PANEL OF EDUCATORS


Dr Nick Christelis

Dr Nick Christelis is medical director and co-founder of Pain Specialists Australia, a multidisciplinary pain clinic, that is tier 1 college accredited for pain medicine specialist training.

He holds two specialist pain medicine qualifications: one from Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FFPMANZCA), the other, from the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in London, UK (FFPMRCA).

He completed his specialist training in pain medicine and anaesthesia at London’s Imperial School of Anaesthesia and worked as a pain consultant at The Chelsea & Westminster Hospital before moving to Melbourne in 2009 to take up appointments as Consultant in Pain Medicine, Head of Pain Service, and Anaesthetist at The Alfred Hospital.

Nick now practices 100% within the field of pain medicine. He is an interventional pain specialist combining a multidisciplinary team approach with advanced pain interventional techniques like nerve and joint blocks, epidural injections, radiofrequency ablation, pulsed radiofrequency, spinal cord stimulation and other advanced neuromodulation techniques.

He serves on the executive board of the Neuromodulation Society of Australia and New Zealand (NSANZ) as well as the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Interventional Procedures Clinical Care Standard Working Group.

Nick’s areas of expertise include back pain, neuropathic pain, lumbar radicular pain and sciatica, neck, shoulder and arm pain, facial pains/headaches, trigeminal neuralgia, CRPS, male and female pelvic pain, post-surgical neuropathic pain syndromes like post laminectomy pain, failed back surgery syndrome, ilioinguinal pain, thoracic pain.

Pain Specialists Australia was founded on the single belief that no one should suffer from pain. 


Dr Philip Finch

Philip Finch is currently the Medical Director of the Perth Pain Management Centre in Western Australia. He completed his medical education at the University of Western Australia. Philip has worked in the field of pain medicine since 1978 and only in this field since 1987.

His particular interests are those of intervention using nerve blocks and radiofrequency lesioning in a number of spinal and other structures. In particular, he is interested in the intervertebral disc as a possible origin for spinal pain and methods for treating this condition. He has been instrumental in developing equipment for radiofrequency lesioning including curved radiofrequency electrodes and the discTRODE. More recently, he has studied the association between implanted intrathecal opioid pumps and the development of hypogonadism in male patients, with related loss of bone density and onset of osteoporosis.

He has also been interested in the field of neuropathic pain, specifically Complex Regional Pain. With Professor Peter Drummond, he has studied the importance of α-1 adrenoceptors both in humans and animal models of neuropathic pain, producing a number of publications over the years. 


Dr Peter Georgius

Dr. Georgius has been in private practice on the Sunshine Coast since 2008 and has extensive experience in all aspects of musculo-skeletal and neurological rehabilitation. After completing his basic surgical training in Melbourne in 2002, he went on to achieve his Pain Fellowship in Tasmania in 2004. In 2007 he completed his Fellowship in Rehabilitation Medicine in Melbourne. In 2012 Dr. Georgius was appointed Director of the Rehabilitation Unit at Nambour Selangor Private Hospital. He provides inpatient services to Nambour Selangor Private Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital and The Sunshine Coast Private Hospital, and holds clinics at Noosa Heads and Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital.

His scope of practice includes pain management and the rehabilitation of patients with complex conditions. He has expertise in advanced pain management procedures including diagnostic blocks, radiofrequency neurotomies and PENs (peripheral nerve stimulation), as well as implantable peripheral nerve stimulators and dorsal column stimulators. Dr Georgius also has expertise in complex pain conditions such as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and employs the latest techniques in assessment and therapy, including neuroplasticity therapies such as Graded Motor Imagery.


Dr. Georgius implements a multidisciplinary approach to pain management, having sourced some of the best practitioners on the coast to work alongside. He believes in supporting the physical and psychological aspects of pain, with community-based referrals for ongoing treatment. The practice nurse, with over 13 years experience in pain and rehabilitation, is available to further educate patients on their treatment, enhancing the patient experience and access to information.He has a strong focus on research and education in pain management and is a regular invited guest speaker at various national and international meetings and conferences. He has recently expanded his practice and established Sunshine Coast Clinical Research (SCCR), which provides clinical trials of medications and implantable devices specifically for chronic pain conditions.


Dr Lewis Holford

BSc (Hons) MB ChB FANZCA FFPMANZCA

Dr. Lewis Holford is the Director of the Northern Pain Centre in Sydney and a VMO Pain Medicine Specialist at the Michael J Cousins Pain Management and Research Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital. He specialises in minimally invasive intervention technologies as a component of a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of persistent pain with the goal of relieving pain and improving function and quality of life. Dr. Holford has 14 years experience in Interventional Pain Medicine. He is a specialist in the use of neuromodulation, radiofrequency procedures and regenerative therapies in the treatment of a comprehensive range of pain conditions including spinal pain, upper and lower limb pain, complex regional pain syndrome and persistent neuropathic pain after surgery.Dr Holford has specialist qualifications in Pain Medicine and Anaesthesia. He completed his medical degrees and internship in the United Kingdom before undertaking postgraduate Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine training in Australia and New Zealand, obtaining Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in 2006 and Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine in 2007.


Dr Romil Jain

Dr Romil Jain is a qualified Specialist Pain Medicine physician and Interventional Pain Specialist. He is working as ‘Director of Pain Management Unit, The Canberra Hospital and also owner and Director of ‘ACT Pain Centre’ in Canberra. He is also involved in regular teaching of medical students, JMO’s and registrars in The Canberra Hospital and holds Clinical lecturer position with ‘Australian National University’. DR Romil Jain has completed Post Graduate qualification in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care before he moved to Pain Medicine. He has been working full time in  Pain  medicine for more than 8 years. He is an examiner with FPMANZCA and also a member of ‘Medical advisory group of ACT Health’.

He works with a dedicated multidisciplinary team in both public and private sector and also runs satellite clinic in Wagga Wagga, NSW. His passion is to have a close collaboration between acute, chronic non cancer and cancer Pain to provide continuity of care to different group of patients.

He uses Interventional Pain procedures in a multidisciplinary environment to get best patient outcome. His area of interest includes Failed Back Surgery syndrome (FBSS), CRPS, Neuromodulation and other neuropathic pain conditions. He has trained number of pain Physicians in Interventional Pain procedures including Neuromodulation therapy.



Dr Ke Khor

Dr Khor is currently a Senior Staff Specialist and Director of Department of Pain Management in Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, Australia. His main interests are management of persistent pain in a multidisciplinary setting; application of interventional techniques such as nerve blocks and implantable therapies for chronic non-cancer and cancer pain using neural stimulators and intraspinal analgesic pumps as well as management of the complex acute postoperative pain.

Dr Khor also maintains his interest in research and teaching with UNSW Prince of Wales Clinical School and the pain medicine training program with Faculty of Pain Medicine, ANZCA.


Dr Richard Sullivan

Dr Richard Sullivan (MBChB, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA) is an anaesthetist and pain specialist with Precision Brain, Spine and Pain in Melbourne, Victoria. There he helps coordinate a multidisciplinary team (MDT) focused around the contemporary, integrative and holistic care of patients with pain. He is the medical director of the Ascend Pain Management Program with MDT programs around Melbourne and in Tasmania.  He is also an interventional pain physician with an avid interest in neuromodulation techniques. His research interests are in MDT program outcomes for injured workers and novel neuromodulation techniques and outcomes.  Originally from Dunedin, New Zealand, he has worked and trained in anaesthesia and pain medicine in Victoria, New Zealand, New South Wales and Northern Territory. He is the current President of the Neuromodulation Society of Australia and New Zealand.


Dr Murray Taverner

MBBS, FRCA, FANZCA, GDPM, FFPMANZCA, FIPP

Dr Taverner is a highly qualified Australian anaesthetist and pain medicine specialist and researcher with over 25 years’ experience in anaesthesia, acute and chronic pain management.

He is a visiting pain medicine specialist at Frankston Hospital and at numerous private hospitals. He is the medical director of Frankston Pain Management.

He is lead author of a number of peer reviewed, published original research projects. He has trained, lectured and demonstrated a range of interventional and holistic pain management techniques both in Australia and overseas.

He is a caring, compassionate physician who has lived and worked on the Mornington Peninsula most of his life. He is married and has two sons. His interests are skiing, walking and good food.


Dr Rob Wright

Dr. Wright matriculated at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas as a presidential scholar in 1983 and received the M.D. degree in 1987. He completed his residency in anesthesiology and fellowship in chronic pain management at the University of Utah. Since training Dr. Wright has been awarded various certifications including Diplomat of the American Board of Pain Medicine and Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice.Dr. Wright founded Denver Pain Management in 1995 and contributed significantly to the evolving regional and national standards of care in interventional pain management. 

In the early 2000’s, Dr. Wright co-directed the emerging pain clinic at Cedars-Sinai and is proud of his role in creating a world-class pain management department. Dr. Wright is recognized as a pioneer and innovator having contributed many novel techniques and technologies to the field of pain management. Dr. Wright co-invented and developed the DekompressorTM percutaneous discectomy probe for the minimally invasive treatment of disc herniation; acquired by Stryker in 2002 the device continues to be distributed globally. More recently in 2009 he invented the Nimbus Concepts Multi-Tined Expandable RF Electrode as a safer and more effective solution for many radiofrequency procedures. Biomerics, LLC acquired Nimbus in 2018 and Dr. Wright continues on as the Chief Medical Officer. 

Dr. Wright is humbled and gratified to have recently joined the Metro Pain Group in Melbourne Australia. He will be energetically involved in patient care, research, teaching, and device development alongside Dr. Paul Verrills and the many thought leaders at the Metro Pain Group. He strongly believes that this collaboration will result in significant advances for patients suffering with pain in the years to come. 


Dr James Yu

Dr. James Yu is the Medical Director of Sydney Spine and Pain with several established pain clinics across Sydney. He is the Director of REGAIN Multidisciplinary Pain Management Program and a founding member of the Australian Medical Research in Sydney.

He is a fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine, Australian & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FFPMANZCA). His engagement with the Faculty of Pain Medicine includes NSW state committee, Examination committee, Training Unit and Accreditation committee and Interventional working group. He has been certified and awarded the Fellowship in Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP) in 2015. He is the treasurer for the Australian section of the World Institute of Pain (WIP).

Dr Yu is on the executive board for the Neuromodulation Society of Australia and New Zealand (NSANZ) and has been the organizer and moderator for the NSANZ cadaver workshops for the last 3 years. He is trained in all areas of Pain Medicine with clinical expertise in interventional pain procedures including radiofrequency ablation, platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment and spinal cord stimulation. He has a special interest in advanced and novel neuromodulation techniques.


Dr Dan Bates


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