Dr. Joel Castellanos

Chief Science Advisor

Dr. Joel Castellanos, MD, is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician who is fellowship-trained in pain as well as integrative medicine. Dr. Castellanos is a founding member and associate medical director of the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative (PHRI) at UC San Diego; a collaborative endeavor cutting across multiple divisions and departments of UC San Diego.

Dr. Castellano is also an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, where he instructs pain medicine fellows, as well as medical students, and residents in their pain rotations.

He completed his fellowship in pain medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and completed residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan Medical School, where he also finished a two-year program in healthcare administration.

Dr. Castellanos earned his medical degree from the University of Toledo College of Medicine in Ohio and he is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine.

He is an active member of numerous medical organizations including the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the International Association for the Study of Pain, and the North American Neuromodulation Society.

His landmark review paper on psychedelics and chronic pain has been foundational in REMAP’s mission of exploring, innovating, and developing the intersection between psychedelics and chronic pain.