the last 20 years, Mayday has contributed to many different projects, among them, surveys of public attitudes to pain and its treatment; clinical and academic research; assistance to public and professional advocacy groups; the worldwide documentary film, “Life Before Death,” which raises awareness about the global crisis of untreated and undertreated pain; and most recently, a video to help health care professionals understand the importance of good communication and treatment for pain and palliative care.

About the American Pain Society

Based in Chicago, Ill., the American Pain Society (APS) is a multidisciplinary community that brings together a diverse group of scientists, clinicians and other professionals to increase the knowledge of pain and transform public policy and clinical practice to reduce pain-related suffering. APS was founded in 1978 with 510 charter members. From the outset, the group was conceived as a multidisciplinary organization. The Board of Directors includes physicians, nurses, psychologists, basic scientists, pharmacists, policy analysts and others. For more information on APS, visitwww.americanpainsociety.org.