CLINICAL PAIN NEUROSCIENTIST TALKS ABOUT HOW THE BRAIN PROCESSES PAIN INFORMATION Trial: affects on pain and activity levels, by educating knee osteoarthritis participants in individualised exercise programs
With
Tasha Stanton,
Associate Professor of Clinical Pain Neuroscience
Group, Leader Persistent Pain Research Group (Lifelong Health)
SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) &
co-Director of IMPACT in Health, University of South Australia
SEGMENT
Filmed in Adelaide | March 2026
The Persistent Pain Research Group’s vision is to work hand-in-hand with consumers to undertake impactful research that helps better understand and treat persistent pain.
Their studies span discovery to implementation science to determine key contributors to the development and maintenance of persistent pain and to use this information to create novel brain-based interventions.
They hold expertise in developing new technologies, such as virtual and mediated reality, and translating these technologies to the clinical environment, using innovative co-design methods.
The Persistent Pain Research Group studies a variety of painful conditions, with specific focus on:
- Osteoarthritis
- Spinal pain (neck and back)
- Complex regional pain syndrome
- Phantom limb pain after amputation
Persistent pain affects one in five Australians and costs the nation an estimated $73 billion per year in health system costs, lost productivity and other financial costs.
Persistent pain also has debilitating personal costs – negatively impacting quality of life and the ability to engage in meaningful work and life activities.
Despite the enormity of this problem, very few effective treatments exist with most showing only small to moderate improvements. New treatments are desperately needed. The group believes the best way to create impactful change is to work with people with lived experience of persistent pain to devise solutions with them, not for them.
Source: SAHMRI webpage Persistent Pain Research Group
-
Indigenous physio leadership
On the eve of NAIDOC week 2023, Australian Health Journal met with Scott Willis, the National President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, a proud Palawa man and the first Indigenous President of the Australian health peak body.
-
Global GP Conference comes to Australia
Over 3000 delegates from around the World will gather at the 50th celebration of WONCA to reconnect and revive General Practice, sharing knowledge and learnings on access, equity, funding, and multidisciplinary care teams. This includes networking with Australian and overseas GPs and in particular learning about primary care practices in other countries.
Australian Health Journal met with Dr Nicole Higgins, President of RACGP in transit at Brisbane Airport recently and she spoke about the $6 Billion allocated in the Federal Budget in May as a significant achievement for General Practice investment. She also emphasised this announcement reinforced GPs should be at the centre of multidisciplinary care teams to ensure continuity of care and better health outcomes.
-
The role of genomic screening in transforming public health
Dr Jane Tiller is a lawyer, genetic counsellor and public health researcher. She is Ethical, Legal & Social Adviser in Public Health Genomics at Monash University, and a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant holder. Jane is passionate about the use of genomics to prevent disease, and in delivering equitable access to preventive genetic information at the population level. She is co-lead of DNA Screen, a world-first study piloting the offer of preventive DNA screening to the Australian adult population. DNA Screen has tested over 10,000 young people for genetic high risk of medically actionable conditions such as cancer and heart disease, finding about 2% of participants had genetic high risk. Jane is leading efforts to secure Commonwealth Government funding to expand the DNA Screen program, with the eventual goal of the development of a public health population screening program for disease prevention based on high genetic risk.
