Lisa J. Stearns MD

Dr. Lisa Stearns, founder and medical director of Center for Pain and Supportive Care, is the world’s foremost expert in interventional therapy for cancer pain and is internationally renowned for her research and expertise with intrathecal pumps.

Dr. Stearns is committed to educating patients and healthcare professionals about the most effective pain management and supportive care techniques. Upon receiving her medical degree from the University of Nebraska in 1991 and completing her residency in anesthesiology and her fellowship in pain management, Dr. Stearns became one of only a handful of interventional pain specialists to focus her practice on palliative medicine.

In 2007 when Dr. Stearns founded the Center for Pain and Supportive Care (CPSC) in Phoenix Arizona, she set out to tackle what she saw as fragmented and narrow care for patients with chronic pain. Dr. Stearns has diligently worked to create a diverse team of providers, including specialists in cancer-related and chronic pain, supportive care, advanced therapies, interventional pain management, yoga rehabilitation, and medication management, among others.

Dr. Stearns founded the Valley Cancer Pain Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated solely to cancer pain research, to raise awareness and to educate families, patients and providers on integrating interventional pain treatments. She is also a co-founder and executive committee member of the Cancer Pain Research Consortium, a group of doctors from across the world working to find the latest and best treatments for cancer-related pain.