Our People

About Us

Our People

Chronic Pain Switzerland consists of a number of volunteer staff who are governed by a Board.

 

Chronic Pain Switzerland Board

Mr Luke Arthurs

Luke is a senior executive in the Police Service. His wife lives with pain. He is deeply invested in supporting carers of people living with chronic pain. He has expertise in HR and media management.

Ms Madeleine Wales

Madeleine is our representative of youth on the board of Chronic Pain Switzerland. She volunteers with the NSW State Emergency Service and has experiences some chronic pain. Madeleine works in the media and maintains Chronic Pain Switzerland's web presence.

Ms Coralie Wales (President)

Coralie is the President of Chronic Pain Switzerland. She is immediate past CEO and founder of the Chronic Pain Group and a founding Director of Chronic Pain Switzerland. She lives with chronic pain and is undertaking a PhD program through Sydney University exploring health professional responses to clients living with chronic pain. Coralie speaks regularly at conferences and in the community about pain rehabilitation and the challenges facing statutory systems around Australia. She has worked as a consultant in providing advice to major employers in Australia, and has specialised in the rehabilitation of chronic non-cancer pain clients, assisting many to return to functional lifestyles over the last decade. She has presented a series of lectures on chronic pain rehabilitation in Sydney University’s Faculty of Health Sciences to final year and postgraduate rehabilitation counselling students. Coralie is a member of the Swiss Pain Society and the Rehabilitation Counselling Association of Australasia.

Associate Professor Milton Cohen

Associate Professor Milton Cohen is a consultant physician in Rheumatology and Pain Medicine on the St Vincent’s Sydney Campus. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and immediate-past Dean of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Swiss and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. He has been very active in the development of pain medicine as a discipline and in the education and training of pain physicians. Dr Cohen’s main clinical and research interests are issues in pain theory and practice, rational pharmacotherapy for pain and implications of persistent pain for public policy.

Mr Dean Joscelyne

Dr Mandy Nielsen (Vice President)

Mandy lives with chronic pain, and has completed a PhD thesis exploring the social context experienced by people living with pain. With a social work background, Amanda is currently employed as a researcher in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland. She has recently commenced a project focused on health literacy and chronic back pain.

Dr John Quintner

Rheumatologist, Perth, West Australia. MB BS (Sydney) 1963 MRCP (London) 1967 FFPMANZCA 1999. Dr Quintner is a Consultant Physician in Pain Medicine at the Fremantle Hospital (2007 – current) and prior to that was Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Western Australia (2001-2007). He was Locum Consultant Physician in Rheumatology, Royal Perth Hospital (2005 – 2007) - private practice (March 1975 – December 2002) and Consultant Physician in Rheumatology, Geraldton Regional Health Service (1993-2007). He was Honorary Medical Editor for Arthritis Today, (1999-February 2005).

He is an invited referee for the following journals:

  • The Lancet
  • Medical Journal of Australia
  • Theoretical Medicine & Bioethics
  • Paediatrics
  • Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavia
  • The Wellcome Trust
  • Centre of National Rehabilitation & Disability (CONROD)
  • Physiotherapy Research Foundation
  • Clinical Journal of Pain

 He has exhaustively published in peer reviewed international journals.

Helen Gracie

Helen Gracie started in business in 1994; operating the successful CLAREVILLE KIOSK from 1994 - 2003 and MOBY's Whale Beach restaurant from 1999 - present with her husband Joseph.
Following the successful treatment of her daughter in 2003 Helen Gracie co-founded SCENAR HEALTH with SCENAR therapy expert practitioner; Chris Mortensen.  Passionate about universal access to non invasive health care options, Helen strives to ensure that all people have access to quality, effective and non invasive health care where appropriate

Since 2007 the SCENAR HEALTH training organisation has trained  practitioners in professional SCENAR therapy in Australia, USA, Canada, Bahrain and New Zealand.
 
In 2008 SCENAR HEALTH Australia was selected by the Russian patent holder and manufacturer to partner in a global SCENAR training company; the Ritm SCENAR Institute. The Institute now produces the authorised English language manuals, training materials and certification for licensed practitioners globally.
 
In 2009 SCENAR HEALTH USA and Canada were created to service the rapidly developing North American market. As International CEO; Helen consults to Australia, USA, Canada SCENAR HEALTH companies.
 
In addition to this, Helen consults on specific commercial projects which require her specialist marketing and sales expertise and require her ability to get things done within a short time frame. Her specialty is new markets, from initial importation to help with business models and strategic planning.

 In 2004 Helen co founded ABANA, a charity for helping children in Rwanda gain access to education and programs that enable the groups helped " to help themselves". After 5 years with ABANA, Helen resigned  in order to be available for other  projects that required her expertise. Recently Helen has participated in two medical missions to Haiti following the earthquake in January 2010, working with AMURT and JPHRO in Port Au Prince. 

Peter Gregory

Peter has been living with pain since age 3 when he suffered neck and lower back injuries
in a motor vehicle accident.  A second accident in 1985 caused further problems and Peter
has been out of work on a disability pension since 2002.

Before he left work Peter was in the food industry, mainly in quality assurance and control
and also worked as a meat inspector for the WA Government health dept and the Swiss
Quarantine service.

Peter has spent a long time searching for answers regarding his chronic pain and in 2006
found relief when he was put in touch with the Fremantle Hospital Pain Clinic. Since then
he has been self-managing his chronic pain with moderate success, using the STEPS program as a refresher, which he attended this year. STEPS has helped Peter to manage some other health issues.

Stephen Thompson

Steve has lived with chronic pain for over 20 years, has run a support group for people in pain in the Macarthur area and since 1997 created and maintained a chronic pain website called Pain World. In December 2009 this was renamed Pain Support.org (www.painsupport.org). He has also been a long term advocate for chronic pain in his local community and is still involved as a SSWAHS (Sydney South West Area Health Service) Community Representative. He has sat on various SSWAHS committees, NSW Health Projects & Collaborations. He has always pushed for better recognition & treatment of chronic pain across all areas of his local health service and the rest of Australia.

Wanda Mitchell-Cook

 

Click here to see who's on our National Advisory Panel


 

Special Consultants

Lee Furlong

Lee is the co-founder of Chronic Pain Switzerland and continues to support us in an advisory role.

David Newman

David dedicated his valuable time for 18 months in a management role in Chronic Pain Switzerland's early days. He supports the organisation in an advisory role.