Mark Sullivan, MD, PhD

Personal Statement

My clinical service and research focuses on the interaction of mental and physical illness, especially in patients with chronic pain. Much of my research in recent decades has focused on the risks of treating chronic pain with opioids. I have developed educational programs and outcome tracking tools to assist with opioid treatment of chronic pain. I have published a book about patient empowerment in chronic disease care, The Patient as Agent of Health and Health Care (Oxford, 2017). I have another book written with Jane Ballantyne forthcoming, The Right to Pain Relief and other deep roots of the opioid epidemic (Oxford, 2022).

Education

Vanderbilt Univ. Sch. of Medicine Medical education, 1984
Univ. of Missouri Columbia Internship, Family Medicine
UW - Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Residency, Psychiatry

Department Affiliations

Other Affiliations

UWMC Center for Pain Relief

Teaching Philosophy

​I like to have trainees manage patients under my supervision. Trainees need real responsibility to learn and develop management skills.
In didactic sessions, I strive for interaction between myself and trainees. I generally teach in a seminar format centered around case presentations. I expect all trainees to contribute to the discussion and the learning of others.

Recent Publications

Efflux pumps and membrane permeability contribute to intrinsic antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium abscessus.
(2025 Apr)
PLoS Pathog 21(4): e1013027
McGowen K, Funck T, Wang X, Zinga S, Wolf ID, Akusobi C, Denkinger CM, Rubin EJ, Sullivan MR

Development of molecularly imprinted polymers for the detection of human chorionic gonadotropin.
(2025 Mar 26)
Sci Rep 15(1): 10436
Zubrytė R, Mavliutova L, García Y, Sullivan MV, Turner NW, Patitucci F, Polania LC, Jiménez VA, Porter R, Mattsson A, Sellergren B

Incorporation of polymerizable linkers into aptamers for high-affinity nanoscale molecularly imprinted polymer hybrids: analysis of positional selectivity.
(2025 Apr 2)
J Mater Chem B 13(14): 4374-4385
Sullivan MV, Allabush F, Mendes PM, Tucker JHR, Turner NW

Deep learning-based prediction of chemical accumulation in a pathogenic mycobacterium.
(2024 Dec 16)
bioRxiv
Sullivan MR, Rubin EJ

Phage Display Against 2D Metal-Organic Nanosheets as a New Route to Highly Selective Biomolecular Recognition Surfaces.
(2024 Nov 13)
Small
Wood AC, Johnson EC, Prasad RRR, Sullivan MV, Turner NW, Armes SP, Staniland SS, Foster JA

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