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Papers of the Week


Papers: 3 Oct 2020 - 9 Oct 2020


2020 Oct


Am Psychol


75


7

Ronald Melzack (1929-2019).

Authors

Katz J
Am Psychol. 2020 Oct; 75(7):1022-1023.
PMID: 33030927.

Abstract

Presents an obituary of Ronald Melzack (1929-2019). Melzack died on Sunday, December 22, 2019, at 10:00 p.m. News of his death spread like wildfire through the network of long-time friends and colleagues who had heard of his imminent passing. At that moment, the world lost a compassionate and caring soul, an advocate for chronic pain sufferers around the globe, and a giant in the international pain community. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Lucy (née Birch), their son, Joel, and daughter, Lauren. Ron is known for four major accomplishments: establishing Canada's first multidisciplinary pain center at the Montreal General Hospital with neurosurgeon colleague and friend the late Joseph Stratford; the 1965 publication, in , of the gate control theory of pain with the late Patrick Wall; development of the McGill Pain Questionnaire and its derivatives; and later in his career, at 60 years of age, publication of the neuromatrix theory of pain, moving the field beyond the spinal gating mechanism into the brain. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).