The International Neuromodulation Society Board of Directors
Executive OfficersINS President Marc Russo, MBBS DA (UK) FANZCA FFPMANZCAA/Prof Marc Russo was born in Sydney, Australia and commenced medical studies at Sydney University graduating in 1989. He undertook training in anaesthesia, intensive care and pain medicine with postgraduate qualifications as a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and Fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine. He enjoys music, skiing and wine but ideally not all at the same time.
INS Past President Robert M. Levy, MD, PhDHe was then recruited to serve as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery and Co-Director of the UF Health Jacksonville Neuroscience Institute at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville, FL. He most recently served as the Founding Director of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute and Director of the Harvey Sandler Center for Neurosurgery in Boca Raton, FL. Dr. Levy has authored several textbooks and published 300 peer reviewed journal articles. He has been the recipient of many national and international honors and awards and has been listed in the Best Doctors in America. His current research involves novel applications of neurostimulation and targeted drug delivery to the brain. He has assisted with the design and implementation of multiple new neuromodulation technologies and instruments. INS Secretary Jan Vesper, MD, PhD Department of Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy University Hospital Duesseldorf Germany INS Treasurer Lawrence Poree, MD, PhDDr. 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. Editor-in-Chief, Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface Robert M. Levy, MD, PhDDr. Robert Levy earned his medical degree at Stanford University, where he also received his Ph.D. in neurosciences and completed a postdoctoral fellowship. He performed a second postdoctoral research fellowship and his residency in neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, where his mentors included Dr. Howard Fields, Dr. Charles Wilson, and Dr. Yoshio Hosobuchi. He then moved to Northwestern University where he rose to the level of Tenured Professor of Neurological Surgery, Physiology, and Radiation Oncology at the Feinberg School of Medicine. During this period, he served as Acting Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery. Staff Executive Director & Managing Editor Tia SofatzisTia Sofatzis graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, with a B.A. in American and English Literature. Tia has been the Managing Editor of Neuromodulation since its inception in 1998, and has worked in her role with the INS since 2001. She is perpetually inspired by the people who are working wonders in this field.
Public Education & Website Manager Nancy GarciaNancy Garcia received an honors bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a master’s in journalism from the University of Michigan, where she studied print and broadcast journalism. She joined the INS in 2011 as the public education and website project manager. With a background in carrying out lab projects as well as science writing, she enjoys the international nature of research collaborations. Having served on an educational policy committee in high school, and received college credit for conducting patient education, then starting a professional association as a member of the news media, and finds the INS position merges many of those interests. Editorial Assistant Mary Bockman PriceMary Bockman Price graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor of science degree in business management, and a master of arts degree in counseling psychology from Argosy University. Mary has served as the Editorial Assistant of Neuromodulation since 2009. Mary currently resides in Huntsville, Alabama. She greatly enjoys working for the Society and the journal during this time of growth. Regional Chapter PresidentsArgentina I Australia & New Zealand l Benelux Countries l Brazil l Canada l China l Colombia l France l Germany l India l Indonesia l Italy l Japan l Korea l Nordic l North America l Poland l Russia l SE Europe l Spain l Switzerland l Turkey l UK & Ireland Argentina: Fabián Cremaschi, MD
He is a professor of Clinical and Surgical Neurology at the School of Medicine of the UNCuyo and was Vice Dean of that institution in the period 2014 - 2018. He is a Neurosurgeon at the University Hospital (UNCuyo) and the Santa Isabel de Hungría Hospital, and Coordinator of the Neuromodulation Unit. He is an active member of numerous Argentine and international scientific societies, including the Argentine Association of Neurosurgery, Argentine Society of Bioengineering, Latin American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and the International Neuromodulation Society. He has published dozens of research papers in national and international journals and has lectured in numerous national and international congresses on topics of Functional Neurosurgery, Neuromodulation and Image-Guided Neurosurgery. His topics of interest are pain, movement disorders and the surgical treatment of psychiatric diseases. In addition, he carries out research work in machine learning and virtual reality applied to Neuromodulation. He is an enthusiast of wine, drums, dogs and long distance running, having run almost 50 complete marathons and ultra-marathons, especially in high altitude, three times on Mount Aconcagua. Australia & New Zealand: Nick Christelis, MBBCH, FRCA, FFPMRCA, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA
He holds two specialist pain medicine qualifications: one from Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FFPMANZCA), the other, from the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in London, UK (FFPMRCA). He completed his specialist training in pain medicine and anaesthesia at London’s Imperial School of Anaesthesia and worked as a pain consultant at The Chelsea & Westminster Hospital before moving to Melbourne in 2009 to take up appointments as Consultant in Pain Medicine, Head of Pain Service, and Anaesthetist at The Alfred Hospital. Nick now practices 100% within the field of pain medicine. He is an interventional pain specialist combining a multidisciplinary team approach with advanced pain interventional techniques like nerve and joint blocks, epidural injections, radiofrequency ablation, pulsed radiofrequency, spinal cord stimulation and other advanced neuromodulation techniques. He serves on the executive board of the Neuromodulation Society of Australia and New Zealand (NSANZ) as well as the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Interventional Procedures Clinical Care Standard Working Group. Nick’s areas of expertise include back pain, neuropathic pain, lumbar radicular pain and sciatica, neck, shoulder and arm pain, facial pains/headaches, trigeminal neuralgia, CRPS, male and female pelvic pain, post-surgical neuropathic pain syndromes like post laminectomy pain, failed back surgery syndrome, ilioinguinal pain, thoracic pain. Benelux Countries: Maarten Moens, MD, PhD
Brazil: Arthur Cukiert, MD
Published Books:
Top Seven Papers:
Canada: Dr. Keith MacDougall, MD, FRCSC
China: Guoming Luan, MD, PhDProf. Guoming Luan is the Vice-President of Beijing Sanbo Brain Hospital of the Capital Medical University, established in Beijing in 2004. He achieved the Medical Degree in 1982 and studied under the guidance of Zhongcheng Wang, considered to be the founder of modern neurosurgery in China, at the Capital University of Medical Science, Beijing culminating in a PH.D in 1989. He gained professional research experience for two years in the University of California, Los Angeles, USA (UCLA). Afterward he devotes himself to clinical and research work about Functional Neurosurgery and focuses on the therapy of Epilepsy. In 2002, he created a technique, which is to use bipolar electrocoagulation to burn superficial cortex when treating refractory epilepsy. The latter was approved by the President of International Functional Neurosurgery later that year. This unique technique has now been adopted worldwide. Colombia: William Omar Contreras Lopez, MD, PhD
![]() Doctor med "Summa Cum Laude" from Albert Ludwig’s University in Freiburg, Germany, and Post-doctorate in Neurology from the University of Sao Paulo (USP) Brazil. His main interests are in the field of Neuromodulation, Molecular Neurosurgery, Cloning, Bioengineering and Trans-humanism. He also performs translational research in DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation), VBS (Visual Brain Stimulation), ABS (Auditory Brain Stimulation), BWE (Brain Wave Entrainment), Virtual and Augmented Reality, as well as Neurogaming (Video Games). Guest editor of BMC Cancer; Clinical Neurology & Neurosurgery; Journal of Psychotherapy, Frontiers in Psychiatry and Psychological Disorders Co-author of two Apps for smartphones to help patients with Parkinson's Disease: Listenmee and Parkinsounds. Co-author of important original works such as: The cloning of the world's first river buffalo, the creation of virtual reality glasses for Parkinson's, the use of augmented reality to treat phantom limb pain; a prospective, randomized, double-blind study on: Stimulation of the motor cortex in chronic neuropathic pain. Author and Co-author of important original works such as: Neural transplant protocol in humans with Parkinson's and Huntington's Disease (22 transplant patients). The description and original publication of two new surgical techniques: 1. Endoscopic cordotomy for chronic intractable pain. 2. Simultaneous bilateral deep brain stimulation (awarded in the Netherlands at the ESSFN Congress). The first and largest case series in Colombia of fetoscopic repair of myelomeningocele. Co-author of Utility Model Patent No. 12 169719, Resolution No. 4221 of 02/10/2015. Rhythmic external auditory and visual device in the form of glasses to control gait in Parkinson's patients. Co-author of the Book Geniuses in the Mind: Neurosciences of Creativity; “Genios en la mente”. Contributor to two winning Cannes Lions Health Awards in France in 2016 Contributor to three winning Clio Awards in 2016 Young Neurosurgeon Award from the Minimal Invasive Society in Florence, Italy and from the World Federation of Neurosurgery Society WFNS in Rome, Italy. CEO of NEMOD Neuromodulation Center. Neurosurgeon at: International Foscal Clinic Bucaramanga; Clínica Centro, Clínica General del Norte, Clínica la Merced Barranquilla. Full Professor of medicine at the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga, Professor of master’s degree in Neuropsychology for Simon Bolivar University. France: Denys Fontaine, MD, PhDProf. Denys Fontaine, MD, PhD, University Hospital of Nice, France Germany: Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Dirk Rasche
India: Paresh Doshi, MBBS, MS (General Surgery), MCh (Neurosurgery)
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). Indonesia: Alif Noeriyanto Rahman, MD, SpOT, FIPP, CIPS He is an orthopedic surgeon who graduated from University of Brawijaya. The first orthopedic surgeon certified with FIPP (2018) and CIPS (2019). He is currently an active WIP examiner (World Institute of Pain) as well. His excellent leadership skills brought him to be the chairman of Depok Orthopedic and Pain Intervention Center (DOPIC); educational program director of PRECURSOR (The First ComprehensiveCourse in Musculoskeletal in Pain Intervention and Regeneration that covers multiple specialties) alongside Padjadjaran University; founder and owner of Jakarta Pain School (JPS); and general secretary of PERDINI (Indonesia Pain Intervention Society). His interest to develop neuromodulation in Indonesia made him be the first president of INA-NS (International Neuromodulation Society Indonesian Chapter). Italy: Giovanni Frigerio, MDJapan: Hidehiro Hirabayashi, MD, PhD
Korea: Pyung Bok Lee, MD
Dr. Pyung Bok Lee, a renowned pain medicine specialist, is an active clinician and researcher. He works as a professor of the department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Seoul National University School of Medicine and a director of a pain management center at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. Nordic: Kliment Gatzinsky, MD, PhD![]() Dr. Gatzinsky’s main interest is in neurosurgical treatment of chronic pain disorders. Having more than 20 years of experience in the field of neuromodulation, he has developed a strong expertize in this therapy for treatment of pain. This knowledge is raised on a transdisciplinary vision in order to optimize outcomes, which has contributed to the build-up and development of the neuromodulation units at the University Hospitals in Gothenburg and Stavanger. Dr. Gatzinsky uses most neuromodulation techniques on a regular basis, including spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, peripheral nerve, repetitive transcranial/epidural motor cortex, and sacral nerve stimulation. He has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, reviews and book chapters and has ongoing international teaching and advisory board assignments in the field.
Dr. Gatzinsky serves as expert advisor for SBU (The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care) for evaluation of neurosurgical techniques in the treatment of chronic pain disorders. He has served on various medical and professional boards both in Sweden and internationally and is a reviewer for several scientific journals.
Dr. Gatzinsky is keen to advance the field of neuromodulation for chronic pain from both a practical and scientific point of view, and he tries to push the boundaries based on the rapid technical development that is taking place in this field at the moment. He continuously strives to broaden his skills and to motivate his collaborators in order to create optimal conditions for good outcomes. A collaboration between disciplines is crucial in this context.
North America: Salim Hayek, MD PhD
Poland: Dr. Witold Libionka
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). Spain: Carlos Tornero Tornero, MD, PhDDr. Carlos Tornero Tornero is an anesthesiologist and is currently head of the Anesthesiology-Resuscitation and Pain Therapeutics service at the University Hospital of Valencia. Its main areas of activity focus on pain treatment and fundamentally on neuromodulation. He has a Master in Pain Pathophysiology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The Pain unit of the Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia that he directs, won the award for best Pain unit in Spain in 2014. He is currently president of the Spanish Society of Neuromodulation (Spanish chapter of INS). He is director of the Chair of Pain of the CEU-Vithas Foundation University, which has the functions of dissemination and research on issues related to pain. He is president of the Pain Commission of the University Hospital of Valencia. He has written different chapters of books and scientific articles, focusing his attention on research related to the anatomy of pain. Switzerland: Christophe Perruchoud, MD
Turkey: Prof. Dr. Gül Köknel Talu Prof.Gül Köknel Talu,MD, FIPP United Kingdom and Ireland: Dr Ashish Gulve, FFPMRCA, FFPMCAI, FRCA, FCARCSI, MD
Dr. Gulve is a Consultant in Pain Management at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough since 2006. He earned his medical degree from Amravati University, India. Thereafter, in the UK, he completed anaesthesia and pain fellowship training in the Northern Deanery. Dr Gulve worked as an Instructor in Pain Medicine and Anaesthesia at Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis in 2004-2005. Directors-at-largeMagdalena Anitescu, MD, PhDMagdalena Anitescu, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesia, and pain medicine, is the program director for the multidisciplinary pain medicine fellowship and the section chief of pain management services at the University of Chicago Medicine. She completed a surgical internship at the University of Iowa, an anesthesia residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a pain medicine fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic; following her training, she joined the faculty at the University of Chicago. She is an accomplished national and international educator, author of numerous textbook chapters and scientific papers, and a member of many professional organizations and scientific committees that review the academic curriculum for various pain medicine meetings. As pain program director, Dr. Anitescu created novel educational experiences for the curriculum by organizing and hosting interdisciplinary and multi-institutional meetings. Among them are the annual Chicago Pain Summit, the bi-annual Regional Collaborative Case Conference, and multi-disciplinary rounds. The aim is to give pain fellows access to the practices at other institutions, to exchange ideas, or to present scholarly work or clinically challenging cases. She is the President-Elect for Anesthesiologists Subspecialty Program Directors in the US Association of Academic Anesthesiologists and of the Pain Program Directors. As Women in Neuromodulation chair, Dr Anitescu has been involved in introducing novel neuromodulation techniques in clinical practice. She is actively involved in teaching neuromodulation techniques to trainees and at meetings. Her research focuses on improving treatment outcomes in patients suffering from cancer pain as well as patient neuromodulation treatment outcomes. Director Functional Neurosurgery, Neurosurgical Associates of Lancaster Julie Pilitsis, MD, PhDJulie G. Pilitsis MD, PhD is the newly appointed Dean and Vice President of Medical Affairs at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Previously, she served as Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics and a Professor of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience at Albany Medical College. Dr. Pilitsis developed functional neurosurgery practices at two institutions and was one of five female neurosurgeons to chair a department. Additionally, she acts as a national leader across multiple organizations including North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) and ASSFN. With the support of the NANS and International Neuromodulation Society (INS) board of directors, she began the NANS and INS Women in Neuromodulation section, where she was the first chair. Over the course of her career, she has mentored over 150 students through translational research projects and has published 200 articles. She acts as a specialty editor for the journal: Frontiers in Pain Research: Neuromodulatory Interventions, is on the editorial board of Neuromodulation, and has been recognized with Pain Paper of the Year by Neurosurgery for three past years. Dr. Pilitsis maintains significant diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and obtained an MBA with concentration in bioinformatics in December 2021. Regional Directors-at-LargeJulie Pilitsis, MD, PhD - United StatesJulie G. Pilitsis MD, PhD is the newly appointed Dean and Vice President of Medical Affairs at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Previously, she served as Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics and a Professor of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience at Albany Medical College. Dr. Pilitsis developed functional neurosurgery practices at two institutions and was one of five female neurosurgeons to chair a department. Additionally, she acts as a national leader across multiple organizations including North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) and ASSFN. With the support of the NANS and International Neuromodulation Society (INS) board of directors, she began the NANS and INS Women in Neuromodulation section, where she was the first chair. Over the course of her career, she has mentored over 150 students through translational research projects and has published 200 articles. She acts as a specialty editor for the journal: Frontiers in Pain Research: Neuromodulatory Interventions, is on the editorial board of Neuromodulation, and has been recognized with Pain Paper of the Year by Neurosurgery for three past years. Dr. Pilitsis maintains significant diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and obtained an MBA with concentration in bioinformatics in December 2021. Daniel Benzecry Almeida, MD - Latin America Regional Director-at-Large
Philippe Rigoard, MD, PhD - Europe, Canada, and Africa Regional Director-at-Large 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. Richard Sullivan - Asia, Australia and New Zealand Regional Director-at-Large
Dr Richard Sullivan is a Pain Physician at Precision Brain Spine and Pain Centre, where he has practiced for the past decade. He prides himself in adopting a holistic, contemporary, interdisciplinary and patient-centred approach to chronic pain, integrating patient education, functional restoration, intervention and neuromodulation in his day to day practice.
He heads an Australasian Faculty of Pain Medicine accredited Fellowship Training Unit based in Melbourne and also practices in Queensland. He is the immediate past president of the Neuromodulation Society of Australia and New Zealand and has succeeded in helping cement the society’s world renown for exceptional quality scientific meetings.
He is a Faculty Examiner and sits on the Procedural Pain Steering Committee for the Australasian Faculty of Pain Medicine.
He is an avid and active researcher in the field of neuromodulation authoring and co-authoring peer-reviewed publications on new indications, functional outcomes and novel therapies. He is a passionate teacher and mentor for trainees in pain medicine and for clinicians learning the art of neuromodulation and is often invited to lecture and teach to international audiences.
He sits on numerous advisory boards for medical device and pharma companies. He is also a respected local expert in chronic pain diagnosis and management in the medicolegal world.
Previously he was the clinical lead of Pain Services at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and completed his Pain Medicine training at Royal Melbourne Hospital.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, August 02, 2022 09:37 AM |