More information coming soon!
2-4 MAY 2025 | SINGAPORE EXPO
30 APR – 1 MAY 2025 | PRE-CONGRESS WORKSHOPS
Key Visual photo credit: Ivan Ong @ iophotoastro
Kenes MP Asia Pte Ltd
Jessica Yu
Jessica has been working in Changi General Hospital for the past two decades. She has keen interests in advanced clinical practice, nursing education, nursing research, and evidenced based practice, as well as developing and mentoring nurses for professional development. Currently Jessica works as an advanced practice nurse specialising in pain management, as well as an Assistant Director in Nursing managing inpatient wards. She Attained her Doctor in Nursing Practice in 2020 from Duke University, USA.
John Tan
John is a Senior Principal Physiotherapist at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), where he holds the position of deputy chief of education in the Department of Physiotherapy. He has also been serving as the Program Director of the SGH Core Residency in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Program since 2018. In addition to his role at SGH, he also serves as the Vice-Chair of Rehabilitation Sciences at the SingHealth College of Allied Health and as secretary at the Singapore Physiotherapy Association. He enjoys working with patients with complex pain presentations.
Ban Leong Sng
Ban Leong is the Head and Senior Consultant at the Department of Women’s Anaesthesia and Deputy Campus Director of the Digital Integration Medical Innovation and Care Transformation Office at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He is a Professor and Academic Vice Chair (Research) in the Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Sciences Academic Clinical Program and Lead Clinician Innovator Mentor in the Singhealth DukeNUS Academic Medical Centre. He is also a core faculty in the Singhealth Anaesthesiology Residency Program with interest in medical education innovation. Ban Leong is a National Level Clinician Scientist with funded research and innovation work. His academic interest includes obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia, pain and psychological vulnerability and closed loop feedback drug delivery systems.
Andrew Rice
Andrew Rice MB BS, MD, FRCP, FFPMRCA, FRCA is Professor of Pain Research at Imperial College, where he leads the Pain Research Group. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School and gained his research doctorate at St. Thomas’ Hospital Medical School. He is currently serving as President of the International Association for the Study of Pain.
His research focusses on translational research in neuropathic pain in the context of infection (HIV, leprosy, HTLV-1 & zoster), diabetes, nerve trauma and non-freezing cold injury. Having been active in pre-clinical pain research (esp pathophysiology of HIV neuropathy, animal modelling and cannabinoid pharmacology), he now works on innovating pre-clinical experimental design, validity and evidence synthesis. Andrew’s clinical research includes deep profiling of neuropathic pain patients with a view to elucidating risk and enabling precision medicine, clinical trials and evidence synthesis. He collaborates with historians on aspects of neuropathic pain. Over the years, his research has been funded from many sources, but notably by the European Commission, Wellcome Trust and UKRI (MRC). He was a member of Imperial’s Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies.
Andrew has authored ~250 publications (H-index 67), many in the leading specialist journal (PAIN). He has published in other notable journals including: Lancet, Brain, Lancet Neurology, Nature Methods, NEJM & BMJ. He conceived and was lead editor of the 2 edition, 4 volume “Textbook of Clinical Pain Management”.
Andrew was a Director of the Wellcome Trust London Pain Consortium, workpackage lead EU Consortia EUROPAIN (innovating animal models) and EQIPD (Enhancing Quality In Preclinical Data). He is a workpackage and tissue bank lead in the Advanced Pain Discovery Platform collaboration PainStorm.
Andrew has served as a Councillor of the International Association for the Study of Pain was liaison to South-East and is currently South Asia liaison. He was Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee for the 18th World Congress on Pain and of the Taskforce on Cannabinoid Analgesia. He previously held leadership positions in the IASP Special Interest Group on Neuropathic Pain.
Until 2024, Andrew sat on the MHRA Neurology, Pain & Psychiatry Expert Advisory Group and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (Varicella/Herpes Zoster). He participates in the Non-Freezing Cold Injury Independent Senior Advisory Committee.
Andrew has received multiple awards including Imperial College’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Animal Research; the Patrick Wall Lecturer at both the British Pain Society and the Faculty of Pain Medicine and the Michael Cousins lecturer at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.
Until recently he delivered an NHS diagnostic and treatment clinical service for patients with neuropathic pain, small fibre neuropathy and non-freezing cold injury.
Philip Peng
Dr. Philip Peng is the professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine of University of Toronto. He is a leader, researcher, educator and pioneer in the application of ultrasound for pain medicine. His contribution of pain education resulted in “Founder” status from Royal College in Pain Medicine, and the Award of Recognition of Education in Pain Medicine by ESRA.
His innovative research led to different new procedures in pain intervention. He received numerous awards including the John J Bonica award from ASRA, Distinguished Service Award from both ESRA-Spain and Canadian Pain Society, Gold Medal Award from Canadian Anesthesiology Society, International Distinguished Career Award from Mexico Pain Society, and Leadership in Advocacy Award from CSF Leak Canada. He is the inaugural fellow to ASRA (FASRA) which recognizes the contribution of prominent member of the field. He has delivered more than 600 lectures and workshops nationally and internationally. He has edited 8 books and published 260 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.
Tha Tha Oo
Dr Tha Tha Oo is a Senior Consultant Neurologist, Director of Clinical Neurology, Neurologist-in-Charge in Stroke Unit at Asia Royal Hospital, Yangon, Myanmar.
His Subspecialty Interests and Experiences in addition to General Neurology include:
• Migraine and various headache and facial pain disorders
• Acute stroke care with thrombolysis therapy with rt-PA
• Botox therapy for various neurological disorders.
• Tele stroke and telemedicine
• Sport Neurology and concussion
He is the first pioneer chief of Tele-Stroke Program in Southeaster Virginia, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. Concurrently served as Stroke Medical Director: Obici Sentara Hospital, Suffolk, Virginia USA (2012-2014). Concurrently served as Residency Program Director for Neurology Residency Program (2014-2016) and Coordinator of Undergrads Neurology (2012-2016). Concurrently served as Medical Director for Stroke Program (2014-2016) at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Actively practice General Neurology as well as stroke and headache and facial pain subspecialty since 1997.
His professional membership include:
• Myanmar Medical Association (MMA-lifetime member)
• American Academy of Neurology (AAN) member and fellow
• Myanmar Neurological Society (MNS)
His is currently serving as Chairman, Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases Section of Myanmar Neurological Society, Vice Chairman (1), Stroke Section of Myanmar Neurological Society, Member of Advisory Board of Myanmar Neurological Society and Member, Education and Foreign Relation subcommittee of Myanmar Neurological Society.
Jo Nijs
Jo Nijs is fulltime professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels, Belgium), physiotherapist/manual therapist at the University Hospital Brussels, holder of a Chair on oncological physiotherapy funded by the Berekuyl Academy, the Netherlands, and Visiting Professor at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). Jo runs the Pain in Motion international and interdisciplinary research group (www.paininmotion.be). The primary aim of his research is improving care for patients with chronic pain. Twenty years ago, he pioneered in studying central sensitization in a wide variety of pain conditions, including osteoarthritis, cancer, back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, and fibromyalgia. This led to developing and testing innovative interventions (e.g., cognition-targeted exercise therapy, sleep treatment) for various chronic pain conditions, and continued efforts to unravel the chronic pain pathophysiology with a focus on epigenetic mechanisms. At the age of 48, he has (co-)authored >330 peer reviewed publications (including first author papers in The Lancet and The Lancet Rheumatology (2x), and senior author papers in JAMA Neurology and JAMA Network Open), obtained >€19 million grant income, supervised 28 PhD’s to completion and served 390 times as an invited speaker at meetings in 31 countries (including 43 keynotes). He trained 4k clinicians in >100 courses held in 14 countries spread over 4 continents. His work has been cited >13k times (h-index: 65), with 33 citations per article (ISI Web of Knowledge). Jo is ranked 2nd in the world among chronic pain researchers (1st in Europe), and 3rd in the world among musculoskeletal pain researchers (expertscape.com), received the 2017 Excellence in Research Award from the JOSPT (USA), and the 2020 honorary Francqui Collen Chair awarded by the University of Hasselt, Belgium. Website: https://researchportal.vub.be/en/persons/jo-nijs
Michael Nicholas
Dr Michael Nicholas is a Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Pain Education at the Pain Management Research Institute, and Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health (Northern) at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, where he directs online post-graduate courses in pain management for all health disciplines. He also directs several multidisciplinary pain management programs at the hospital, and he maintains an active clinical role. Since completing his PhD on the evaluation of cognitive-behavioural treatments for chronic low back pain in 1988, followed by 2.5 years as the inaugural director of the Pain Management Program at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, he has established a national and international reputation for his work in interdisciplinary pain management. He served for 10 years as member of the IASP council, including 4 years as secretary. He has participated in many IASP task forces and working groups, including the ICD-11 project, and he chaired the Education Initiatives Working Group for 6 years. He remains an active member of the IASP’s Educational Programs Working Group and Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment Task Force.
Since 2018, he has also played a role in the IASP-supported Southeast Asian Pain Toolkit project aimed at assisting clinicians in Myanmar, Indonesia, and Vietnam to develop interdisciplinary pain management services. In addition to his teaching and clinical work, he has maintained an active research focus, with over 300 publications on pain assessment and management. His current research interests include the self-management of chronic pain in both the adult and older adult populations, teaching health professionals ways of equipping people with chronic pain in pain self-management, and early psychosocial interventions to prevent long-term pain-related disability in injured workers.
Tony Ng
Dr Tony Ng is the Consultant Anaesthetist in Department of Anaesthesia, Boxhill Hospital, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Australia. He is the specialist Pain Medicine Physician, Frankston Pain Management, Melbourne, Australia. Also, an Honorary Consultant Anaesthetist in Department of Anaesthesia and Operating Theatre Services, Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong. He is an Honorary Consultant, Center for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan and an Honorary Consultant, Center for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taiwan.
Samer Narouze
Dr. Narouze is currently the chairman of the Center for Pain Medicine at Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is considered an expert consultant in Headaches and Pain Medicine and has served as an editor and medical reviewer in several Headache and Pain Medicine journals. He is also a clinical professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at OUCOM, and a clinical professor of Neurological Surgery at OSU.is Bradley Distinguished Professor at the University of South Australia. He is a pain scientist, clinician and educator. He has authored over 400 scientific articles and 8 books. He has won prizes from 14 countries for his contributions to our understanding pain neuroscience, innovation of novel interventions that are now considered first line care wherever guidelines exist, and his public outreach and community engagement initiatives. In 2020 he was made an ‘Officer of the Order of Australia’ that country’s second highest civilian honour, for ’services to humanity at large in the fields of pain and its management, education and science communication.’ He lives and works on Kaurna Country in Adelaide, South Australia.
Lorimer Moseley
Lorimer is Bradley Distinguished Professor at the University of South Australia. He is a pain scientist, clinician and educator. He has authored over 400 scientific articles and 8 books. He has won prizes from 14 countries for his contributions to our understanding pain neuroscience, innovation of novel interventions that are now considered first line care wherever guidelines exist, and his public outreach and community engagement initiatives. In 2020 he was made an ‘Officer of the Order of Australia’ that country’s second highest civilian honour, for ’services to humanity at large in the fields of pain and its management, education and science communication.’ He lives and works on Kaurna Country in Adelaide, South Australia.
Ganesh Mohan
Dr. Ganesh Mohan is the son of A. G. Mohan and Indra Mohan, practicing yoga from childhood, and one of the few direct links in the world now to the legendary yogi Sri Krishnamacharya’s teachings. Dr. Mohan is trained in both modern medicine and traditionally in Ayurveda. His work focuses on the application of self-care for health and well-being in chronic health conditions and lifestyle diseases.
Dr. Mohan is the developer of the Svastha Yoga Therapy Program with hundreds of yoga teachers enrolled, including healthcare professionals.
He is an advisor to the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) in the USA, and the Australian Association of Yoga Therapists (AAYT). He has spoken at numerous conferences, including the keynote address at Symposium of Yoga Therapy and Research (annual conference of the IAYT in the USA) and the Yoga Australia Conference, and being guest of honor at the European Union of Yoga conference.
He is the co-author of several books such as Yoga Therapy, Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings, Yoga Reminder: Lightened Reflections, Krishnamacharya in His Own Words, and translator of the ancient Sanskrit texts, Yoga Yajnavalkya, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
Mark P. Jensen
Mark P. Jensen, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington. For over 30 years, Dr. Jensen’s research program has had a goal to increase our scientific understanding of pain, pain assessment, and pain management. He has been at the forefront of research to develop and evaluate the efficacy of patient-controlled pain management approaches, including cognitive therapy, activity management, mindfulness, and hypnotic approaches. Dr. Jensen is the author of 12 books, over 40 chapters, and over 650 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has served on numerous editorial boards, having served as a Consulting Editor for the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Associate Editor for Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Associate Editor for the Clinical Journal of Pain. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pain for 12 years, from 2010 to 2022. Dr. Jensen has received funding for his research program from the National Institutes of Health and Department of Education continuously since 1989, and has received numerous awards for his writing and scientific contributions, including the 2004 Roy M. Dorcus award for Best Clinical Paper from the Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, the 2009 Clark L. Hull award for Scientific Excellence in Writing from the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, the 2011 Arthur Shapiro Award for Best Book on Hypnosis from the Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, and the 2012 American Psychological Association Division 30 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Scientific Hypnosis. He also received an honary doctorate from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain in 2024. He has served on the Board of Directors for the International Society of Hypnosis for 10 years, and is the immediate past President for this Society.
Ben Darlow
Ben Darlow is a musculoskeletal physiotherapy specialist practising in Wellington and an Associate Professor in the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago Wellington. Ben’s key research interests are the assessment and measurement of health beliefs about common musculoskeletal conditions, understanding how these beliefs have been influenced and the impact that these have on well-being, and designing, testing, and implementing interventions to improve knowledge, health care delivery, and outcomes. Ben has also led research exploring interprofessional education and review of the Otago Medical School pain curriculum.
Philip Cheong
Dr. Philip Cheong is currently employed as a Senior Principal Physiotherapist (Clinical) at Singapore General Hospital (SGH). Before joining SGH, he gained valuable experience in public hospital and private practice settings in Perth, Western Australia. Philip is a staunch advocate for person-centric care, emphasizing the importance of inter-professional collaboration, evidence-based practice, patient engagement, and respecting patients’ values and choices in delivering quality health care.
In addition to his clinical work, Philip plays an active role in educating healthcare professionals and is passionate about research and clinical innovation. He has secured SGD$1,098,636.00 (as a PI: SGD$747,892.00 and as a Co-I: SGD$350,744.00) in funding for research and innovation projects to date.
Philip concurrently holds the positions of:
• Director, Allied Health, SingHealth Duke-NUS Pain Centre
• Director, Research, SingHealth Duke-NUS Sport and Exercise Medicine Centre
• Adjunct Assistant Professor, Singapore Institute of Technology.
His professional interests encompass musculoskeletal sciences, sports physiotherapy, risk-stratified care management, chronic pain management, and the integration of technology in healthcare delivery.
Mary Cardosa
Dr Mary Suma Cardosa MBBS, MMed (Anaes), FANZCA, FFPMANZCA Dr Mary Suma Cardosa is a Consultant Pain Specialist who retired from Selayang Hospital in 2016 after serving for more than 30 years in the Ministry of Health (MOH). She is currently a visiting consultant pain specialist at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz UKM. Dr Cardosa has done pioneering work in the field of Pain management in Malaysia – this includes starting the first Acute Pain Service in the MOH in Hospital Kuala Lumpur in 1993, setting up the first multidisciplinary pain clinic in the MOH in Hospital Selayang in 2000, and helping to set up the first inpatient palliative care unit in the MOH in Hospital Selayang in 2002. She was responsible for implementing Pain as the 5th Vital Sign in the MOH in 2008, and went on to spearhead the Pain Free Hospital initiative of the MOH in 2011. Dr Cardosa continues to be actively involved in teaching pain management in Malaysia and in the ASEAN region. She was President of the Malaysian Association for the Study of Pain (MASP) for 10 years and now serves as Advisor to the MASP. She also served as a Council member in the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) for 6 years, followed by two years as the IASP secretary, and is currently the President-Elect of the IASP (2024-2026). Dr Cardosa headed the IASP Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic Toolkit project which produced a manual and conducted training to facilitate the setting up of Multidisciplinary Pain Clinics in Southeast Asia, and has been a faculty member of six IASP-Southeast Asia Pain camps (2011-2023), run by the Association of Southeast Asian Pain Societies (ASEAPS), where she was a founding council member.
Fiona Blyth
Fiona is Professor of Public Health and Pain Medicine at the University of Sydney. She is a public health physician and pain epidemiologist, and also the Program Director of the Master of Clinical Epidemiology Program at the School of Public Health; She is also a Principal Hospital Scientist (fractional) at the RNSH Pain Management and Research Institute in the Northern Sydney Local Health District. Fiona is currently the Topical reviews Section Editor for the journal PAIN and is also a current member of the IASP Council.
Fiona is internationally recognised for her body of work that positions chronic pain conditions as a major public health problem and contributor to the global burden of disability. She has close collaborative links with local and international groups researching healthy ageing, arthritis/musculoskeletal conditions, and comorbidity/multimorbidity. Fiona also works in health policy areas (global and national pain policy; promoting the use of research evidence in health policy. She has authored or co-authored >270 peer-reviewed articles
Sadiq Bhayani
Sadiq Bhayani, MD MBBS FRCA FFPMRCA EDRA CIPS FIPP is a Staff Physician in the Pain Management in Anaestheisology Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
His clinical expertise is in the field of major joint Denervation, regenerative therapies, MSK pain management, cryotherapy & peripheral neuromodulation.
Bharathi Balasundram
Dr Bharathi Balasundram is a senior consultant with the Department of Psychological Medicine at Changi General Hospital (CGH). Her areas of interest includes care of elderly in general hospitals on conditions such as dementia, delirium and depression, patient safety in psychiatry as well as medicolegal aspects in the elderly.
Ashokka Balakrishnan
Dr Ashokka Balakrishnan is a Senior Consultant Anaesthesiologist and Simulation Program Director (anaesthesia division) at National University Hospital Singapore.
He is Clinical A/Prof at National University of Singapore and CenMED Associate at Centre for Medical Education (CenMED). He is the director for Masters in Health Professions Education (MHPE) program for the Maastricht-Singapore Collaboration at the Academy of Medicine, Singapore.
He holds the office of the treasurer for the Asia Oceanic Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine (AOSRA-PM) and Vice President for the Pan Asia Society of Simulation (PASSH).
He is the research lead for the AMEE Patient safety network and SIG
He started his career in Anaesthesia in 2002 and has 18 years of experience in high fidelity simulation based undergraduate, postgraduate medical and allied health acute care teaching. He has a Fellowship of the Australia New Zealand College of Anaesthesiologists (FANZCA) and a Masters in Health professions educations (MHPE) from Maastricht, Netherlands.
His special interests are obstetric and regional anaesthesia, postgraduate exam support, simulation based postgraduate and undergraduate education, Inter professional education through acute care simulation and multidisciplinary team training.
He has conducted international workshops in simulation, airway and crisis management for acute care practitioners, trauma teams, anaesthesiologists and nursing delegates and hosted medical education faculty development programs in USA, Taiwan, Philippines, China, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia & India.
He is reviewer of Medical education, The Clinical Teacher, BMJ Open, Advances in Health Sciences Education (AHSE), Advances In Simulation, Annals Of Medicine Singapore, The Asia Pacific Scholar (TAPS), Nurse Media and Singapore Medical journal.
Divesh Arora
Dr. Divesh Arora is the Director and Head of Department of Anesthesia and OT Services at Asian Hospital, Faridabad. His achievements include:
• DNB teacher and examiner
• Mentor and examiner for RA fellowship from AORA
• NABH assesssor
• Sixteen national / international publications
• Eleven book chapters
• Past president Haryana ISA State Branch (2016-2017)
• Faculty for various USGRA /ISA /AORA conferences
His special Interest include USGRA, POCUS, Lung Ventilation strategy, Quality and Safety in anesthesia, Perioperative Medicine.
Bernadette Smith
Bernadette is a psychologist and educator within the field of pain management and currently serves as the President-Elect of the Australian Pain Society. She is the Clinical Director of Pain Solutions, a private multidisciplinary pain clinic in regional Tasmania, and co-facilitates the federally funded OPAL NorthWest pain self-management program. Additionally, she is the Director and Co-Director of two private practices, Psychology Plus and Coastal Psychology. Bernadette is deeply committed to improving access to interdisciplinary pain care in regional areas and is a passionate advocate for person-centered pain training for health professionals.
