At the Pain Management Research Institute, our vision is to be a global leader in comprehensive pain management solutions. We strive to achieve this by undertaking cutting-edge research and delivering education and training to clinicians caring for people with chronic pain. Since our inception in 1991, we have focused on patient advocacy and integrating our research and training with clinical services. Through this process, the latest research can inform future care. The Pain Management Research Institute Centre is part of the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sydney Pain Consortium.
It has laboratory and research space within the Kolling Institute building, as well as facilities in the Douglas Building at Royal North Shore Hospital. From here, our clinical research is undertaken alongside the nationally and internationally recognised preclinical research and pain education programs. Patients with acute pain, cancer pain and chronic non-cancer pain receive treatment in collaboration with the Michael J Cousins’ Pain Management & Research Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital.
Team Lead
Professor Paul Glare
Head of the Pain Management Research Institute
Team Members
Conjoint Associate Professor Paul Wrigley
Postdoctoral Scientist
Clinical Professor Chris Vaughan
Postdoctoral Scientist
Dr Yo Otsu
Postdoctoral Scientist
Conjoint Professor Michael Nicholas
Psychologist
Director, Pain Education Unit
Pain Management Research Institute
Adjunct Associate Professor Karin Aubrey
Postdoctoral Scientist
Pain Management Research Institute
Clinical Associate Professor Charles Brooker
Visiting Medical Officer
Professor Claire Ashton-James
Postdoctoral Scientist and Educator
Dr Bryony Winters
Postdoctoral Scientist
Dr Sarah Overton
Postdoctoral Scientist
Dr Ali Gholamrezaei
Postdoctoral Scientist
Dr Eindra Aung
Postdoctoral Scientist
Pain Management Research Institute
Associate Professor Elizabeth Devonshire
Educator
Dr Duncan Sanders
Educator
Dr Saurab Sharma
Chief Clinical Research Scientist
Conjoint Senior Lecturer
Pain Management Research Centre
Vanessa Mitchell
Research Officer
Rebecca Power
PhD Student
Dr Daniel Costa
Statistician and Researcher
Eddy Sokalai
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Kristen Anderson
PhD Student=
Miguel Cornejo
MD Research Project Student
Dominique Barbara
Honours Student
This MRFF 2-year (2025-2007) project is being conducted at Northern Sydney Cancer Centre and Peter McCallum Cancer Centre (Melbourne). We will codesign the text messages with survivors and clinicians. Then we will undertake a non-inferiority RCT of the messages vs. usual pain clinic care. Lastly, we will evaluate the barriers and facilitators to implementing the intervention. Impact: If the messages are effective, we will have created a scalable, inexpensive, accessible and convenient method to help breast cancer survivors with disabling pain to quickly return to normal activities and a healthy lifestyle.
2020-2023 (Analysing). This study will examine the effectiveness and value of a coordinated pathway (ED PainPATH) for people with chronic pain who frequently attend the Emergency Department (ED). We are currently analysing 12-month follow-up linked healthcare activity data from CHeReL, and Services Australia (Medicare and Pharmaceutical Services). People with chronic pain frequently attending ED need access to support services that help them manage better in the community.
This NHMRC investigator grant awarded to Dr Saurab Sharma (2026-2030) aims to co‑create equitable, culturally safe pain care across Australia and low‑ and middle‑income countries (LMICs). Integrating research with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Australia and Consortium for Low Back Pain in LMICs, EquiP‑all co‑designs digital health solutions with five CALD groups using participatory action research, mixed methods and implementation science. This research program addresses structural barriers, access and health system responsiveness to pain, translating evidence into policy and practice to improve pain outcomes for an estimated 2.2 billion people worldwide.
This research program led by A/Prof Karin Aubrey investigates chronic pain as a disorder of impaired brain regulation. Focusing on the periaqueductal gray (PAG), a key centre for descending pain control, the program examines how pain‑modulating circuits, neurotransmitter systems, and inhibitory mechanisms become dysregulated and locked in a persistent defensive state. Integrating molecular neuroscience, electrophysiology, circuit-level analysis using optogenetics and photometry approaches, this work aims to identify strategies that restore endogenous pain control and resolves pain. Ultimately, the program seeks to discover longer‑lasting, non‑opioid therapies and expand treatment options for patients with refractory chronic pain.
- This is a consumer driven pilot study. The study was designed with a Consumer Advisory Body made up of people with lived experience of multisite chronic pain. Our consumers include dietitians, and members with research and advocacy expertise. The study aims to assess the impact of a dietary intervention on pain and the cost effectiveness of the intervention.
- Kolling FRG: MSK, Cancer
- Royal North Shore Hospital
- Sydney Pain Consortium
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney
- Macquarie University, Sydney
- University of Washington, Seattle, United States
- Curtin University, WA
- Adelaide University, SA
- Saint-Pere Paris Institute for the Neuroscience, Paris, France
- School of Pharmacy and School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney
- Macquarie University, Sydney: Diet and Chronic Pain Project Investigator Group
- Nutrition Services, Royal North Shore Hospital: Diet and Chronic Pain Project Investigator and Implementation Group
- Pain Management Research Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital: Diet and Chronic Pain Project Implementation Group
- The University of Sydney, Sydney Medical School – Northern: Diet and Chronic Pain Project Investigator Group
- Stanford University, USA: Diet and Chronic Pain Project Investigator Group
- Karolinska Institute, Sweden: Diet and Chronic Pain Project Investigator Group
- Vickerstaff Health Services, Canada: Diet and Chronic Pain Project Investigator Group
- Aim Centre, New York: Diet and Chronic Pain Project Investigator Group
- Consumer Advisory Body: Consumers with lived experience, Chronic Pain Australia. Diet and Chronic Pain Project
