Jean C. Solodiuk

Dr. Solodiuk received her BSN from Saint Anselm College, her MSN at the University of Rochester and a PhD from William F. Connell School of Nursing at Boston College. Dr. Solodiuk is a research associate in Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. In her role as manager of the Pain Treatment Service and chair of the Interdisciplinary Pain Committee, she has developed numerous policies and procedures regarding safety and efficacy of pain management practices that directly affect patient care throughout the institution. For more than 15 years, the Interdisciplinary Pain Committee, with Dr. Solodiuk’s leadership, has implemented evidence-based pain management practices. Dr. Solodiuk is a co-founder of the Pediatric Pain Conference that educates clinicians on new advances in pain management and advances science by connecting clinicians and scientists. She remains a faculty member of this conference, which is associated with Harvard Medical School, and draws participants from numerous local, regional and international institutions.

Dr. Solodiuk’s research focuses on children with global impairments of the central nervous system. This includes validation of the Individualized Numeric Rating Scale, a pain assessment tool for nonverbal children with intellectual disabilities; an analysis of parent-described pain behaviors; and the use of gabapentin in nonverbal children with intellectual disabilities. Another quality improvement study is the first comprehensive analysis of pain scores of hospitalized inpatients. From this research, populations with persistently high pain scores were identified, along with a description of their care needs.