Timothy R. Lubenow, MD

Clinical Trials

• EValuating Anatomic vErsus TaRgeted Lead Placement for BurstDR TherapY During the Trial
• TARGET Post-Approval Study

Media Releases

Get to know Pain Management Specialist Dr. Timothy R. Lubenow, who serves patients throughout the State of Illinois.

Being a renowned and experienced pain management specialist, Dr. Lubenow uses a broad-based approach to treat all pain disorders, ranging from pain as a symptom of disease to pain as the primary disease. He is in practice with University Pain Centers with offices throughout the state of Illinois, including Chicago, Oak Park, and Westchester. 

“As one of the largest pain centers in the United States, University Pain Centers, affiliated with Rush University Medical Center’s Department of Anesthesiology, provides acute and chronic pain management services to more than 10,000 patients annually. Its Rush faculty physicians are nationally recognized experts in the field of pain research and have extensive experience in providing successful treatment for a broad range of pain disorders using a comprehensive, systematic, and multi-disciplinary approach to the diagnosis and management of pain with the entire spectrum of interventional modalities, pharmacology, psychology, and alternative medical techniques.” as stated on their website.

In collaboration with Rush University Medical Center, Dr. Lubenow has been serving as an attending anesthesiologist since 1987, as the Program Director of the Pain Medicine Fellowship, Department of Anesthesiology since 1988, as the Chair of the Section of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology since 1993, and as Senior Attending Staff since 1998. As for his academic title, he is a Professor of Anesthesiology within the Department of Anesthesiology at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois. 

To advance his professional efforts, he remains a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Illinois Society of Anesthesiologists, the Chicago Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Medical Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Chicago Medical Society, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, the ASRAPM Neuromodulation Special Interest Group, the International Association for the Study of Pain, the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, the Illinois Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, the Rush Surgical Society, the Association of Anesthesia Pain Program Directors, the North American Neuromodulation Society, the Society of Academic Anesthesia Associations – Subspecialty Program Directors, and the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience. 

After earning his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in 1979, Dr. Lubenow went on to obtain his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1983. He completed his rotating internship and his residency in anesthesiology at Rush University Medical Center in 1984 and 1986, respectively.

Wanting to further his training, he completed fellowships in pain medicine and cardiac anesthesia at Rush University Medical Center in 1987. He also completed special training in fiberoptic laryngoscopy, pediatric anesthesia, as well as liver and cardiac transplantation at Rush University Medical Center and at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

A Fellow of the American Academy for Pain Management and a Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice, the doctor is board-certified in both anesthesiology and pain management by the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA). The mission of the ABA is to advance the highest standards of the practice of anesthesiology.

With more than three decades of experience in his field, Dr. Lubenow has been serving on the Editorial Board of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine since 2015, and as a Consulting Reviewer for Neuromodulation since 2007. Previously, he served on the Editorial Board of Pain Physician (2008 – 2014), on the Editorial Board of The Pain Journal Club Journal (1995 – 2000), and as a Consulting Reviewer for The Clinical Journal of Pain (1991 – 1996). 

For the purpose of materializing hospital goals, he was elected / appointed positions of several committees, including: Committee on Committees – Secretary (1988 – 1989) Surgical and Invasive Procedure Review Committee (1993 – 2008), Surgical Utilization Management Subcommittee (1995 – 2008), Pain Clinical Pathway Committee (1995 – 1996), PCA Clinical Pathway Committee, Chair (1997 – 1999), Global Pain Initiative Committee, Co-chair (1999 – 2005), Total Joint Arthroplasty Clinical Pathway Committee (1998 – 2015), and Physician’s Assistance Committee (2003 – 2006). 

To date, he serves on the Graduate Medical Education Committee (since 1995) and on the Rush Surgicenter Finance Committee (since 2003). 

Pain management is a branch of medicine employing an interdisciplinary approach for easing the suffering and improving the quality of life of those living with chronic pain. A pain management specialist is a doctor who specializes in pain medicine, focusing on the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of pain.

The recipient of numerous accolades for clinical success, Dr. Lubenow has been: selected Lifetime Member of Who’s Who (2000), selected for Castle Connolly Guide, How to Find the Best Doctors: Chicago Metro Region (1999 – present), listed in Chicago Consumers Checkbook Magazine, Top Doctors in Chicago for Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine (2012, 2017), selected for “Best Doctors in America” (2003 – 2020), selected for “Guide to America: Top Anesthesiologist” by the Consumers’ Research Council of America (2006), selected for “Physician Advocacy Heroes of Neuromodulation” (2007), selected for “Guide to America’s Top Physicians” by the Consumers’ Research Council of America (2009), honored with the “Distinguished Service Award” by the Illinois Society of Anesthesiology (2013), selected for Chicago Super Doctors by New York Times Magazine (2013), selected for “Chicago Top Doctors” by Chicago Magazine (January 2014, January 2016, January 2019, January 2020), appointed to Board of Directors Emeritus by the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (2018 – present), and selected for Illinois Top Pain Management Specialist (2020), among others. 

Among his most notable achievements, the doctor has issued numerous publications (book chapters, original manuscripts, and abstracts), conducted research studies and multimedia presentations, lectured on various topics relating to his field, participated in scientific exhibits, received research grants, as well as has filed patents. 

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