Craig D. Blinderman, M.D., M.A. is the director of the Adult Palliative Care Service at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the program director of the Bi-Campus (Columbia and Cornell) Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. His academic and personal interests are at the intersection of narrative medicine, philosophy, and contemplative practice in the care of patients with serious illness. His numerous publications address a wide range of topics: early palliative care in lung cancer patients (NEJM, 2010), a differentiated approach to code status (JAMA, 2012), comfort care for the dying (NEJM, 2015), cancer pain management, narrative palliative care, ethical issues at the end of life, and existential distress. His teaching focuses on pain and symptom management, decision-making at the end of life, medical ethics, and communication skills training. He is currently the section editor for the Case Discussions in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. Lastly, he serves on the advisory board for the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and is a faculty mentor in a new Contemplative Medicine Fellowship to help doctors integrate meditation in their clinical settings.
