Biography

I commenced research into spinal pain, in 1972, when essentially nothing was known about the problem. There being no established groups or departments working on this problem, I forged my own career, using borrowed resources. I commenced in a Department of Anatomy, where I pursued the innervation of the vertebral column, as a fundamental element in understanding the sources and mechanisms of spinal pain. Professor Jim Lance fostered this interest, and accommodated my PhD studies. In his department I continued my Anatomy studies but was able also to commence clinical applications. I developed and tested new diagnostic and surgical procedures for back pain and for neck pain. While in Professor Lance's Department I participated in laboratory studies of the mechanisms of migraine. At the University of Queensland I continued to develop and apply the diagnostic and surgical techniques that I started at the University of NSW, serving as an honorary medical officer at the Pain Clinic of Princess Alexandra Hospital. Meanwhile I supervised science and medicine postgraduate students who undertook basic science studies into the biomechaincs of the back and neck.

At the University of Newcastle, I had established a reputation sufficient to attract a grant from the Motor Accidents Authority of NSW to investigate the cause and treatment of neck pain after whiplash. The grant supported three PhD students over a six year period. They performed studies that validated the diagnostic procedures and which tested the surgical procedures in a placebo-controlled double-blind randomised trial.

Having established an international standing in the development and testing of treatments for spinal pain, I participated in the design and analysis of controlled trials conducted elsewhere in Australia and in the USA. These tested the efficacy of: lumbar radiofrequency neurotomy for back pain, intradiscal electrothermal anuloplasty for back pain, prolotherapy for back pain, exercises for neck pain. I am now a consultant for the International Spine Intervention Society for various studies of spinal diagnostic and treatment procedures. Most recently we completed a placebo-controlled trial that validated the efficacy of transforaminal injections of steroids for sciatica.

Between 1997 and 2002 I conducted the National Musculoskeletal Medicine Initiative which developed and tested evidence-based practice guidelines for the management of back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, and pain in the foot, wrist, and elbow.

My work has been awarded the Volvo Award for Back Pain Research, the Research Prize of the Cervical Spine Research Society, the Award for Outstanding Research of the North American Spine Society, and three times the Research Prize of the Spine Society of Australia. My students have been awarded research prizes by the International Association for the Study of Pain, the Australian Rheumatology Association, and the Australian New Zealand college of Anaesthetists.

I have never had a funded Department to which to attract investigators and academics. I have relied on scholarships for students, and the goodwill of private practitioners who wished to contribute to clinical research.

I am currently involved in studies of the long-term effectiveness of sugery for back pain and sciatica.

Otherwise my time is now occupied: serving the editorial board of Pain Medicine and two guidelines groups for the treatment of spinal pain and the management of musculoskeletal pain.

Qualifications

• Doctor of Medicine, University of New South Wales
• Bachelor of Science (Medicine), University of Sydney
• Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery, University of Sydney
• Doctor of Science, University of Sydney
• PhD, University of New South Wales

Research

Research keywords

• Anatomy
• Clinical Biomechanics
• Clinical Trials
• Musculoskeletal Medicine
• Pain Medicine

Research expertise

I have pursued the problem of spinal pain and headache across several disciplines, starting in an era where essentially nothing ws known about the cause and treatment of these problems. I undertook anatomy studies to determine how the vertebral column was innervated. I devised anaesthetic techniques whereby nerves that might be mediating a patient's pain might be blocked, as a diagnostic test. I devised surgical procedures whereby spinal pain and headache could be stopped. I undertook clinical trials to validate the diagnostic techniques and the therapeutic techniques. Parenthetically I conducted studies on the normal and abnormal biomechanics of the spine, which have now become pertinent to the evaluation of arthroplastic surgery of the spine. Other anatomy studies estalbished the basis for causes of spinal pain. I performed Anatomy studies and clinical trials to disprove myths in medical practice.

Languages

• French
• Russian

Fields of Research

Centres and Groups

Group

• Hunter Medical Research Institute - Public Health

Memberships

Committee/Associations (relevant to research).

• Member Research Committee - International Association for the Study of Pain

Editorial Board.

• Editor - Pain Medicine, Official Journal of American Academy of Pain Medicine
• Member - Cephalalgia, Journal of the International Headache Society

Administrative

Administrative expertise

I have served on the Academic Boards or Senates of three universities. I have been an Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Medicine. I have served on the Vice Chancellor's Committee for University Development and Assessment, as the member elected by the Professors of the University of Newcastle. I am presently Acting Medical Superintendent of the Royal Newcastle Centre, and Director of Clinical Research in the Newcastle Bone and Joint Institute.

Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Anatomy
• Evidence Based Medicine
• Musculoskeletal Medicine
• Pain Medicine

Teaching expertise

I have taught at all academic levels, from tutor to professor, in classical and problem based learning systems. I have taught undergraduates in all health disciplines. I have taught postgraduate surgeons. I have regularly been a keynote speaker at health profession conferences internationally. From the Univeristy of Newcaslte, I hold an award for Excellence in Teaching, and an award for Postgraduate Supervisor of the Year.