We are honoured to introduce the International Keynote Speakers for the 2018 Australian Pain Society 38th and New Zealand Pain Society Conjoint Annual Scientific Meeting, to be held at the International Convention Centre Sydney next April.
Professor Liesbet Goubert
Professor Liesbet Goubert is Full Professor in the Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology at Ghent University, Belgium. She completed her PhD in 2004, in which she focused on the role of psychosocial risk factors for the development of chronic low back pain (e.g. fear, catastrophising). In the last decade, she shifted her main research focus to the investigation of interpersonal dynamics of (chronic) pain and chronic illness. More recently, she became very interested in the study of psychosocial resilience mechanisms that may account for the sustainment of adaptive functioning and well-being in the presence of pain. Professor Goubert has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Pain Society (Belgian IASP Chapter) from 2006-2012; since 2010 she is a member of the scientific committee of the Belgian Pain Society.
Professor Goubert will be presenting the Sunderland Lecture, discussing A resilience approach to chronic pain: Different theoretical perspectives and treatment implications. You can also see Professor Goubert present Interpersonal dynamics of chronic pain: How others can support or undermine patient functioning.
Professor Frank Huygen
Professor Frank Huygen (MD, PhD, FIPP, FFPMCAI (hon) is working as an Anesthesiologist pain specialist in the University Hospital Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He is Director of the Centre of Pain Medicine, a multidisciplinary pain clinic specialising in acute, chronic benign and oncologic pain and palliative care. Professor Huygen graduated as fellow of interventional pain practice and is certified for complex invasive pain treatment modalities like neuromodulation and epiduroscopy. He is especially interested in CRPS and has been involved in several research lines and theses focusing especially on CRPS, neuropathic and oncologic pain. He is the past elected president of the Dutch Anaesthesia Pain Society and is chairman of a national multidisciplinary guideline committee on mechanical low back pain.
Professor Huygen will be presenting A mechanism based approach in the treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
Professor Stephen McMahon
Professor Stephen McMahon is Sherrington Professor of Physiology at King’s College London. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. His major research interest is pain mechanisms. He has a long-standing interest in identifying pain mediators and studying their neurobiological actions. He has worked extensively on the role of NGF (neutralizing antibodies now in multiple phase III trials), ATP acting at P2X3 receptors (receptor antagonists now in multiple phase II and III trials). His current research is focused on neuro-immune interactions, particularly the neurobiology of chemokines, and the genetics and epigenetics of pain.
Professor McMahon currently directs the Wellcome Trust Pain Consortium, and prior to this, the London Pain Consortium, a collection of leading pain researchers working to better understand chronic pain mechanisms and improve treatments.
Professor McMahon will present the Patrick Wall Lecture, discussing Mechanisms of pain vulnerability: Why me? He will also present Gender differences in the neurobiological properties for pain signaling system.
Dr Tonya Palermo
Dr Tonya Palermo is a pediatric psychologist and Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at University of Washington with adjunct appointments in Pediatrics and Psychiatry. She also serves as Associate Director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. She directs the Pediatric Pain & Sleep Innovations Lab that aims to improve the lives of children with pain and their families through developing, evaluating, and disseminating innovative treatments that can be delivered at low cost.
She is particularly interested in behavioral, psychosocial and family factors that affect pain. Dr Palermo has served on the Executive Boards of the Society of Pediatric Psychology, ISRII, and the American Pain Society, serves as Editor for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, and has been elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association.
Dr Palermo will be presenting Psychological interventions for paediatric chronic pain. You can also see her presentation Interrelationship of sleep and pain in youth: Implications for assessment and intervention.
We are delighted to share the knowledge and expertise each International Keynote Speaker brings to 2018 APS 38th and NZPS Conjoint ASM. We hope you will be able to attend and enjoy everything the ASM has to offer.
Registrations are now open!
Click here to register for the 2018 APS 38th and NZPS Conjoint ASM.
Australian Pain Society 