Biography

John Oakley, MD, director of pain management at the Northern Rockies Pain Center in Montana, is a founding member of the American Neuromodulation Society.

Oakley spent two years as a clinical associate in surgical neurology at the National Institutes of Health. His principal areas of interest include electrophysiology of epilepsy, functional electric stimulation of the nervous system, and the etiology and control of chronic intractable pain. He received his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he completed his post-graduate training. He also completed the resident research program at the University of Washington's department of neurological surgery. Oakley is a member of numerous professional societies and has lectured extensively throughout the world.

Oakley is a member of the board of directors and the editorial board of the National Pain Foundation (NPF). As an NPF monthly columnist, Oakley's focus is on interventional pain management. Interventional pain medicine includes the diagnosis and treatment of pain by applying techniques that directly interact with the structures involved with a patient's pain. His Interventional Pain Management column focuses on the actions physicians can take to modify or manage the effects of pain, including introducing medications, electrical current, heat, cold, or chemicals at the sites within the body involved in producing pain.