Our Team

Tonya M Palermo, PHD

Dr. Tonya Palermo is Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at University of Washington with adjunct appointments in Pediatrics and Psychiatry. She holds the Hughes M. and Katherine Blake Endowed Professorship in Health Psychology. Dr. Palermo serves as Associate Director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Dr. Palermo completed her undergraduate training at UCLA in Psychology and her PhD at Case Western Reserve University in Clinical Psychology. She completed residency training at Ohio State University followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric pain management at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Palermo has been in Seattle since 2010 where she directs the Pediatric Pain & Sleep Innovations Lab. The focus of her research is on behavioral, psychosocial and family factors that affect pain experiences, the interrelationship of sleep and pain, and innovative psychological treatments for managing and preventing chronic pain. Currently, Dr. Palermo serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pain. Dr. Palermo has developed and evaluated several internet and mobile applications to deliver cognitive-behavioral interventions for chronic pain, has published over 290 articles, and has published two books on cognitive-behavioral therapy. She is active in training clinician-scientists at the postdoctoral and faculty level and directs the T32 postdoctoral training program in anesthesiology research at the University of Washington.

View Profile

Emily F Law, PHD

Dr. Emily F. Law is an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a pediatric psychologist in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She provides clinical services in the multidisciplinary headache clinic and pain management clinic at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She received a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 2010 and completed her pre-doctoral internship in pediatric/child clinical psychology at UCLA Medical Center. Law completed her post-doctoral training under the mentorship of Dr. Tonya Palermo at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Her research focuses on evaluating family psychosocial risk in youth with chronic headache and developing and testing behavioral interventions for youth with headache who have comorbid conditions such as poor sleep.

View Profile

See Wan Tham, MD

Dr. See Wan Tham is an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is a pediatric anesthesiologist and pain physician and provides clinical services as an anesthesiologist and in the multidisciplinary pain management clinic at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She received her MB BS at the University of Sydney, Australia in 2001 followed by anesthesiology residency at the State University of New York (Syracuse). She then completed pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Her research focus is on identifying the mechanisms underlying the relationship between pain and sleep in pediatric populations with chronic pain conditions. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to understand the longitudinal trajectories of sleep disturbances and autonomic function in children and adolescents with chronic abdominal pain.

View Profile

Caitlin Beth Murray, PHD

Dr. Caitlin Murray is an assistant professor and a pediatric psychologist in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She provides clinical services in the pain management clinic at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Loyola University Chicago and completed her predoctoral internship training in pediatric psychology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Columbus, Ohio). Her research focuses on elucidating unique health and developmental issues facing young adults with chronic painful conditions, with the long-term goal of creating tailored psychological interventions that target outcomes of highest importance and interest to this population.

View Profile

Nancy Lau, PHD

Dr. Nancy Lau is an Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She received her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Harvard University. She completed her psychology residency training at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital, followed by an NIH-funded T32 postdoctoral research fellowship in pediatric palliative care at the University of Washington. Dr. Lau’s research focuses on the development, testing, and implementation of digital mental health interventions for teens and young adults with cancer.

View Profile

Teresa Ward, PhD, RN, FAAN

Dr. Teresa Ward is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine with an adjunct appointment in Nursing. She earned her undergraduate degree in Nursing at Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales, a Master of Science in Nursing at Drexel University, and a PhD at University of California, San Francisco. She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the School of Nursing at the University of Washington. Teresa's research focuses on sleep health and tailored interventions that integrate technology, behavior change, and shared-management strategies for children, adolescents, and their caregivers to promote sleep and improve health and wellbeing. As a nurse scientist, Teresa's research interests grew from her clinical practice as a nurse practitioner in a pediatric pulmonary and sleep disorders center where she managed behavioral and medical sleep problems. Teresa and her interdisciplinary team partner with children, adolescents, and their families in the design and development of sleep interventions.

View Profile

Bethany Pester, PhD

Bethany Pester is an acting assistant professor and pain psychologist in the UW Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Wayne State University and completed a predoctoral clinical internship at the Charleston Consortium Internship Program with a focus on behavioral medicine. She recently completed a 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where she developed, conducted, and tested various nonpharmacological interventions for chronic pain and post-surgical pain. During her training, she collaborated with interdisciplinary teams within the Harvard Medical System, Medical University of South Carolina, and academic medical centers across Michigan to study biopsychosocial approaches to understand, treat, and prevent chronic pain. For example, some of her research explored the influence of romantic partners and social media on pain treatment outcomes. Bethany aspires to lead interdisciplinary teams to effectively and compassionately assess and treat people with acute and chronic pain and to advance research to better understand these complex conditions and translate discoveries into effective personalized treatments for children, adolescents, and adults.

Rui Li, MBBS, PhD

Dr. Rui Li is a postdoctoral fellow at Seattle Children's Research Institute under the primary mentorship of Dr. Tonya Palermo. She received her bachelor's degree in preventive medicine in China and her PhD in epidemiology from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Dr. Li is dedicated to investigating pain in women and youth. Her research centers around three areas: (1) evaluating acute and chronic pain, (2) characterizing pain burdens, and (3) unraveling the causes and origins of various centralized pain disorders. She aims, through her research, to lower the public health burden of chronic pain in women and youth through preventing its occurrence and alleviating its impact.

Daron Michelle Vandeleur, MD

Dr. Daron Vandeleur is a T32 fellow and pediatric chronic pain physician in the UW Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine/Seattle Children’s Research Institute under the mentorship of Dr. Tonya Palermo. She completed both her undergraduate training (in neurobiology and global health) and medical training at the University of Washington. Her pediatric residency was completed at University of California San Francisco and chronic pain fellowship at the University of Washington. She is motivated by the patients she sees in clinic to improve and expand access to pain care. Her research includes understanding the sociocultural context of pediatric chronic pain, increasing knowledge of commonly used pain treatments, improving the transition from pediatric to adult pain care, and expanding access to pain care through innovative methods such as mobile health and community-delivered interventions.

View Profile

Andrew Rogers, PhD

Dr. Andrew Rogers is a T32 postdoctoral fellow and clinical psychologist in the UW Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine/Seattle Children’s Research Institute under the mentorship of Dr. Tonya Palermo. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Houston and completed his pre-doctoral internship at the University of Washington Medical Center/Fred Hutch Cancer Center. His research focuses on identifying psychosocial vulnerabilities to chronically painful medical conditions and substance use, with a focus on pain and opioid use among adolescents and young adults with cancer. The long-term goal of his research is to develop personalized cognitive-behavioral interventions to improve pain management and reduce opioid-related negative consequences for vulnerable medical populations.