Vice-Chair for the Disparities in Pain section of the American Pain Society
Editor for Resource Reviews for Pain Medicine, journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine

Donna Kalauokalani received her medical degree from the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School Of Medicine. She has completed post-graduate training in Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, Preventive Medicine, Public Health, and Health Services Research. She completed a prestigious fellowship in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar’s program and obtained her master’s degree in Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle.

While on faculty at University of California Davis, she established and directed the Pain Telemedicine Clinic in the Center for Health Technology at UCD Medical Center which provided consultative services to all California State Prisons. She has also developed a program for quality improvement for the California Department of Corrections for managing chronic pain management which is largely based on training their primary care work force.

Her research interests focus on the access and delivery of care to vulnerable populations and on understanding factors that influence need, demand and utilization of both conventional and alternative pain management services. Recent projects include evaluating a tailored patient education and coaching technique in reducing cancer related pain funded by the American Cancer Society; studying Racial Disparities in Treating Occupational Low Back Pain, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and evaluating the Community Oriented Pain-Management Exchange (COPE) Program, funded by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She also participates in the International Forum for Low Back Pain Research in Primary Care.

While on faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, she co-founded and chaired the Missouri Pain Initiative.

Dr. Kalauokalani lectures nationally and internationally on a wide range of topics in pain medicine. She is a member of the International Association of the Study of Pain and regularly participates in the International Forum for Low Back Pain Research in primary Care. She serves as reviewer for various medical journals, publishes on a broad range of pain medicine topics, and serves as Editor for Resource Reviews for Pain Medicine, journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. She has served as organizing committee member and Vice-Chair for the Disparities in Pain section of the American Pain Society. She advocates nationally for equal access to pain care and educates practitioners and policy makers in various settings about optimal pain treatment.

Sessions at Neurovations Events

2018 Napa Pain Conference

  • Evidence-based Strategies to Improve Patient Engagement & Adherence to Treatment Plans
  • Prescribing & Managing Naloxone
  • Improving Patient Self Management

Awards

  • National Leadership Award, as Honorary Chairman (Missouri) Physicians Advisory Board by the National Congressional Committee
  • One of America’s Top Physicians
  • Recognized for Outstanding Commitment to the People of Missouri by the Missouri Pain Initiative