Faculty of Science
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | CANADA B3H 4J1 | +1 (902) 494-3540

Patrick McGrath, OC, FRSC

Canada Research Chair in Pediatric Pain, Tier 1
Psychology

Education  

  • 1970, BA (Distinction), University of Saskatchewan
  • 1971, BA (Hons) with High Honours, University of Saskatchewan
  • 1972, MA University of Saskatchewan
  • 1974, Diploma in Clinical Psychology, Queen's University
  • 1979, PhD, Queen's University

Professional registration
1989-present, Registered Psychologist, Province of Nova Scotia Certificate No. 228

Honours and awards

  • 2006, Donald O. Hebb Award for Contributions to Psychology as a Science, Canadian Psychological Association
  • 2004, Distinguished Service Award, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dalhousie University
  • 2004, Inaugural Patrick Wall Lecturer, New Zealand Pain Society
  • 2004, Martin P. Levin Mentorship Award of the Society of Pediatric Psychology, American Psychological Association
  • 2003, Order of Canada (Officer
  • 2002, Canada Research Chair: Pediatric Pain
  • 2002, Cecil and Ida Green Visiting Professor, University of British of Columbia
  • 2001-2005, Killam Professor, Dalhousie University
  • 2001, Supervisor of and co-author with CIHR, Brain Star, Lynn Breau
  • 2000, Zubeck Lecturer, University of Manitoba

Editorial duties

  • Pain Research and Management, Member of the Editorial Board, 1993-present, Editor special issue: 2000
  • Pain, Associate Editor; Co Chair Pediatric Pain Panel, 1989-93, Associate Editor 1999-present
  • Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, Member of the Editorial Board, 1989-1998
  • Pain Research and Clinical Management Monograph Series, Member of the Editorial Board, 1989-present
  • Canadian Psychology / Psychologie Canadienne, Member of the Editorial Board, 1990-1998
  • Clinical Journal of Pain, Member of the Editorial Board, 1990-present
    Pain Medicine, Member of the Editorial Board and Associate Editor, 1999-present
  • Pediatric Pain List on the Internet, List co-owner, 1994-present
  • Pediatric Pain Letter, Editor and Publisher, 1996-2002, Publisher 2005-present
  • Sourcebook of Pediatric Pain, Editor and Publisher, 1998-present
  • Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Member of the Editorial Board, 1999- present
  • Faculty of 1000 Medicine:  Faculty member 2005-present
  • Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, Member of Editorial Board, 2005-present
  • Paediatrics and Child Health, Guest Editor for Special Issue on Pain in Child Health 2006

Teaching experience
Recent teaching has been:  Introductory psychology (large format, 900+ students) and graduate course in clinical research design in both Clinical Psychology and Health Informatics and a graduate class in Child Psychopathology. Past graduate and undergraduate courses include: child psychopathology, behavioural management, intellectual abilities, personality, abnormal psychology, psychological assessment, exceptional children, psychological measurement, health psychology, behavioural medicine.

Publications
More than 170 journal articles, 46 book chapters, and 13 books. Recent titles include Bringing Pain Relief to Children and Pain in Neonates and Infants. Dr. McGrath also writes Ask Doctor Pat, a weekly column in the Halifax Daily News.

Website
Pediatric Pain, Science Helping Children

E-mail: Dr. Patrick McGrath

Dr. Patrick McGrath

Pain in children

Pain control is one of the most difficult medical issues, given that no two patients experience pain in quite the same way, and that the measurement and management of pain can have a profound effect on the outcome of treatment. Dealing with pain in children is much more complex than in adult patients, since children often lack coping mechanisms and the ability to communicate the type and degree of pain they experience.

Dr. Patrick McGrath has built an international reputation for his groundbreaking work in the field of pain in young patients. He has developed behavioural pain measures for short sharp pain, for postoperative pain and for pain in children with severe cognitive impairment. His work on the treatment of migraine in adolescents is widely recognized. As Canada Research Chair in Pediatric Pain at Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre, Dr. McGrath will expand the work of the university's Pediatric Pain Research Lab in areas including: delivery of care by distance treatment; the use of brain waves for pain measurement, and the measurement and control of pain in cognitively impaired children and infants. The work will come under the umbrella of two main research themes: the efficient and effective delivery of services to treat pain and other problems; and the development of better measures of pain.

Outreach is a major thrust of the Pediatric Pain Research Lab, with ongoing projects that include the Pediatric Pain Sourcebook, a Web-based resource on pain protocols, policies and pamphlets, the Pediatric Pain Letter, a quarterly newsletter for professionals, the Pediatric Pain Listserv that has over 700 participants in 45 countries and a biennial international conference, the International Forum on Pediatric Pain that leads to the production of a book. Added to these existing programs for dissemination will be an outreach program called Bringing Health Home, which will deliver research-based care in an extremely cost-effective manner.

(Source: Canada Research Chairs)