The International Neuromodulation Society Board of Directors

• Executive Officers
• Regional Chapter Presidents
• Directors-at-Large
• International Neuromodulation Society Board and Committees
• Executive Board
• Directors' Industry Relationship Disclosures
• INS Conflict of Interest Policy

Executive Officers

France: Philippe Rigoard, MD, PhD

Prof. Philippe Rigoard is senior surgeon and coordinator of the Spine & Neuromodulation Unit within the Neurosurgical Department at the Poitiers University Hospital in France. He is also an Honorary Consultant in the pain clinic of Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust hospital in London, UK; an Anatomy Conference reader at the Human Morphology Institute, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Poitiers; a researcher at Inserm CIC (Clinical Investigation Center) 802; and the research program director of the N3Lab (Neuromodulation & Neural Networks Lab) in Poitiers. He has expended a lot of effort to rebuild the INS French chapter (Société Française de NeuroModulation, SFNM), which is now represented again in the global community.

While studying anatomy and morphology at National Art Institute, Beaux-Arts, Paris, from 1994-1996, Prof. Rigoard decided to enter into medicine. He received his medical degree as 1st Laureate of the Faculty of Medicine in Poitiers in 2006 and completed postgraduate medical training in spine surgery in 2008 and a fellowship in functional neurosurgery in 2009.

From 2002-2007 he also completed his PhD of Sciences in Poitiers, as well as several degrees including in neuromuscular diseases, acute pain, chronic pain and pain management in emergency conditions, microsurgical techniques and surgical robotics.

His main research interests are neuromodulation and spine biomechanics. He has been involved in intensive scientific collaborations with several researchers worldwide, e.g., Prof. Krishna Kumar (Canada); Dr. Mehul Desai, Prof. Richard North, and Prof. Konstantin Slavin (USA); and Dr. Adnan Al-Kaisy (UK).

Prof. Rigoard is a reviewer for several scientific journals. He is also a member of professional societies, including the International Association for the Study of Pain, International Neuromodulation Society, European Association of Neurosurgeons, French and North American Society of Spine Surgery.

Prof. Rigoard has also published dozens of journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters, and has lectured at more than 100 conferences and symposia worldwide.

Germany: Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Dirk Rasche

India: Paresh Doshi, MBBS, MS (General Surgery), MCh (Neurosurgery)

Prof. Paresh Doshi is the Director of Neurosurgery and Stereotactic and Functional neurosurgery at the Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai. He has been a pioneer in functional neurosurgery in India. He had been trained in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London and the Maudsley hospital, London. He further obtained selective functional neurosurgical experience from Prof. Benabid, Prof. Marwan Hariz, Prof. Marc Sindou and others. He established the first dedicated department of Functional neurosurgery in India in 1997.

The functional neurosurgical program at his institute has several firsts to its credit, e.g. first deep brain stimulation surgery (DBS) in India (1997), first surgery for obsessive compulsive disorder (2010), first DBS surgery for depression in Asia and Australia (2013), first occipital nerve stimulation for migraine (2012) etc. It offers functional neurosurgical fellowship for a period of one year. This is one of the few centres around the world where comprehensive functional neurosurgery training for all subspecialties of functional neurosurgery is available, i.e. movement disorders, pain, epilepsy, spasticity and psychiatric disorders. It also has the widest spectrum of surgical procedures being performed, ranging from rhizotomies to lesional surgeries to neuromodulation.

Prof. Doshi, has been on the board of several organizations, academic and non-academic. He has recently served as the President of the Indian Society For Stereotactic And Functional Neurosurgery (ISSFN). He is on the board of WSSFN and AASSFN societies. He is the trustee of Parkinson’s care trust, a non-governmental organization catering to Parkinson's disease patients. He has been awarded several awards, including the Indo-American young achiever’s award and Medscape India award for excellence in neurosciences. He has published extensively and is on the editorial board of many journals. He has been invited in numerous national and international meetings to deliver lectures.

Prof. Doshi is passionate about functional neurosurgery. His aim is to empower every neurosurgical department in his country to perform some part of functional neurosurgery. He is the founding President of The Neuromodulation Society (India).

Italy: Alessandro Dario, MD

Graduated in 1985 from Pavia University, Dr. Alessandro Dario had speciality in Neurosurgery in 1990; from 1991 he serves at the Neurosurgical Clinic of Insubria University where he performs clinical activity and university teaching. Other didactic activity consists of lessons at the School of Nursing Professionals from 1990 to 1996, and he is the chief of practice-theoretical instruction in favor of medical staff at four major hospitals in Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.

He participated as a speaker and teacher in 50 national and international congresses and courses and as a participant in about 100 congresses. He has 150 scientific works in abstract or extended form including more than 50 publications indexed in Medline, mainly concerning spasticity and peripheral nerve stimulation. His clinical activity is in the field of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, mainly concerning spinal cord or peripheral nerve stimulation, chronic intrathecal infusion, motor cortex stimulation and deep brain stimulation for movement disorders, including spasticity. Dr. Dario is a reviewer for several scientific journals. He is also a member of six professional societies, including the International Association for the Study of Pain. To date he is President of the Italian Chapter of INS.

Japan: Hidehiro Hirabayashi, MD, PhD

Korea: Byung-chul Son, MD, PhD

Nordic: Kliment Gatzinsky, MD, PhD

Dr. Kliment Gatzinsky holds a full time position as Senior Consultant at the Department of Neurosurgery, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. He graduated from the Medical School at Gothenburg University, where he also received his PhD degree in neurosciences. After completing a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at The Royal Free Hospital in London, he did his neurosurgical residency at Sahlgrenska University Hospital where he was appointed as Consultant after finishing his neurosurgical training. He has served as head of the Functional Neurosurgery Pain Unit at the hospital since 2004. Since 2005 he is also working as Visiting Consultant on permanent basis at the Department of Neurosurgery, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway, where he started up the neuromodulation unit.

North America: B. Todd Sitzman, MD MPH

Poland: Prof. dr hab.n.med. Wojciech Maksymowicz

Prof. Wojciech Maksymowicz, MD, PhD was born on the 24th of May 1955 in Włocławek, Poland.

In 1980 he graduated from the Medical University of Warsaw, where he also received his doctorate in the same year and later a post-doctoral degree in 1994. During his 12 years of work in Neurosurgery Clinic at the Medical University of Warsaw he received his 1st and 2nd degree specialization in the range of neurosurgery and neurotraumatology in 1983 and in 1987.

At that time he performed the first implantations of the epidural spinal cord stimulations in Poland in cooperation with Restorative Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

He expanded his neurosurgery knowledge during a five-year European Neurosurgery Course organized by European Association of Neurosurgical Societies. He completed the course in 1992 in Jerusalem.

In 1990 he worked scientifically in the Clinic of Neurosurgery Wessex Neurological Center of the University in Southampton. Over the period 1997-1999 he was the Minister of Health and Social Welfare of the Polish Republic, leading the implementation of the huge healthcare reform.

After that he became the head of Neurosurgery Department in the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior in Warsaw. On a proposal from the Scientific Council of Military Medical Institute in 2006, he received the professor’s degree.

Since 2007 he has been the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, at the same time being the head of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Clinic and Laboratory of Research on Stem Cells at this university.

He is the author of over 120 publications and scientific reports and also the member of Scientific Council to the Health Minister of Poland.

South Eastern Europe: Damianos Sakas, MD

Professor of Neurosurgery and Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Athens, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece (2000 –). Graduate of Ionnidios School of Piraeus (1972) and Medical School, University of Athens (1978). Certificate of Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates USA (1979). Military service in the Greek Navy (1979 -1981).
Specialty Training: Department of Surgery, General Hospital of Mytilene (1981-1982), Department of Neurology, University of Athens, Eginition Hospital (1981-1982) and Department of Neurosurgery, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens (1983-1986). Completion of Specialty Training in Neurosurgery, Athens (1986). Neurosurgical Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (1986 -1989) M.D. Thesis, University of Athens (1988). Neurosurgical Registrar, Institute of Neurological Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland (1990-1991). Neurosurgical Registrar, National Centre for Neurosurgery, Dublin, Ireland (1991-1993).
Senior Appointments: Consultant Neurosurgeon Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry, England (1993), Midland Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of Birmingham, England (1994), and University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, England (1995-1999). Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, University of Warwick, England (1995-1999). Lead Clinician, Dept. of Neurosciences, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, England (1997-1999).
Editorial Work: Associate Editor, Yearbook of Neurology and Neurosurgery (1997-). Associate Editor, Yearbook of Medicine (2003-), Reviewer in Neuromodulation (2003-) and Acta Neurochirurgica, The European Journal of Neurosurgery (2003-). Editor of the textbook: An Introduction to Neurosurgery, Parissianos Medical Publishers (in Greek), Athens, (2003).
Membership of Societies: President, Hellenic Neurosurgical Society (2001-2003). President, South East European Chapter, International Neuromodulation Society (2004-). Member, Executive Committee, European Society for Functional & Stereotactic Neurosurgery (2000-). American Congress of Neurological Surgeons (1995-). Society of British Neurological Surgeons (1995-), Society for Research into Higher Education (1995-), Training Committee, European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (2003-).
Special Neurosurgical Interests: epilepsy surgery, movement disorders surgery, vascular surgery, neurotrauma, skull base surgery and neuromodulation.

 Spain: Carlos Tornero Tornero, MD, PhD

 Switzerland: Christophe Perruchoud, MD

Turkey: Prof. Dr. Gül Köknel Talu

 Prof.Gül Köknel Talu,MD, FIPP
Chair of the Department of Algology, Medical Faculty of Istanbul University
Editor-in Chief of the journal of the Turkish Society of Algology, AGRI (pain)

EDUCATION:
Medical Graduate of İstanbul University, 1991
University anesthesiologist degree from Anesthesiology Department of İstanbul University Medical Faculty, 1997; working in Department of Algology of İstanbul University Medical Faculty since then
Pediatric intensive care unit fellowship at Childrens Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 1994
Pain fellowship at the Department of Algology as a member of the İstanbul University medical faculty, 1997-2002
World Institute of Pain pain fellow (FIPP), 2002, Budapest
Associate professorship in anesthesiology 2003
Pain fellowship at Spinal Diagnostics and Treatment Center, 2004-2005
Professorship in anesthesiology 2009
Chair of the Department of Algology, İstanbul University Medical Faculty, since 2011
MEMBERSHIPS:
    National:
        Turkish Pain Association (Faculty Member)
        Turkish Anesthesiology and Reanimation Association
        Turkish Regional Anesthesiology Association
Turkish Palliative Care Association (Founder and Faculty Member)
Turkish Pain Board (Founder and Faculty Member)
Turkish Pain Board, Exam Committee (chair)
International:
World Institute of Pain (Faculty member 2007-2011)
International Neuromodulation Society
European Federation of the International Association for the Study of Pain Chapters
Former president of the Turkish Chapter of the IASP, former president of the Turkish Chapter of the WIP, former president of the Turkish Chapter of the EFIC

PROFESSIONAL SKILS
Regional anesthesia
Pain therapy
Interventional pain therapy

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
Editor in-Chief of the Journal of AGRI (pain)
Editor of 10 Turkish medical books on pain, more than 40 Turkish pain chapters, two pain chapters in International Pain (Interventional Spine – an algorithmic approach), SAUNDERS, Interventional Pain Management, SAUNDERS.
National and international (SCI and SCI-Expanded) publications on acute and chronic pain management

United Kingdom and Ireland: Ganesan Baranidharan, MBBS, FRCA, FFPMRCA, PG Dip Anaesthesia

Dr G Baranidharan is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Leeds. He completed his UG from Madras Medical College and his anaesthesia and Pain Medicine training from Yorkshire Deanery and McMaster University, Canada. He is active in research and teaching. Most of his research activities are on Neuropathic pain and Neuromodulation. He has a special interest in managing pain of visceral origin. He has had a significant contribution in developing a National Neuromodulation Database for the United Kingdom. He is currently the Regional advisor for Pain Medicine in Yorkshire and also teaches in various courses nationally and internationally. He has successfully run his annual cadaver workshop in Leeds for the last 10 years. He is an elected Board member and Examiner for the Faculty of Pain Medicine. He enjoys cycling, running, cricket and Badminton in his spare time. .

Directors-at-large

 Corey W. Hunter, MD, FIPP

Dr. Hunter is an interventional pain management physician practicing in New York City, holding board certifications in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine.

Dr. Hunter earned his medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine. Thereafter, he completed a residency in PM&R at New York University followed by a Pain Medicine fellowship at the Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Hunter went on to found the Ainsworth Institute of Pain Management in New York City where he serves as the Executive Director. In addition, he holds an appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor in PM&R at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Hunter worked as a research assistant at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis investigating embryonic stem cells to treat paralysis, Parkinson’s disease and chronic pain. He continued his research in medical school studying stromal stem cells (now known as mesenchymal) to treat paralysis – his work was amongst the earliest research on this particular cell line, which is now the mainstay of regenerative medicine.

Dr. Hunter continues to be active in research, serving as the principal investigator on a number of clinical trials on emerging neuromodulation technologies and regenerative medicine. He has a keen interest in teaching and is well-published with his work appearing in a number peer-reviewed journals and textbooks on a wide variety of topics that include DRG stimulation, pelvic pain, regenerative medicine, CRPS, amputee pain, advanced spinal cord stimulation techniques, and targeted drug delivery.

Jason Pope, MD

Dr. Pope is the President and CEO of Summit Pain Alliance in Santa Rosa, California. He serves the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) as a Director-at Large, Advocacy and Policy Committee Co-chair, and is currently serving his second year as the Annual Planning Meeting Co-Chair. He completed his undergraduate education at Purdue University in Chemistry, where he studied tumor-targeting radiopharmaceuticals and receive a grant. He then went to Medical School at The Indiana University School of Medicine and the completed his Anesthesiology Residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He went on Fellowship in Pain Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. Following Fellowship, he advocated for pain care access and therapy as a congressional fellow to a member of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Sub-committee on Health.

Dr. Pope served as meeting Co-Chair for the inaugural Advanced Neuromodulation lab for the INS meeting in Montreal, and is involved in many committees with the INS, serving as the chair of the Young Neuromodulator Committee, The CME and Education Committee, is co-chair of the upcoming INS Advanced Neuromodulation Lab in Edinburgh. Dr. Pope is President Elect for the California Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (CASIPP) and is also serving as Co-Chair for the Special Interest Group in Neuromodulation for the American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA).

Dr. Pope has served as liaison to the FDA for numerous companies, both in and outside od the pain and neuromodulator space, and is the Regulatory and Marketing Vice President of AGR, an anesthesia gas company. He serves on numerous task forces for appropriate pain care and industry advisory boards.

Focused on education, Dr. Pope is centered on improving outcomes and safety through research and curriculum development. He is well published in many peer-reviewed journals, authored numerous chapters, textbooks and atlases, while presenting at regional, national, and international meetings. Working foundationally on on comprehensive workshops for fellows, residents, and physicians in practice, both domestically and internationally, Dr. Pope and his colleagues are working towards an improved neuromodulation space.

Lawrence Poree, MD, PhD

Dr. Poree holds the position of Clinical Professor in the Department of Anesthesia at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) where he serves as the director of the Neuromodulation service. He started his neuromodulation career as a basic science researcher at UC Berkeley where he investigated the analgesic properties of CNS hormones. He continued his research at Johns Hopkins University in the department of Biomedical Engineering where he investigated the neural pathways involved in spinal cord stimulation. He decided to apply his research to medical practice and enrolled at Stanford University where he earned his medical degree and completed his residency in anesthesia while continuing to conduct research on new non-opioid based pain medications. He then completed an interventional pain fellowship at UCSF. He founded and served as medical director of a private practice comprehensive pain management clinic for the next 15 years. During this time, he was able to consult with neuromodulation companies and completed a pivotal multi-center trial for DRG stimulation. He returned to academia 2 years ago to help advance the use of neuromodulation technologies at the University of California San Francisco Pain Management Center. He continues his academic research on the investigation of novel spinal cord stimulation systems. For the past 8 years he has served on the North American Neuromodulation Society board of directors where his focus is on education and credentialing. He has co-authored several publications in the neuromodulation field including spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal therapy training guidelines.

Regional Directors-at-Large

 Fabián César Piedimonte, MD, PhD - Latin America Regional Director-at-Large

Dr. Fabián César Piedimonte was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and graduated from Medical School at 23 years old at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in 1988, with an average score of 9 points over 10, obtaining the distinction of “Diploma of Honor”. In 1986, by competition, he obtained the Research Fellowship for the Young Investigator granted by the University of Buenos Aires and the CONICET through which he managed to characterize by immunohistochemistry the serotonergic neurons in the human brainstem and raise their relationship to the endogenous pain control. From that same year, still coursing his studies in medicine, he became involved with functional neurosurgery and neuromodulation, positioning himself as an assistant to Prof. Dr. Jorge Schvarcz and actively participating in deep brain stimulation procedures for pain and spasticity as well as in neurotransplantation protocols for Parkinson disease. In 1994, he completed his neurosurgery residency at the “Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín” from the University of Buenos Aires subsequently performing as Chief Resident and Resident Instructor at the Neurological Institute “Raúl Carrea” (FLENI). In 1996 he attended a Fellowship in Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy directed by Prof. Dr. Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira at the “Hospital de Clínicas”, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil. He courses the University Career in the Official Chair of Neurosurgery at the Teaching Hospital “José de San Martín” getting the title of University Neurosurgeon with a final score of 10 points in 1998. In 1999, he was accepted as a member of the Argentine College of Neurosurgeons. He is a Founding Member of the Argentinean Association of Neurosurgery Residents in which he serves as President during the period 1996/1998.

From 1985 to date, he has continuously served as a lecturer at the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires. In 1989, he obtained by competition the position of Teaching Assistant as Head of Practical Assignments, Department of Anatomy, 1st in order of merit. In 1992, he finished the Career of Teachers Education and Training being appointed Staff Professor. In 1993, he was appointed Assistant Professor of the Psychophysiology Chair at Salvador University, Argentina. In 2000 he was appointed Director of the Annual Course of Microsurgical Neuroanatomy intended for Neurosurgeons in training at Neurosciences Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires. 

He has been active as a Lecturer, Coordinator and Director in several educational activities for graduate and postgraduate levels and has also chaired meetings in national and international conferences related to his specialty. He was appointed President of the Local Arrangements Committee (LAC) for the 15h World Congress on Pain, which took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October 2014. Also, besides being a Founder and President of the Argentinean Society of Neuromodulation (SANE) - Argentinean Chapter of the International Neuromodulation Society - (INS), he held the position of Treasurer of the INS  for two consecutive periods.

He served as Vice president (President Elect) of the Latin American Federation of Associations for the Study of Pain (FEDELAT); currently he is Past President of the Latin American Society of Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy (SLANFE), Past President of the Argentinean Association for the Study of Pain (AAED) - Argentinean Chapter of the International Association for the Study of Pain - (IASP), and Past President of the Chapter of Functional Neurosurgery of the Latin American Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (FLANC). He serves on the Board of Directors of the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (WSSFN), Membership and Chapters Committee of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), and as Secretary General of the Inter-American Society of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SICCMI) - institution in which he also served as Founding Partner in 2007 -, and as titular member of several scientific societies.

He is author of numerous works, having won 10 national and international awards including highlights as “Stimulus to the Future” (1988), “Dr. Julio Aranovich” (1995), “Dr. Raúl Carrea” (1996 and 1998), “Dr. Manuel Balado” (1996), “Dr. Julio Ghersi” (1998) and “American Society of Regional Anesthesia” (1997), among others. He has attended numerous training courses abroad, highlighting among the most recent ones the Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP) granted by the World Institute of Pain (WIP) in 2008, in Budapest, Hungary. He served as Staff Neurosurgeon at the Neurological Institute “Raúl Carrea” (FLENI) until 2003 and as Neurosurgeon Physician of the “Movement Disorders and Parkinson Program” at the “Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín", University of Buenos Aires, until 2007. At present, he acts as Chairman of the Neurosurgery Department at the “Hospital Interzonal de Agudos Evita de Lanús”, and President of CENIT Foundation for Research in Neurosciences. He also complements his activities with an intense academic work as Founder and Director of the Biannual Course of Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy correspondent to the Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy Chapter of the Argentinean Association of Neurosurgery (AANC), Director of the Course of Specialists of the Province of Buenos Aires, Founder and Director of the Course for Physicians on Improvement in the Treatment of Pain (e-learning) of the Argentinean Association for the Study of Pain (AAED), and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Functional Neurosurgery, Stereotaxy, Radiosurgery and Pain, named “NeuroTarget”, scientific publication Level 1 (Superior Level of Excellence according to the LATINDEX Catalogue) and official organ of scientific diffusion of the Argentinean Society of Neuromodulation (SANE), the Argentinean Association for the Study of Pain (AAED), and the Latin American Society of Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy (SLANFE). He has been recognized by his peers with the “Francisco Velasco Campos Award” in 2009 in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil, and with the Honorary Presidency of the ABCUR Meeting, which he founded in 2002, last year in Montevideo, Uruguay, for his career and support of functional neurosurgery and neuromodulation in Latin America. Dr. Fabián César Piedimonte also performs activity in the government as Coordinator of the Program of Neuromodulation in the Province of Buenos Aires and is involved in the development of Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy in various Latin American Countries, supporting professionals involved in this area, and encouraging the beginning of this field with professionals of Countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Paraguay and Panama, among others.

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Kaare Meier, MD, PhD - Europe, Canada, and Africa Regional Director-at-Large

Kaare Meier received his medical degree from University of Southern Denmark in 2006 and started working with Spinal Cord Stimulation in 2009.

He received his PhD on SCS in 2012 at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Currently he holds a position at Aarhus University Hospital and spends half of his working hours doing clinical neuroanesthesia, keeping the professional link with neurologists and neurosurgeons.

The other half is spent on neuromodulation; Spinal Cord Stimulation, Occipital Nerve Stimulation, and Peripheral Nerve Stimulation.

His original research interest was neurological studies and animal models but gradually his professional interest has turned in a different direction:
1) providing documentation for the effect, safety, and cost-effectiveness of neuromodulation.
He is the driving force behind the Neurizon Neuromodulation Database (http://neurizon.org), a free, comprehensive database designed specifically for international collaboration.
2) exploring dogmas in neuromodulation.
He and his small research team is investigating and testing a number of existing dogmas in neuromodulation, using both interventional approaches and the large dataset in the Neurizon database.
3) fostering international collaboration.
He strongly believes that international collaboration is the key to provide more solid research results and improve treatment outcomes.

In 2014, he took the initiative to form the Nordic Neuromodulation Society, a multinational INS chapter uniting members from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and he has been the president of the society since its founding. He has been on the planning committees at all annual meetings of the NNS and in the scientific committee of the 2019 EFIC meeting.

He also worked towards establishing the Russian INS chapter, that was founded in 2018.

In 2016/2017 he was chairman of the team that defined the underlying structure behind the new INS website with the specific aim of providing a common tool for the neuromodulation society.

He was part of the working group initiating and planning the 1st Joint European meeting of European INS chapters in Nijmegen 2018, just as he is for the 2nd in Paris 2020.

His is married to Ioanna, a (very patient) Greek pediatrician with a very handy expertise in epidemiology and statistics, and he is the father of Rebekka and Andreas who, to the delight of their parents, both share a vivid imagination, an adventurous spirit, and an all-round cheerful view of life.

Lawrence Poree, MD, PhD - USA Regional Director-at-Large

Dr. Poree holds the position of Clinical Professor in the Department of Anesthesia at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) where he serves as the director of the Neuromodulation service. He started his neuromodulation career as a basic science researcher at UC Berkeley where he investigated the analgesic properties of CNS hormones. He continued his research at Johns Hopkins University in the department of Biomedical Engineering where he investigated the neural pathways involved in spinal cord stimulation. He decided to apply his research to medical practice and enrolled at Stanford University where he earned his medical degree and completed his residency in anesthesia while continuing to conduct research on new non-opioid based pain medications. He then completed an interventional pain fellowship at UCSF. He founded and served as medical director of a private practice comprehensive pain management clinic for the next 15 years. During this time, he was able to consult with neuromodulation companies and completed a pivotal multi-center trial for DRG stimulation. He returned to academia 2 years ago to help advance the use of neuromodulation technologies at the University of California San Francisco Pain Management Center. He continues his academic research on the investigation of novel spinal cord stimulation systems. For the past 8 years he has served on the North American Neuromodulation Society board of directors where his focus is on education and credentialing. He has co-authored several publications in the neuromodulation field including spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal therapy training guidelines.

Richard Sullivan, MBChB, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA - Asia, Australia and New Zealand Regional Director-at-Large

Emeritus Director-at-Large

Simon Thomson, MBBS, FRCA, FIPP

Dr. Simon Thomson is a consultant in Pain Medicine and Neuromodulation at Basildon and Thurrock University NHS Trust since October 1992. He works in a private capacity at Nuffield Health Brentwood and The London Clinic. He holds an interest in multidisciplinary pain management, pain and neuromodulation, education, and clinical research. Since 2012 he is fulltime in pain medicine and neuromodulation.

In September 2009 he was elected as president of the International Neuromodulation Society and re-elected to serve a second term until June 2015. He was elected onto council of the British Pain Society and served from 2005 to 2008. He became a fellow of interventional pain practice (FIPP) in 2002. He founded the Neuromodulation Society of UK and Ireland (NSUKI) in 2000.

He led the INS team and executive board to create the INS Education and Public awareness strategy and to establish the INS as a flagship for all matters pertaining to neuromodulation. Under his Presidency INS membership, chapter formations and INS congress attendees more than doubled. He has established INS global regional meetings between biennial congress years.

He has developed and commissioned the UK neuromodulation registry project.

To do these projects he has raised over $500,000 in grants from industry partners.

He has been chair of the scientific committee for three large successful international congresses in London in 2011, Berlin in 2013 and Montreal 2015. He created the popular Neuromodulation Innovations symposia that bring leading scientists, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, clinicians and consolidating companies together and the Basic Neuromodulation Science satellite symposia.

Key scientific contributions have been through clinical indication studies EPOS, PROCESS, RASCAL studies. Recent research has been to explore sub-perception SCS with PROCO, HALO and FAST studies. He also does Mechanism of action research with quantitative sensory testing and biomarkers from skin biopsy.

He was specialist adviser to ScHARR (University of Sheffield) on a Health Technology Assessment concerning SCS in refractory neuropathic and ischaemic pain (2007 to 2008) and contributed to the NICE technology appraisal (TA159) in that capacity.
He was the first in the UK to publish long-term outcomes of SCS in a large personal series of patients with neuropathic and ischaemic pain syndromes. He continues to publish sequentially service reviews and has championed the need for long term longitudinal studies both with RELIEF and the National Neuromodulation Registry.

He has contributed chapters to textbooks on pain management and neurostimulation for pain. He serves on editorial board of Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface.

More recently he has chaired the development of a pan European e-tool for SCS referrers and centre selection.

He is interested in re-engineering our collective approach to SCS delivery, away from relying upon a prolonged trial period of SCS, to that of better multidisciplinary assessment and management.

He is working to improve the definitions concerning back and leg pain and improving the terms used in our field, such as failed back surgery syndrome.

He is involved in specialist training for pain management generally and SCS and IT drug delivery training specifically.

He is an advocate of pain management and neuromodulation specifically and addresses public audiences and writes articles for scientific community and popular newspapers.

His colleagues regard him as a leader in the field of pain medicine and neuromodulation.

 Neuromodulation and spinal cord stimulation are transforming chronic illness management. The worldwide progress in gaining patient access to neuromodulation has been significantly helped by the efforts of Dr. Thomson.
When not working he enjoys his family and friends. He likes to ski, play tennis both real and lawn, cycle, cook and entertain. He is father to Ben, Jonny and Beth.

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