In 1994, Sean Mackey received his medical degree and a doctorate in electrical engineering, from the University of Arizona. A past president of the American Academy of Pain, he has authored more than 200 journal articles and book chapters and currently leads Stanford Medicine’s Division of Pain Medicine. “I did some rotations as an anesthesiology resident, and I saw how people’s lives could be changed with effective pain management,” he explains when asked why he chose to specialize in this particular area. “I felt that it was an important field to go into, with tremendous opportunity to make advances and improve people’s lives.”