Professor Frank Birklein

Professor Frank Birklein has been head of Peripheral Nerve Disorders, and Pain Research and Treatment at the Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Mainz, Germany since 2001.

His research focuses on the mechanisms of neuropathic pain, particularly CRPS, and on mechanisms of autonomic nervous system regulation. He is the leading author of the German guidelines for CRPS diagnosis and treatment, has been widely published in his research fields and has been awarded numerous scientific grants. His main interest now is the immune system contribution to posttraumatic pain.

Professor Birklein will be presenting the Sunderland Lecture, discussing Painful neuropathies – An attempt to read the pain for a better treatment, and he will also be hosting a plenary session on day 2 on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) – what we know and what we are looking for.

Dr Petra Schweinhardt

Dr Petra Schweinhardt received her medical degree at Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg, Germany and she holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Oxford in England in neuroimaging of chronic pain. Currently, she is a full time researcher at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Her main research interests are the cerebral processing of pain in humans, in particular interactions between pain and reward systems, and brain alterations in patients with chronic pain. Dr Schweinhardt holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in the Neurobiology of Chronic Pain and is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Dentistry and the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Dr Schweinhardt will be hosting a plenary session on day 1 to discuss Pain and the reward circuitry – interactions in acute and chronic pain, and on day 2 where she will be presenting on the topic of Brain gray matter alterations in chronic pain – where do we stand?

Professor Barry Sessle

Dr Barry Sessle received his dental training from the University of Sydney and his PhD in neurophysiology from the University of N.S.W. After postdoctoral studies at the NIH in the USA, he moved to Canada where he has been Professor in the University of Toronto Faculties of Dentistry and Medicine since 1976; he was Dean of Dentistry from 1990-2001. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and he has served as President of the International Association for the Study of Pain and the Canadian Pain Society.

His research on orofacial pain and neuromuscular function has been supported for over 40 years by both NIH and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has published over 400 journal articles and book chapters and 12 books.

Dr Sessle will be presenting on Recent insights into orofacial pain mechanisms and their clinical correlates on day 2.

Professor David Yarnitsky

Professor David Yarnitsky is the Chair of Neurology at Rambam Health Care Campus, and of the Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory in the Technion Faculty of Medicine, both in Haifa, Israel. He is widely published in pain psychophysics and neurophysiology, in health, as well as in clinical pain syndromes such as migraine, painful neuropathy and peri-operative pain.

His current research interests are targeted at assessment of pain modulation, mainly  by the CPM (Conditioned Pain Modulation) mechanism, and its implementation in pain therapy.

Professor Yarnitsky will be hosting a plenary session on day 1 to discuss Pain modulation: How is it measured, how is it used, and on day 3 where she will be presenting on the topic of EEG in pain research: The coming of age.

Professor Yarnitsky along with Professor Frank Birklein, Dr Petra Schweinhardt and Dr Barry Sessle will be involved in the Meet the Speakers breakfast session that has been offered to junior researchers, PhD students and post doctorate fellows. The aim of this session is to give younger scientists and clinicians an opportunity to ascertain career advice and guidance from the APS 2016 international plenary speakers.

We are delighted to have Professor Frank Birklein, Dr Petra Schweinhardt, Dr Barry Sessle and Professor Yarnitsky involved in APS 2016, we hope you will be able to attend and enjoy everything this conference has to offer. To register for the 2016 Australian Pain Society 36th Annual Scientific Meeting please click here.