Kathy Sapp, CEO
American Chronic Pain Association
Bio
Kathy Sapp
Kathy Sapp is CEO of the American Chronic Pain Foundation, as well as the Co-founder of Patient Mind Inc. Kathy has worked for Marion Labs, Marion Merrell Dow, Hoechst Marion Roussel, Aventis, Pharmion Corporation, and Teva Pharmaceuticals. She was responsible for forming alliances with hundreds of national and international advocacy organizations and third parties to enact mutually beneficial strategies to meet business and patient needs. Kathy managed advisory boards on a global basis while building strong relationships with advocacy organizations and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). Her established relationships include rare diseases (Huntington’s, aplastic anemia, multiple myeloma), bipolar disorder, diabetes, CV, neurology (pain, migraine, MS, epilepsy, narcolepsy), and oncology. Kathy evaluated and supported thousands of medical and patient education grants and sponsorship requests. Kathy developed collaborative agreement opportunities and built strategic advocacy plans and budgets. As a health advocate, her sponsorship of innovative and award-winning programs supported millions of people globally… so patients could engage in their healthcare rights.
Penney Cowan, Founder
American Chronic Pain Association
Bio
Penney Cowan
Penney Cowan is the founder and chief executive officer of the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA). She herself is a person with chronic pain and established the ACPA in 1980 to help others living with the condition. The ACPA provides peer support and education in pain management skills to people with pain and their families. The ACPA also works to build awareness about chronic pain among professionals, decision makers and the general public.
Since 1980, Cowan has been an advocate and consumer representative for pain issues. She was awarded the Jefferson Medal for Outstanding Citizen by the Institute for Public Service, Washington, and is listed in Who’s Who in America, 24th Edition. The American Pain Society awarded her the 2005 John and Emma Bonica Public Service Award, Presidential Commendation, American Academy of Pain Medicine, 2013 and the Elizabeth Narcessian Award for Outstanding Educational Achievements, from the American Pain Society, 2013.
She served as: Consumer Representative for the FDA/CDER Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee (AADPAC) for 2012 and was appointed to Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee of the National Insitute of Health from 2013 to 2015.
Cowan began the Partners for Understanding Pain campaign in 2002 in an attempt to raise awareness about the need to better understand, assess, and treat pain. There are more than 80 partner organizations. The campaign, under the direction of the ACPA, successfully established September as Pain Awareness Month.
Jonathan Cohen
American Chronic Pain Association
Bio
Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen is an MD/PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine/Carnegie Mellon University. He received his bachelor’s degree at Swarthmore College. During his time in Pittsburgh he has worked with the faculty to promote pain management education through inter-professional collaborations, student interest groups, curriculum restructuring, and establishing pain management programs for underserved communities. Recent projects include developing an inter-professional student-run pain clinic for underserved community members. His research interests include understanding the biological mechanisms of pain, identifying risk factors and interventions for patients with chronic pain, and developing strategies to increase student awareness and understanding of pain management.
Nicole Kelly
American Chronic Pain Association
Bio
Nicole Kelly
A communications strategic planning consultant and writer, Nicole is retired after ten years as a Principal and Communications Practice Leader for Buck Consultants in Pittsburgh. She previously held the same positions with the William M. Mercer Company for eight years. Prior to her consulting work, she was Manager of Corporate Communications for Allegheny International and held public relations positions at Allegheny General Hospital. She also taught in the Chatham University Masters of Professional Writing program. Her areas of expertise include communications strategic planning; opinion research, including both surveys and focus groups; multimedia personalized communications; video and web site development; executive communications; and broad human resources communications. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Nicole has served on the Board of Directors of the American Chronic Pain Association for more than 30 years. For the ACPA, she has developed educational videos, print materials, surveys, and the organization’s web site and was instrumental in launching the Partners for Understanding Pain September Pain Awareness Month campaign. She is a past president of the ACPA board of directors. A Pittsburgh native, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
Joanne H. Schneider, RN, PH.D.
American Chronic Pain Association
Bio
Joanne H. Schneider, RN, PH.D.
Joanne is a Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist and Adult Nurse Practitioner in Psychiatry/Pain Medicine in the Neurological Institute Center for Pain at the Cleveland Clinic. She has worked as a multidisciplinary team member in the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program for 23 years, which treats individuals with chronic pain, addiction and psychological issues. As part of her role, she evaluates patients to assess, plan and implement treatment of their chronic pain, orchestrate the care of a team of patients undergoing treatment in the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program, plus addresses psychological, substance use and relapse prevention issues. In addition, she see patients for follow-up to assess treatment outcome, provided medication management, and psychotherapy. She helps educate nursing staff, medical students, and residents in art of pain management.
Scott Farmer, MBA
COO, American Chronic Pain Association
Bio
Scott Farmer, MBA
20 years in medical education and 300 educational activities created, Scott has educated on 33 pain and emotional health conditions. Websites and smart interactive programs are his focus. Technical skills include web and app development, e-learning, PowerPoint, animation, video production, illustration, branch logic, needs assessment, corporate wellness systems, data collection, outcomes, and grant writing. Scott has an MBA, and is the Co-Founder of Patient Mind Inc., as well as the CEO of Brow Tine Consulting, LLC. He has authored one book and illustrated five books. Scott is the co-founder of MigrainePro© and the producer of WorkMigraine© and Primary Care Migraine© for the National Headache Foundation. His mission is to give people the resources and confidence needed to manage physical and emotional pain through high-quality and engaging education.
Board Members Emeritus
- Joseph Baim, Ph.D., Baim Associates
- Charles Lidz, Ph.D. University of Massachusetts
- Darlene Lovasik, R.N., M.N. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
- Edward Covington, M.D; Director of the Neurological Center for Pain in the Neurological Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation
