UTS pain management expert wins 2024 NSW Young Tall Poppy

What are your areas of expertise? 

My expertise covers paediatric pain research, pain science education and physiotherapy. I’m focussed on understanding and improving how children perceive and manage pain. I develop educational resources to make pain science accessible to all ages. I’m very passionate about growing scientific literacy at a community level, and that aligns well with one of the key focuses of the Young Tall Poppy award. 

What research are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on a wide range of collaborative projects ranging from clinical to experimental pain studies, right through to testing public-facing education initiatives. I’m also exploring potential clinical uses of artificial intelligence chatbots to help manage chronic pain. 

Why is your research important?

Pain can stop us from doing what we enjoy. Among children experiencing it, chronic pain causes them to miss an average of nine weeks of school per year. This results in lost learning, huge costs and a feeling of disconnection. My research is crucial because it addresses the significant burden of paediatric chronic pain. By improving pain education and management, we can enhance the quality of life for young individuals and their families. Understanding pain from a bio-psychosocial perspective could allow for more effective interventions and also support a whole-child approach to health care.   

What inspired or prompted you to work in this field? 

My clinical inspiration to work in the field of pain came from working as a hospital physiotherapist and seeing the complexity of the burdens associated with chronic pain. Witnessing the impact of chronic pain on young people’s lives led me to dive into the world of ‘pain science’ and find ways to make a difference through education and research.   

What have been your key challenges and achievements?

One of the key challenges I face is prioritising the many potential next steps for research in this field. I feel privileged to be working alongside many brilliant people trying to address the complexity of pain and changing long-held misconceptions about it. 

In terms of achievements, I’m always thrilled to talk about the concept of pain inventory (COPI), getting to contribute to TED-Ed videos, and authoring children’s books. 

I particularly like it when solutions can be scaled to reach many people. This is what took me from primarily working in clinical practice to research, and then into developing resources and collaborating with the media.  

What comes next?

I plan to continue my line of research, grow these exciting teams and expand the reach of helpful resources. There is so much work to be done in this field, but it’s certainly trending in a direction that gives me an optimistic outlook for the years ahead.