Draft:Greg Hammer, MD

Greg Hammer, MD (born June 1, 1955) is an American physician, wellness and mindfulness lecturer, and author. He retired from Stanford University in December of 2023, where he was Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (pediatric cardiac anesthesiology) and Pediatrics (cardiac and general pediatric critical care medicine). Throughout his career, Dr. Hammer practiced pediatric cardiac anesthesiology and critical care medicine. He performed research in developmental pharmacology. He published and lectured extensively in these areas as well as organ transplantation. Dr. Hammer has been a visiting professor at more than 40 universities around the world. Dr. Hammer is the CEO of the medical device company, MarteauMed.

Early Life and Education
Dr. Hammer was born in Highland Park, Illinois. His father was a businessman and owner of Marteau Steel Industries, a small steel processing plant. His mother was a painter and sculptor.

Dr. Hammer attended Phillips Academy prep school in Andover, Massachusetts and graduated cum laude in 1973. He began university at Northwestern University and transferred to the University of Wisconsin in Madison to pursue studies in nutritional biochemistry. He graduated from the U. of W. with honors in 1977. He attended medical school at the University of Illinois in Chicago and graduated with honors in 1982. He then completed residencies in pediatrics (Children’s Hospital Oakland, CA) and anesthesiology (University of Pennsylvania Hospital). Dr. Hammer completed fellowship training in pediatric anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 1988.

Medical Career
From 1988 to 1995, Dr. Hammer worked at California Pacific Medical Center, where he was Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). In 1995 he, along with a group of transplant physicians, was recruited to Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. He was Associate Director of the PICU and Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and of Pediatrics until 1998, when he was promoted to Associate Professor. He was promoted to Professor in both departments in 2003. Dr. Hammer retired from Stanford in December of 2023.

Wellness
Dr. Hammer has had a life-long interest in spiritual and physical fitness (particularly nutritional biochemistry and exercise physiology). He has been a student of Advaita Vedanta (Nonduality) for more than 15 years. This led to his current interest in mindfulness meditation – specifically his GAIN practice, including a contemplative meditation embracing the domains of Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and Nonjudgment. At Stanford he was a member of the WellMD directive for 10 years and was the Chair of the Task Force on Wellness for the California Society of Anesthesiologists. He published the best-selling book, “GAIN Without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Health Care Professionals” in 2020. The book was a #1 New Release in Medicine and Psychology on Amazon and won an Independent Publisher Book Award in Health and Medicine. It was praised by best-selling authors Daniel J. Siegel, M, James Robert Doty, MD, Aurora Winter, MBA, and others.

Dr. Hammer is a regular guest on numerous TV and radio programs as well as a frequent podcast guest on a variety of platforms. Dr. Hammer has done Wellness workshops based on his GAIN practice in Brazil, Japan, Turkey, Hong Kong, and other countries around the world as well as throughout the US.

Selected Publications

 * 1) Hammer GB. Mindfulness and GAIN: The solution to burnout in medicine? Pediatr Anesth 2021;31(1):74-9. PMID: 33034156. DOI: 10.1111/pan.14033
 * 2) Hammer GB, Maxwell L, Taicher B, Visoiu M, Cooper D, et al. Randomized Population Pharmacokinetic Analysis and Safety of Intravenous Acetaminophen for Acute Postoperative Pain in Neonates and Infants. J Clin Pharmacol. 2019 Aug 25. doi: 10.1002/jcph.1508. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 31448420
 * 3) Hammer GB, Lewandowski A, Drover DR, Rosen DA, et al. Safety and efficacy of sodium nitroprusside during prolonged infusion in pediatric patients. Pediatr Crit Care Med 2015 Jun;16(5):397-403. [Epub ahead of print] doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0000000000000383. PMID: 25715047
 * 4) Hammer GB, Ayad S, Khanna AK, Little R, Demitrack M, et al. Oliceridine Exhibits Improved Tolerability Compared to Morphine at Equianalgesic Conditions: Exploratory Analysis from Two Phase 3 Randomized Placebo and Active Controlled Trials. Pain Ther2021 Dec;10(2):1343-1353. doi: 10.1007/s40122-021-00299-0. Epub 2021 Aug 5.