It is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Robert Gerwin who has written the editorial for the first and second issues [double issue] of the 2008 Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain. Dr. Gerwin was the program chair for the 2007 International MYOPAIN Congress on fibromyalgia syndrome and myofascial pain syndrome held in Washington, DC, in August. He and his program committee did an outstanding job in the choice of speakers and topics for the program. Their diligent work will be seen in the following pages.
Dr. Gerwin is a board-certified neurologist who has been in practice in the Washington, DC, area since 1973. His practice includes a variety of pain disorders, specializing in the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome and fibromyalgia syndrome.
Prior to entering private practice, Dr. Gerwin completed a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health and served in the Medical Corps of the United States Air Force. He is on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in the Department of Neurology, and is an attending physician at the Johns Hopkins Pain Treatment Center. He specializes in the field of chronic pain and has a special interest in musculoskeletal pain, a field in which he has published and lectured worldwide. He has had the opportunity to work with the late Dr. Janet G. Travell and with Dr. David Simons, who developed the concepts and management approach for myofascial pain. Dr. Gerwin has been refining the techniques of trigger point injection and dry needling for more than two decades.
Dr. Gerwin is one of the editors of the well received medical text book Clinical Mastery in the Treatment of Myofascial Pain, published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain. He has contributed to the second edition of Simons, Travell, and Simons' Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, Vol. 1. Dr. Gerwin has developed a teaching video series, An Integrated Management of Myofascial Pain, published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. He has written many chapters and articles, and he has lectured worldwide on the topics of the etiology, nature, and management of musculoskeletal and chronic pain syndromes.
Dr. Gerwin was on the American Pain Society committee that developed guidelines for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, a member of the International Association for the Study of Pain, and a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management, from which he received the prestigious Janet G. Travell, MD Soft Tissue Management Award in 1994. Dr. Gerwin is certified in pain management by the American Academy of Pain Medicine.
I. Jon Russell, MD, PhD, Editor