Dr. Craig D. Blinderman, M.D., is currently the Chief of the Supportive Care Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and serves on the advisory board for the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. He was previously director of the Adult Palliative Medicine Service at Columbia University Medical Center and an attending physician on the Palliative Care Service at the Massachusetts General Hospital and directed the MGH Cancer Pain Clinic. Dr. Binderman received his M.A. in philosophy from Columbia before earning his medical degree from Ben Gurion University in Israel. He completed both a residency in Family Medicine and a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in NY. He then went on to complete a medical ethics fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Blinderman has published articles and chapters on early palliative care in lung cancer patients, medical ethics, existential distress, symptom assessment and quality of life in chronic lung and heart failure patients, as well as pain management in hematology and oncology patients and patients with a history of substance abuse. He is currently the section editor for Case Discussions in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. His academic interests include: decision-making at the end of life, the role of palliative care in public health, medical ethics, and the integration of palliative care in critical care medicine. He also has a strong interest in teaching and developing programs to improve students and residents’ skills in communication and care for the dying.

Photo Credit: Alan Bresson