2012 John and Emma Bonica Public Service Award

Ann O’Mara, PhD

Ann O’Mara is head of palliative research in the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In this position she manages a portfolio of symptom management and palliative and end-of-life care research projects. The majority of these projects are focused on the more common morbidities associated with cancer and its treatment, including pain, chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and psychosocial issues such as distress, anxiety, and depression. She is a member of several trans-National Institutes of Health (NIH) working groups and consortia (i.e., trans-NIH Pain Consortium) that were established to enhance research and promote collaboration among researchers across the many NIH institutes and centers that address morbidities.

Dr. O’Mara has conducted research on end-of-life care and educating nurses and physicians about palliative care. Her publications have focused primarily on quality-of-life issues facing patients with cancer and their families across the disease trajectory. Before coming to NCI Dr. O’Mara was director of the Advanced Practice Oncology Track at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She is a member of the Oncology Nursing Society, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Nurses Association, American Pain Society, and International Society for Quality of Life Research and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She has been a member of the Journal of Clinical Oncology editorial board, is the recipient of numerous NIH merit awards recognizing her efforts in promoting symptom management and quality-of-life research, and has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. Dr. O’Mara received her BS in nursing from the University at Buffalo, her MS in nursing from the Catholic University of America, and her PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park.

The John and Emma Bonica Public Service Award honors outstanding contributions by an individual or an organization to the field of pain through public education, dissemination of information, public service, or other efforts to further knowledge about pain. The award is named for John Bonica, a leading force in the development of the pain treatment movement, and his wife, Emma.