Wednesday, February 15, 2012
3:45 PM - 4:45 PM
Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

I. Jon Russell, MD, PhD

Dr. Russell’s BA is from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. His MS and PhD in Biochemistry and Nutrition are from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. His medical school training and internship in medicine were at Loma Linda University where he received the graduate Humanitarian Award and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. His residency in internal medicine and fellowship in rheumatology were at the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minnesota. He was tenured Associate Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Director of the University Clinical Research Center until his retirement in 2010 after 32 years on that faculty. In the same year, Dr. Russell started Fibromyalgia Research and Consulting and joined The Arthritis and Osteoporosis of South Texas to conduct half-time clinical research on fibromyalgia.

Dr. Russell has served as a council member for the American College of Rheumatology [ACR] Central Region, as National Chairman for the ACR Non-articular Rheumatism Study Group, on the Research Grants Committee for the Arthritis Foundation. He also served on the Research and Development Committee for the Audie Murphy Veterans Administration Hospital, on the Chronic Pain Management Subcommittee for the University Health System, and on several site review committees and grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Russell has conducted research studies in the immunology, pathogenesis, and management of rheumatic diseases and fibromyalgia syndrome.  He is perhaps best known for his pioneering biochemical studies on spinal fluid from patients with fibromyalgia syndrome and comparison controls in which substance P, nerve growth factor, and biogenic amines were found to be quantitatively abnormal. More recently, his research group identified two genes associated with fibromyalgia. These findings provided a molecular level basis for most of the clinical findings in fibromyalgia and a potential mechanism of action for new drugs now approved to treat fibromyalgia. He is an author of 97 original research publications, 43 chapters in medical textbooks, and 91 editorials in medical journals.  

Dr. Russell was Founding President of the International MYOPAIN Society and is currently a Board Member. He is a Senior Editor for Taylor and Francis Press, London, and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain since its inception 18 years ago.  He is a reviewer for several professional journals.  Dr. Russell was co-author of The Fibromyalgia Help Book, and producer of the video documentary "Fibromyalgia and You", two educational resources for people with fibromyalgia. He continues to assist patient support groups in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, and the European Union. He has served on Medical Advisory Boards for several major pharmaceutical companies in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He travels extensively in the United States and abroad speaking to medical audiences and lay groups about soft tissue pain conditions and medical education issues. Dr. Russell has been honored by listings in The Best Doctors in America, The Best Doctors in America: Central Region, The Best Doctors in the South/Southwest, The Best 2000 Doctors in America, Guide to America’s Top Physicians, and the International Faculty of 1000 Medicine.  In 1994, he accepted the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the South Central Texas Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. In 2009 Dr. Russell was honored by the designation “ACR Master Rheumatologist” in recognition of a lifetime of distinguished service to the profession. This is one of the highest honors awarded by the American College of Rheumatology upon one of its members.