Background
Dermot Maher, M.D., M.S., is the medical director of pain management at Sibley Memorial Hospital, as well as an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Maher also serves as the assistant fellowship director and director of medical education for the chronic pain fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is board certified in anesthesiology by the American Board of Anesthesiology, as well as a diplomate in pain medicine.
Dr. Maher sees patients with a variety of painful conditions, including chronic lower and upper back pain, musculoskeletal pain, neuropathic pain and cancer pain. He offers a number of interventional pain management strategies, including epidural steroid injections, radiofrequency nerve ablation, joint injections, spinal cord stimulation and a number of other x-ray and ultrasound-guided procedures. Additionally, his expertise in pharmacology, with a particular focus on pain medications, allows him to tailor pharmacologic therapy for his patients.
Dr. Maher earned a Master of Science in Pharmacology and medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in anesthesiology and critical care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, followed by a pain medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and a research fellowship at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Maher is a member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and their Annual Meeting Programming Committee, the International Association for the Study of Pain, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Medical Association, and the Spine Intervention Society and their Research Committee.
Dr. Maher is active in research at Johns Hopkins with a focus on cancer pain management. He offers stimulator and pump trials and placement. Specifically, he seeks to characterize the weakening of the immune system, or immunosuppression, that is observed with certain types of pharmacologic pain therapies, including opioids. He also seeks to understand the relationship between pharmacologically-induced immunosuppression and the rate of recurrence and manifestation of certain types of malignancies, with the goal of having a more complete understanding of pain medication pharmacology, including anticipated benefits and side effects to help patients suffering from complex and painful conditions, such as cancer pain, more effectively manage their symptoms. He has contributed to numerous publications, book chapters and presentations, with his work published in journals such as Anesthesia and Analgesia, British Journal of Anesthesia, and Pain Medicine.