Presenter Bios
Howard Heit, MD, FACP, FASAM
Dr. Howard Heit is a board certified diplomat in internal medicine and gastroenterology. He is also diplomat in addiction medicine by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Dr. Heit is certified as a medical review officer. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, as well as a member of the American Pain Society and the American Academy of Pain Medicine.
Dr. Heit was co-section coordinator, author and an editor on “Pain Management and Addiction Medicine” for ASAM’s textbook Principles of Addiction Medicine, Second and Third Edition. He also co-authored two chapters in Bonica’s Management of Pain- Fourth Edition. Dr. Heit served as chair of ASAM’s scientific program “Common Threads: Pain and Addiction,” from 2000 to 2005.
Dr. Heit is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He has lectured and published extensively on the interface of pain and addiction medicine.
Carol A. Luhrs, MD
Dr. Carol Luhrs is the Director of the VA Comprehensive End of Life Care Implementation Center, Palliative Care Medical Director of VA Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 3 and Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the Brooklyn campus of the VA-New York Harbor Healthcare System. Under her leadership, the VISN 3 Palliative Care Program recently received national recognition with the 2010 American Hospital Association Circle of Life Award for excellence in Palliative Care.
Dr. Luhrs is a Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and has been an active participant in the National VA Hospice and Palliative Care Initiative, serving as a member of a number of national committees, including the Veteran Advisory Council to the NHPCO. Dr. Luhrs serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State (HPCANYS) and is co-Chair of the Executive Steering Committee of the New York/New Jersey Hospice Veteran Partnership which includes VISNs 2 and 3, HPCANYS and the New Jersey Hospice & Palliative Care Organization.