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Pain Management Centre
The Pain Management Centre is actively engaged in a range of innovative research projects aimed at improving pain management.
Current studies include the development of a Cancer Pain Intervention Registry, the use of Pulsed Shortwave Therapy (Actipatch®) for chronic low back pain, and the co-design of a care and education program for pain management in NSW. Additionally, a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program is being explored.
Completed projects include a feasibility study on sublingual ketamine for advanced cancer pain and the use of technology to assist in opioid tapering for chronic pain patients. These projects have resulted in numerous oral presentations and posters at professional conferences, as well as several published papers on topics such as pain management during COVID-19, interventional procedures for cancer pain, and pharmacologic management of persistent pain in cancer survivors.
The clinic's comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to research continues to contribute significantly to advancements in pain management.
Our Projects
| Active Projects |
| Implementation and Development of Cancer Pain Intervention Registry: Led by Dr Yi-ching Lee, Dr Alix Dumitrescu, Dr Timothy Brake. Supported by SurFebruary Cancer Research Fund. |
| Co-design of developing and integrating model of care and education program for pain management centre in NSW– A bi-phase Qualitative Study: Led by Emma Zhao, Anastasia Serafimovska, Dr Lisa Vaccaro. |
| Guided Referral Optimisation Using Pre-Clinic Education – A Pilot Randomised Study Evaluating the Feasibility of Face-to-Face Versus Virtual Delivery of the STEPS Program: Led by Dr Emma Zhao and Dr Yi-Ching Lee. Funded by Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Pilot Grant 2025. |
| Completed Projects |
| Sublingual Ketamine as Breakthrough Analgesia in Patients with Advanced Cancer - A Feasibility Study: Led by Dr Yi-ching Lee, Dr Alix Dumitrescu. Funded by Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Pilot Grant 2021, Sponsored by Chris O'Brien Lifehouse. |
| Technology Adjunct for Opioid Tapering in Patients with Chronic Pain: Led by Dr Yi-ching Lee, Emma Zhao, Anastasia Serafimovska. Funded by Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Pilot Grant 2022. |
| Pulsed shortwave therapy (Actipatch®) study in chronic low back pain: Led by Emma Zhao, Dr Yi-ching Lee. |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program: Led by Dr Charlotte Johnstone and Kristi Rossetto. |
Selected Publications
| Amorim AB, Rebbeck T, Van Dam NT, Johnstone C, Ashton-James C, Costa N, Barnet-Hepples T, Jennings M, Refshauge K, Pappas E. The feasibility and acceptability of an online mindfulness-based stress reduction program for chronic musculoskeletal pain: protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2025 Mar 15;11(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s40814-025-01612-w. PMID: 40089768; PMCID: PMC11909893. |
| Lee YC, Zhao E, Lee KKH, Lee W, Dumitrescu A, Loadsman J, Sanders R, Brake T, Wang AY. Sublingual Ketamine as Breakthrough Analgesia in Patients with Advanced Cancer – A Feasibility Randomised Controlled Repeated Cross-over Trial. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 2025 Dec;39(4):454-467. https://doi.org/10.1080/15360288.2025.2531008. Epub 2025 Jul 12. PMID: 40650554. |
| Zhao E, Vaccaro L, Lee YC, Brake TJ, Serafimovska A. Co-Design for Developing and Integrating a Model of Care for Pain Management Centers: Protocol for a Biphase Qualitative Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Jun 18;14:e59126. doi: 10.2196/59126. PMID: 40532202. |
| Hamilton M, Mathieson S, Jamshidi M, Wang A, Lee YC, Gnjidic D, Lin CC. Effectiveness of Interventions to Reduce Opioid Use After Orthopaedic Surgery: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials. Drugs. 2024 Dec 20. doi: 10.1007/s40265-024-02116-2. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39702868. |
| Lee YC, Brake T, Zhao E, Dumitrescu A, Lee W, Tassie B, Khor KE, Wang AY. The use of interventional procedures for cancer pain. A brief review. Support Care Cancer. 2024 Apr 12;32(5):285. doi: 10.1007/s00520-024-08467-6. PMID: 38607568; PMCID: PMC11009760. |
| Cornall G, Zhao E, Luckett T, Erciyas E, Monck D, Glare P, Wang A, Lee YC. Management of pain in cancer patients- lessons from practices during the COVID-19: a qualitative study of cancer care providers' perspectives. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Feb 22;24(1):232. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-10710-z. PMID: 38388905; PMCID: PMC10885360. |
| Lee Y-C, Lee K, Dumitrescu A, Lee W, Zhao E, Brake T, Wang A, Loadsman J. Sublingual Ketamine as Breakthrough Analgesia in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Feasibility Study- 2023. ANZCA Annual Scientific Meeting: Faculty of Pain Medicine Dean's Prize and Best Free Paper Award session abstracts, Pain Medicine, Volume 24, Issue 11, November 2023, Page 1291. |
| Glare P, Aubrey K, Gulati A, Lee YC, Moryl N, Overton S. Pharmacologic Management of Persistent Pain in Cancer Survivors. Drugs. 2022 Feb;82(3):275-291. doi: 10.1007/s40265-022-01675-6. Epub 2022 Feb 17. PMID: 35175587; PMCID: PMC8888381. |
| Lee, Y.-c. et al. Abstract Pr312: Peri-operative Dexmedetomidine and Chronic Pain After Cardiac Surgery. Anesthesia & Analgesia (2016): n. pag. |
Our Presentations
| Oral presentations |
| Zhao E, Vaccaro L, Radhakrishnan S, Serafimovska A. "From Challenges to Solutions: Advancing Chronic Pain Care Through Collaboration in Rehabilitation Medicine." Rehabilitation Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand 8th Annual Scientific Meeting, in conjunction with New Zealand Rehabilitation Association (RMSANZ NZRA 2025), New Zealand, 23 July 2025. (Topical session). |
| Brake T. "Barriers and facilitators of interventional pain management in cancer and introduction of a cancer pain interventions registry". ANZCA ASM 2025, Cairns. |
| Sandy J, Zhao E, Brake T, Araoka S, Lee YC, Campbell G. Pain reduction and functional improvement with pulsed shortwave therapy (ActiPatch®) in chronic low back pain: A randomised double-blind controlled trial. Australian Pain Society 2025. |
| Anastasia Serafimovska , Emma Zhao, Timothy Brake, Phillip Poronnik, Christine Lin, Andy Wang, Yi-Ching Lee, "Virtual reality and heart rate variability biofeedback as adjunct to opioid reduction in chronic pain management: a qualitative study". Australian Pain Society & Sydney Pain Consortium 2024. |
| Yi-Ching Lee, Kenny Lee, Alix Dumitrescu , Wei Lee, Emma Zhao, Timothy Brake, Andy Wang , John Loadsman, "Sublingual Ketamine as Breakthrough Analgesia in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Feasibility Study". Australian & New Zealand College Of Anaesthetists Annual Scientific Meeting 2023 (Prize finalist). |
| Anastasia Serafimovska, Emma Zhao, Yi-Ching Lee, Lisa Vaccaro, Seema Padmakumari Radhakrishnan, David B Anderson, "Models of Care in Pain Management: A proposed cross LHD pathway". Sydney Pain Consortium, Finalist Pitch, November 2023. |
| Ertugrul Erciyas, Georgina Cornall, Yi-Ching Lee, Andy Wang, Emma Zhao, Tim Luckett, "Barriers and facilitators of interventional pain management of cancer pain from the perspective of clinicians". Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine 2022. |
| Posters |
| Brake T, Serafimovska A, Vaccaro L, Lee Y, Gardner T, Anderson D, Radhakrishnan S, Zhao E. Co-Design of a Model of Care and Education Program for Chronic Pain Management: Insights from Patients and Carers in Phase I of a Qualitative Study. Australian Pain Society & Sydney Pain Consortium 2025. |
| Emma Zhao, Lisa Vaccaro, Yi-Ching Lee, Timothy Brake, Anastasia Serafimovska, “Perspectives on model of care and education program for pain management centre: findings from a semi-structured clinician and leader focus group”. Australian Pain Society & Sydney Pain Consortium 2024. |
| Brake T, Zhao E, Dumitrescu A, Tassie B, Ratnayake I, Wang A, Lee Y, “Development and implementation of a cancer pain intervention registry: an Australian pilot study”. Australian Pain Society 2024. |
| Isuru Ratnayake, Emma Zhao, Timothy Brake, Andy Wang, Yi-Ching Lee, “Case Series of Cancer Pain Interventions: Experiences and Outcome from Two Tertiary Centres in NSW”. Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine 2022 (awarded for the best poster). |
| Georgina Cornall, Emma Zhao, Tim Luckett, Ertugrul Erciyas, Andy Wang, Yi-Ching Lee, “Management of pain in cancer patients— Lessons from practices during the COVID-19: A qualitative study of cancer care providers’ perspectives”. Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine 2022. |
Pain Management Centre
Emma Zhao