The U.S. Pain Foundation is pleased to share it has appointed two new members to its Board of Directors: Edward Bilsky, PhD, an academic administrator and researcher from Washington, and Jessica Begley, MFT, a licensed therapist and community leader from Texas.

They join existing members Ellen Lenox Smith, a retired teacher and medical cannabis patient advocate from Rhode Island, Marv Turner, an Emmy award-winning producer and filmmaker out of Wisconsin, and Shawn Dickens, MBA, a government defense contractor from Florida. Dickens has been tapped to serve as Chairman.

U.S. Pain Foundation is pleased to announce the newest member of its Board of Directors: Marv Turner.

Turner is the owner of Yellow Dog Productions, a video production company. He has collaborated with U.S. Pain on several projects over the years, particularly through the Pediatric Pain Warrior Program, and was so impressed with the organization’s efforts that he decided he wanted to take a more active role.

The U.S. Pain Foundation is pleased to announce its newest member of the Board of Directors: Shawn Dickens.

Dickens, a resident of Florida, is a Senior Program Manager at Leonardo DRS, specializing in government defense programs. He is a graduate of Worcester State College with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and holds an MBA from the University of Miami.

Shawn has been a staunch advocate for people with chronic illness for nearly a decade. His daughter, Melanie, lives with severe chronic pain stemming from multiple diagnoses, including complex regional pain syndrome and mitochondrial disease. When she was first diagnosed in 2010, at the age of 10, they searched desperately for answers.