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
Centers/Programs
Training Programs
Other Affiliations
UWMC Center for Pain Relief
Scholarly Expertise
- Addiction
- Addiction psychiatry/psychology
- Adult Psychiatry/Psychology
- Anxiety disorders
- Consult psychiatry/psychology
- Depression
- Ethics
- Health risk behavior(s)
- Health services and health policy
- Medically complex
- Medication management
- Outpatient psychiatry/psychology
- Pain, including chronic pain
- Palliative care
- Patient-centered outcomes
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Pragmatic clinical trials
- Primary care
- Psychiatric problems
- Psychiatric specialties
- Settings
- Telemedicine
- Telepsychiatry/psychology
- Patient-centered care, patient empowerment
- Philosophy of medicine and psychiatry
Clinical Expertise
- Addictions and substance use disorders
- Addictive behaviors
- Adult psychiatry/psychology
- Anxiety disorders/social phobias
- Chronic pain
- Co-morbid medical conditions
- Consultation-Liaison psychiatry/psychology
- Depression
- General psychiatric illness and conditions
- Mood Disorders
- Outpatient psychiatry/psychology
- Palliative psychiatry/psychology
- Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
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
(2026 Jul 1)
Pain 167(7): 1731
Sullivan MD, Williams ACC
(2026 Jun)
Pain Pract 26(5): e70177
Wilson L, van den Berk-Clark C, Moore R, Kottenstette JB, Sullivan MD, Scherrer JF
(2026 Jun 1)
Pain 167(6): e170-e179
Edlund MJ, Thomas SM, Hirsch S, Chang S, Bobashev G, Wagner LK, Thompson JE, Wu LT, Dolor RJ, Curtis J, Gulur P, Chelminski P, Ives TJ, Goldstein AO, Trout S, Archer KR, Goyal P, McKernan LC, Brason FW 2nd, Sullivan MD, McCormack L, INSPIRE Study Team
(2026 Jul)
Psychiatry Res 361(): 117096
Scherrer JF, Salas J, Naidu A, Secrest S, Wilson L, Pappas C, Lustman PJ, Ahmedani B, Carpenter RW, Miller-Matero LR, Sullivan MD
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