Dr. Steven Paul Cohen MD

Steven P. Cohen, MD, obtained his medical degree at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, completed an anesthesiology residency at Columbia University, and a pain management fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. Currently, he is Professor of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, as well as Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He is also Director of the Blaustein Pain Treatment Center, Medical Education and Quality Assurance for the Pain Management Division at Johns Hopkins, and Director of Pain Research at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Dr. Cohen has been very active in teaching and pain research in recent years, having published over 250 peer-reviewed articles, reviews and book chapters in the past 15 years. Among his major contributions are the development of an FDA-approved technique for treating sacroiliac joint pain (lateral branch radiofrequency denervation), inventing the intravenous ketamine test to help guide treatment in patients with chronic pain, and performing the first studies evaluating the epidural administration of biological agents for pain. These articles have been featured in some of the top general medical journals including “Lancet”, “CMAJ”, “BMJ”, “Annals of Internal Medicine” and “JAMA-Internal Medicine”. His research has been the subject of articles in the Science Section of the New York Times on 4 separate occasions. He has been the first author on the “Pain” chapter in the last 2 editions of “Cecil Textbook of Medicine”, and was listed in 2014 as one of the top 10 experts in the world for back pain based on quantitative analysis of publications.

In addition to his academic work, Dr. Cohen is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army, and was deployed 4 times in support of operations in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. He also serves as the Reserve Liaison to the Pain Management Consultants to the U.S. Army and Navy Surgeons General. Dr. Cohen has previously presented data on pain management in service members to the U.S. Congress, FDA and General Officers. His research was instrumental in the passage of the 2008 Military Pain Care Act, and he served as an inaugural member of the U.S. Army Medical Advisory Board. His previous awards include the American Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine John J. Bonica Award, ASIPP Public Service Award, Donlin M. Long Pain Award, Michael J. Cousins Award Lecture, American Academy of Pain Medicine Founder’s Award,