The International Neuromodulation Society Board of Directors

INS President Konstantin Slavin, MD

Konstantin Slavin, MD, FAANS is Professor, Chief of Section and Fellowship Director for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

Dr. Slavin graduated from medical school in Baku, Azerbaijan in the Soviet Union and completed his neurosurgery residency in Moscow.  He then completed his second neurosurgery residency at UIC and a fellowship in functional and stereotactic neurosurgery at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, OR. 

Dr. Slavin is current President of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS) and past Secretary of the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS). He is also the President of the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (WSSFN) and the Past President of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ASSFN).  For many years, he was an Executive Committee member of the Joint Section on Pain of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

Dr. Slavin is published in many books and peer-reviewed journals and is an associate editor or editorial board member for a number of publications, including Neuromodulation, Neurosurgery, Brain Sciences, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Acta Neurochirurgica and others; he is the current editor-in-chief of Progress in Neurological Surgery. His first book on Peripheral Nerve Stimulation was published in 2011; another book, co-edited with Sam Eljamel on Neurostimulation: Practice and Principles, came out in 2013; the third one, Stimulation of Peripheral Nervous System: The Neuromodulation Frontier was released in 2015. The most recent book on Neuromodulation for Facial Pain came out in 2021.

INS Immediate Past-President Marc Russo, MBBS DA (UK) FANZCA FFPMANZCA

A/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 set up in 1999 a large multidisciplinary pain clinic in Newcastle, NSW that now employs over 45 clinical/allied health/administrative and research individuals making it one of the largest such units globally. He has been involved in neuromodulation since 1999 with spinal cord, peripheral nerve, occipital, sacral nerve stimulation and intrathecal therapy for both pain and spasticity. He has conducted a number of first-in-man studies of novel neuromodulation implants as well as designing unique leads and waveforms in spinal cord stimulation (SCS).

He was the founding President of the Australian chapter of the INS, served as Secretary of the INS as well as Scientific Convenor of the INS 14th World Congress. He is a visiting Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong and Conjoint Associate Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Newcastle.

He established Genesis Clinical Research in 2005 and has conducted over 60 trials including device and analgesia trials for pain relief.

He has published over 60 papers as well as several book chapters, is a reviewer for multiple journals including Neuromodulation and has lectured nationally and internationally and led teaching courses in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore,Thailand and the USA.

His current interests are in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) pathology and treatment, exploring new frontiers in neuromodulation and supporting consensus guidelines and centres of excellence.

Department of Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy University Hospital Duesseldorf Germany

Scientific Education and Employment
1987-1993 Medical School, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
1993 final practical training at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA and Kantonsspital Frauenfeld, Switzerland
1993–1995 Internship at the Neurosurgical Department, Friedrichshain Hospital, Berlin, Germany
1995-2000 Residency in Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Benjamin Franklin Medical Center, Free University of Berlin (Director: Prof.Dr.med.Dr.h.c. Mario Brock)
1993 Doctoral degree (Dr.med.) by the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
2000 Board Certification for Neurosurgery
2000–2002 Board-certified Neurosurgeon, Department of Neurosurgery, Benjamin Franklin Medical Center, Free University of Berlin (Director: Prof.Dr.med.Dr.h.c. Mario Brock)
2000-2003 Associate Professor for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Benjamin Franklin Medical Center, Free University of Berlin (Director: Prof.Dr.med.Dr.h.c. Mario Brock)
2003-2007 Associate Professor for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Department of Stereotaxy, Neurocenter, University Clinic Freiburg, (Director: Prof. Dr. med. C.B. Ostertag)
2004 venia legendi, (PhD) Charité, Berlin
2007-2012 Full Professorship for Functional Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, University Clinic, Duesseldorf
Since 2012 Full Professorship for Functional Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy, University Clinic, Head of the Center of Neuromodulation, Düsseldorf, Germany
    
Membership: DGNC, ESSFN, German working group for Deep Brain Stimulation, Movement Disorder Society, ESSFN, DGNM

INS Secretary 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.

INS Treasurer 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.

 Editor-in-Chief, Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface Robert M. Levy, MD, PhD

Executive Director & Supervising Journal Manager Tia Sofatzis

Tia Sofatzis graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, with a B.A. in American and English Literature. Tia had served as Managing Editor of Neuromodulation since its inception in 1998, as Supervising Journal Manger since 2023, and as INS Executive Director since 2001. She is perpetually inspired by the people who are working wonders in this field and helping those in need.

Managing Editor Mary Bockman Price

Mary 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, and Managing Editor since 2023. Mary currently resides in Huntsville, Alabama. She greatly enjoys working for the Society and the journal during this time of growth.

Regional Chapter Presidents

Argentina I Australia & New Zealand l Benelux Countries l Brazil l Canada l China l Colombia l France l Germany l India l Indonesia l Israel l Italy l Japan l Kazakhstan l Korea l Nordic l North America l Poland l Portugal l Russia l SE Europe l Spain l Switzerland l Türkiye l UK & Ireland

Argentina: Enrique Brichetti, MD

Dr. Brichetti is a neurosurgeon who graduated from National University of La Plata. He is the Chief Of Neurosurgery Service and Chief of the Pain unit at San Roque Hospital and Director of the post-graduate course of Neuromodulation at the National University Of La Plata (UNLP).

Australia & New Zealand: Michelle O’Brien, MBBS(Qld), FANZCA, FFPMANZCA, Mmed

Dr Michelle O’Brien grew up and attended public schools in regional Queensland (Australia).  Not one to ever let things hold her back and against her father’s wishes, Dr. O’Brien went on to study medicine at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, graduating in 1993.

Dr. O’Brien then trained in the specialty of anaesthesia at a number of major hospitals in Brisbane and regional Southeast Queensland, and went on to work as a consultant anaesthetist (anaesthesiologist) publicly at The Prince Charles Hospital and also in private practice.

From 2011 Dr. O’Brien lived in Jakarta, Indonesia for three years where she became further interested in pain, returning to undertake formal specialist training with the Faculty of Pain Medicine at the prestigious Professor Tess Cramond Multidisciplinary Pain Centre at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, and then St. Vincent’s Private Hospital, Brisbane.

Dr O’Brien has worked in the private sector of pain medicine since 2017, and in July 2020 started her own practice Specialists in Pain.

Dr. O’Brien works exclusively in pain and has a firm commitment to the multidisciplinary approach to pain management - practicing “slow medicine” - taking time to really listen to and connect with patients.

Dr. O’Brien is on the regional committee for Faculty of Pain Medicine and has a keen and ongoing passion for neuromodulation, including Spinal Cord Stimulation and at the end of 2023 was appointed president of Neuromodulation Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Benelux Countries: Lisa Goudman, PhD

Lisa Goudman obtained a master of science in statistical data analysis in 2018 and additional specializations in epidemiology and public health methodology in 2020 and biostatistics in 2022. In 2019, she obtained her PhD entitled “Objective measurements in patients with chronic low back & leg pain”, in which she explored EEG responses, heart rate variability and quantitative sensory testing in relation to Spinal Cord Stimulation.
 
Her research is mainly focussing on neuromodulation, and the search towards more objective markers of pain. She (co-)authored >100 peer-reviewed articles and is co-supervising 6 PhD students within the STIMULUS research group at Free University Brussels. She is assistant Professor at Free University Brussels (Belgium) and affiliated clinical assistant Professor at Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University (USA).
 
Since 2019, Lisa Goudman became member of the Benelux Neuromodulation Society (BNS) and joined the BNS board as ‘Chief Science’. With an interdisciplinary board of motivated physicians, nurses and researchers, the BNS aims to further stimulate neuromodulation research collaborations.

Brazil: Hougelle Simplicio, MD, MBA, PhD

Santos Dumont Institute
State University of Rio Grande do Norte
Natal, Brazil

Canada: Anuj Bhatia, MBBS MD PhD FRCA FFPMRCA FIPP FRCPC (Anesthesia & Pain Medicine) EDRA CIPS ASRA-PMUC

Anuj Bhatia is a Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto and the Director of the Comprehensive Integrated Pain Program at University Health Network, Toronto. He is the Chair of the Neuropathic Pain Special Interest Group of the Canadian Pain Society, President of the Canadian Neuromodulation Society, Chair of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada’s Pain Medicine Specialty committee, Co-Chair of the North American Neuromodulation Society’s Research Committee and a member of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine’s Research Committee. He has an Adjunct Faculty appointment at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation. His clinical and research interests include the use of epidemiological tools and wearable technology for assessing outcomes of neuromodulation and other interventional treatments for chronic neuropathic and musculoskeletal pain. He has published over 100 papers, 6 book chapters, and co-authored two books on interventional pain procedures. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Anesthesia & Analgesia, Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, the European Journal of Pain, the Canadian Journal of Pain, and Pain Medicine. He was a member of the international guideline development panel for the use of intravenous ketamine infusions, the role of contrast during pain procedures, and cervical and lumbar facet, and sacroiliac joint interventions for relieving pain.

China: Jian-guo Zhang, MD

Present Director of Department of Stereotatic and Functional Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital & Beijing Neurosurgery Institute, Capital Medical University. Chairman of Functional Neurosurgery Committee, Neurosurgery Branch of CMA, director of Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuroelectrical Stimulation Research and Therapy, vice Director of National Key Engineering Laboratory of Neuromodulation, deputy director of Beijing Key Laboratory of epilepsy clinical medicine, honorary director of Functional Neurosurgery Expert Committee. He won the first and second prize of the Beijing Municipal Scientific and Technological Progress Award, the third prize of the Zhonghua Medical Progress Award (2011), and the first prize of MOE technological Award (2015). Dr. Zhang achieved the Title of Scientist for Outstanding Contribution, awarded by Beijing Municipal Government and Deng Feng Personnel Training Plan.

Colombia: Hans Carmona Villada, MD

Prof. Denys Fontaine, MD, PhD, University Hospital of Nice, France

Denys Fontaine is neurosurgeon and pain specialist, trained as a resident in Paris, senior neurosurgeon at the University Hospital of Nice, France since 1999 and full professor of Neurosurgery since 2014. He has obtained a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology in 2007. He is specialized in Functional Neurosurgery, particularly involved in deep brain stimulation and neuromodulation for chronic pain, including primary headaches. Since 2013, he is the director of the “Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire Inovpain” (https://fhu.inovpain.org ), a large consortium gathering clinicians, researchers and companies, and devoted to the development of innovative solutions for chronic refractory pain. He has coordinated several multicentric trials and published 160 scientific articles. He is president of the French chapter of the International Neuromodulation Society since 2021.

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

Professor Rasche is consultant neurosurgeon at the Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Germany. He is head of the Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery, Neuromodulation and invasive pain therapies of the Dept. of Neurosurgery.

For more than 20 years, clinical research focuses on the multiple aspects of invasive treatment options for various chronic diseases, e.g. chronic neuropathic pain syndromes or movement disorders etc. Since 1994, one research focus is neuroimaging and invasive treatment options of patients with trigeminal neuralgia and chronic facial pain syndromes, ranging from distinct clinical examinations, high-resolution MRI-scanning to microvascular decompression and central neuromodulation techniques. In 2005 Dr. Rasche introduced DBS in Lübeck. The indication spectrum for DBS ranges from movement disorders to chronic pain syndromes and psychiatric diseases. In 2014 he was Co-Editor of the "Textbook of Neuromodulation".

Since 2018, he is elected president of the German chapter of the International Neuromodulation Society. In the last 25 years Prof. Rasche has been involved in numerous clinical studies and trials. Plenty of presentations as invited speaker with the whole spectrum of neuromodulation techniques and also intrathecal drug delivery for chronic pain or spasticity at national or international congresses and meetings or as teacher in interdisciplinary workshops, cadaver-courses etc. were performed. In 2023 he was Congress-president of the 31st Joint Meeting of the European chapters of the International Neuromodulation Society at the Congress center in Hamburg, Germany.

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).

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).

He is working in private sector in Depok, Indonesia. Having almost 125 pain intervention fellow students from varied specialties (neurosurgeon, neurologist, medical rehab, orthopedics, internist, anesthesiologist, and so forth) in the western to eastern parts of Indonesia.

 Israel: Ruth Gur, MD, LLB

Dr. Gur Is an interventional pain management specialist who received her medical degree from Tel Aviv University. She completed her residency in neurosurgery in Rabin medical center and later was also board certified in pain medicine as the first generation of pain management specialists in Israel.

Currently Dr. Gur is the head of the Israeli center of neurosurgical management of pain. She is a well known clinician and also engaged in a research of innovations in neuromodulation, and she has a strong background in social activism including being the head of examination and education of the Israel Association for pain.

Dr. Gur is the founder and the present chair of Israel neuromodulation society, board member and secretary Israel association of pain, Board Member and former treasurer of state physicians association of Isarel – state committee, and board member of Israel medical association, and within that, a member of a committee for acknowledgment of departments for residency in Israel. 

Dr. Gur is also a senior ATLS instructor, holds a degree of LLB from Uno Academic college and is the head of discipline court committees in health ministry of Israel, and is also Board Member and the present secretary and former treasurer of Israeli Women Medical Doctors Associations.

Italy: Andrea Landi, MD

Andrea Landi is Associated Professor in Neurosurgery at the University of Padua since march 2018. He graduated in Medicine at the University of Milan in 1983 and obtained post-degrees in Neurosurgery (University of Milan – 1988) and Neurology (University of Verona – 1993). He spent his fellowships at the INSERM CHRU de Grenoble (F) in 1990-91 and at the Montreal Neurological Institute (Montreal CND -1991) following a comprehensive program in functional neurosurgery, neuromodulation and epilepsy surgery.

Since 1988 he attended to stereotactic neurosurgery and radiosurgery with LINAC. As far as 1994 he worked at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Neurosurgical Department, developing a program in functional neurosurgery, with detailed focus on Deep brain Stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders; he cooperated with the Parkinson’s Institute of Milan implementing clinical trials on DBS for PD and dystonia. He teached “Functional Neurosurgery” as Fellow Professor at the University of Milan and University of Milano-Bicocca (AA 1994-2017). Actually he is teaching professor in Neurosurgery and Functional Neurosurgery at the School of Medicine  and at the postgraduated School of Neurosurgery of the University of Padua. Director of the Unit for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at the Azienda Ospedale Università di Padova.

His fields of interest are: functional neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the basal ganglia, surgical neuromodulation in humans, neuromodulation for movement disorders and epilepsy. He is peer-reviewer for many international journals. h-index 23, 1977 citations (Scholar – 2023).

In 1988 he won DeVisart prize for Neurological research and in 1998 a grant from LIMPE for the research in movement disorders. He organized national and international congresses on functional neurosurgery and annual residential courses for young neurosurgeons; furthermore, he has been an invited speaker at national and international congresses in neurosurgery and neurology.

Member of the Advisory board for National Grants (PRIN) of the Italian Ministery for University (MUR); Member of the Scientific Board of Padua Neuroscience Center (PNC).
President of the Italian Chapter of the International Neuromodulation Society. Head of the Italian Chapter of Functional Neurosurgery (2012-2016). Member of the World Society of Neurosurgery, and the Italian Society of Neurosurgery.

Japan: Hidehiro Hirabayashi, MD, PhD

Kazakhstan: Chingiz Shashkin, MD

Korea: Pyung Bok Lee, MD, PhD

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. Kliment Gatzinsky holds a full time position as Associate Professor and 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: Corey W. Hunter, MD

Corey W. Hunter, M.D. is an interventional pain management physician practicing in New York City, holding board certifications in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation as well as Pain Medicine.  In addition to owning his own private practice, he is an assistant clinical professor of PM&R at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and the CEO of the Ainsworth Ambulatory Surgery Center in Long Island, NY.  He is currently the President of the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS).
 
Dr. Hunter earned his medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine. Thereafter, he completed a residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at NYU followed by a Pain Medicine fellowship at the Weill Cornell Medical Center. Shortly after graduating from his fellowship, Dr. Hunter went on to found the Ainsworth Institute of Pain Management in New York City where he serves as the Executive Director.
 
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.  Dr. Hunter has over 100 publications to his credit including textbooks on regenerative medicine and intrathecal pump therapy.  His areas of interest include pelvic pain, facial pain, CRPS, regenerative medicine as well as neuromodulation.

Poland: Witold Libionka, MD, PhD

Portugal: Mariano Veiga MD, MSc, DESAIC, EDPM-ESRA

- Graduated in 2009 in Coimbra University School of Medicine, Portugal
- Anesthesiology Consultant since 2017
- European Diploma of Anesthesia and Intensive Care in 2018
- European Diploma of Pain Medicine in 2023
- Member of the INS, European Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Therapy, IPSIS and WIP

Russia: Emil Isagulyan, MD

Candidate of medical sciences (PhD), Neurosurgeon-algologist (specializes in interventional and surgery treatment of chronic pain) of the Group of Functional Neurosurgery, the N.N. Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute, Chief expert in neuromodulation pain syndrome in the Russian Federation. Currently holding the post of President of National Neuromodulation Society in Russia (NNSR), Vice-President of the Society of Interventional Pain Treatment and Russian Society for Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery (RSFSN). He studied at Yerevan State Medical University, residency at Armenia Republican Medical Center. Graduated study at Group of Functional Neurosurgery, the N.N. Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute, where his mentor was Prof. Shabalov V.A. He participated in International onsite training: 1) Faculte De Medecine, University Center for Neurological and Neurosurgical Disorders, Toulouse, France; 2) Hodgkin Building, King’s College London, Guy’s Campus, London. Member of nine scientific societies: International Neuromodulation Society (INS), International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), National Neuromodulation Society in Russia (NNSR), European Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ESSFN), World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (WSSFN), Russian Society for Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery (RSFSN), Society of Neurosurgeons of Russia, Society of Interventional Pain Treatment, Russian Association for the Study of Pain. Member of numerous international program committees. Actively has been taking part in international and Russian conferences. Author of books and articles about treatment of chronic pain. Spheres of interest is interventional and surgery treatment of chronic pain syndromes. Author of study courses in neurosurgery and algology. Often speaks on media in Russia, promoting treatment chronic pain syndromes and methods of neuromodulation.

Southeast Europe: Efstathios J. Boviatsis, MD, PhD
Professor and Chairman, 2nd Department of Neurosurgery of University of Athens Medical School at Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece.

 Spain: Carlos Tornero Tornero, MD, PhD

Dr. 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: Matthieu Cachemaille, MD, FIPP, CIPS

Dr. Matthieu Cachemaille is currently working as an anaesthesiologist at “La Tour” Hospital in Meyrin, Geneva, Switzerland since 2022. He previously practiced as a senior physician in the anaesthesiology department at the University Hospital (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

He shares his time between the pain clinic, offering a wide range of analgesic treatments, and the operating room with a small percentage as an anaesthesiologist. During his training, he completed a fellowship in Toronto at St-Michael’s Hospital with a specialization in neuromodulation and ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal interventional procedures. In addition to the Swiss pain specialization (SSIPM), he holds 2 additional diplomas from the World Institute of Pain (WIP), FIPP and CIPS.

Dr. Matthieu Cachemaille regularly presents conferences at national and international congresses regarding management of chronic pain. He is involved in teaching medical doctors regarding ultrasound-guided injections as well as neuromodulation for the SSIPM, ESRA and WIP societies. He holds a title of Master of Teaching and Research” (MERc) at the Faculty of Medicine and Biology in Lausanne (FBM, UNIL), Switzerland and leads academical studies in chronic pain management.

His areas of interest are cryoneurolysis of peripheral nerves, regenerative medicine including PRP and stem cells and peripheral and central neuromodulation.

He is a member of several learned societies in the treatment of pain: INS, SSIPM, ESA, ESRA, WIP, WAPMU.

Türkiye: Prof. Dr. 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: James FitzGerald, MA BM BCh FRCS(SN) PhD

James FitzGerald PhD is Professor of Neural Interfacing at the University of Oxford, and a consultant neurosurgeon at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Prof FitzGerald holds an MA in Physics and BM BCh medical qualifications from the University of Oxford, a PhD from the University of Cambridge, and Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
 
Prof FitzGerald is President of the Neuromodulation Society of the UK and Ireland, a member of the International Neuromodulation Society’s board of directors, and Section Editor for brain stimulation of the society’s journal Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface.
 
Prof FitzGerald’s clinical practice includes deep brain stimulation for movement disorders as well as stimulation of the spinal cord, ganglia, and peripheral nerves for chronic pain. His research focuses on the design and development of novel neurostimulator systems (both invasive and noninvasive), and new ways to interface the human nervous system to electronic devices in order to restore function or aid rehabilitation after injury.

Directors-at-Large

Christopher Gilligan, MD, MBA

Chris Gilligan, MD, MBA, is an Interventional Pain Medicine physician who is board certified in Pain Medicine.  Dr. Gilligan is the Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.  He is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. 

Dr. Gilligan currently serves on the Finance Committee and Scientific Planning Committee of NANS as well as the NANS Certificate in SCS sub-committee. Dr. Gilligan oversees the Brigham and Women’s Pain Medicine Fellowship that trains ten fellows each year. In addition, he trains physicians in pain procedures and neuromodulation around the world and serves as an examiner for the World Institute of Pain.

Dr.Gilligan earned his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He trained in surgery and emergency medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital and completed his Pain Medicine Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.  Dr Gilligan has also worked as a venture capital investor and board member for start-up medical device companies.

Dr. Gilligan has served as a Principal Investigator and Steering Committee Member of numerous IDE trials of novel neuromodulation therapies and has communicated about those trials with payers and regulatory/legislative bodies around the world. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Pain Practice, Editor of the upcoming 6th edition of Bonica’s Management of Pain and on the editorial board of Neuromodulation. He has published dozens of articles in peer reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine and Annals of Internal Medicine. He has focused throughout his career on improving physician education and training in neuromodulation, designing and running clinical trials to evaluate promising new neuromodulation therapies, and advocating for patient access to safe and effective neuromodulation therapies.

Kiran Patel, MD

Dr. Patel is currently the Treasurer of NANS and has been on the NANS Board of Directors for the past 6 years. Dr. Patel has co-chaired the NANS Cadaver workshop for the past several years and is currently chair of the NANS Certificate in SCS sub-committee. Dr. Patel trains physicians in pain procedures and neuromodulation nationally and internationally.

Dr. Patel earned her medical degree from Rutgers University and went on to complete an internship in Internal Medicine at Yale University.  She completed her Anesthesiology residency and Interventional Pain Medicine fellowship at Columbia University.  She also studied medical acupuncture at Harvard University.  Dr. Patel has practiced medicine in India and Africa and has organized efforts to address the undertreatment of pain medicine and anesthesia in these regions.  

Dr. Patel is a founding member of Women in Neuromodulation (WIN) as well as Women Innovators in Pain Medicine (WIPM). Dr. Patel is currently Vice President of WIPM.  Dr. Patel has been a Director for the Association of Pain Program Directors since 2020.  

Dr. Patel also conducts original clinical research and is the Co-Principal Investigator of the RESTORE trial. She serves as the Deputy Editor of Pain Practice and as Section Editor of the forthcoming sixth edition of Bonica’s Management of Pain.  Her work has been published in Neuromodulation and other peer reviewed journals.  Her career is dedicated to improving Neuromodulation physician training, patient outcomes, and access to care.

Sam Eldabe, MB ChB, FRCA, FFPMRCA

Sam Eldabe MB ChB, FRCA, FFPMRCA is pain medicine consultant at The James Cook University Hospital Middlesbrough UK. He is an Honorary Professor of Pain Medicine at Wolfson Research Institute at Durham University and the University of Warwick. He heads the pain department at the Hôpital de Morges, Vaud Switzerland, and divides his time between the UK and Switzerland.

Sam has practiced neuromodulation for more than 25 years having founded the neuromodulation department at The James Cook Hospital. His neuromodulation work includes ITDD for cancer pain and spasticity, as well as neurostimulation for Chronic Pain, which led him to an interest in medication management, particularly opioid reduction.

He has an interest in both the conduct of neuromodulation research and the critical analysis of neuromodulation manuscripts. He is the author of more than 150 manuscripts in pain management and neuromodulation. His current research interests include deprescribing opioids, he is Co-Chief Investigator of the I-WOTCH study published in JAMA 2023. Sam has conducted numerous RCTs on the use of spinal stimulation for refractory angina, sham control in neurostimulation as well as the utility of screening trials in spinal cord stimulation.

Director-at-Large - Congress Organizer

Stana Bojanic, BSc, MB, BS, FRCS, (SN)

Stana Bojanic, BSc, MB, BS, FRCS, (SN)

Consultant Neurosurgeon, Oxford UK since 2004

Neuromodulation Society of UK and Ireland (NSUKI) Board Member 2012 – 2015

President of NSUKI (Elect/Past President) 2015 – 2019

Chair Governance Committee National Neuromodulation Registry (UK) 2015 – 2018

Board of Editors Neuromodulation Technology at the Neural Interface – 2018 to date

Co-Chair of INS Conflict of Interest Committee – 2018 to date

National Institute for Health and Care Research reviewer – 2019 to date

Member of Neuromodulation Devices Working Group, NHS England – Feb 2020 to date

Executive Education Programme in Neuromodulation (EEPIN) Board – 2020 to date

Women in Neuromodulation Group (UK and Ireland) – 2020 to date

INS Mentorship Programme – 2020 to date

INS CME reviewer for online programmes – 2021 to date

Congress Organizer and Scientific Programme Co-Chair of the 16th INS World Congress in Vancouver 2024

Regional Directors-at-Large

Kiran Patel, MD - United States of America

Kiran V. Patel, MD, is an Interventional Pain Management physician board certified in Pain Medicine and Anesthesiology. Dr. Patel is the Director of Pain Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and Founder/CEO of the NYC Neuromodulation Center of Excellence.  She is the ACGME Pain Medicine Fellowship program at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell. 

Dr. Patel is currently the Treasurer of NANS and has been on the NANS Board of Directors for the past 6 years. Dr. Patel has co-chaired the NANS Cadaver workshop for the past several years and is currently chair of the NANS Certificate in SCS sub-committee. Dr. Patel trains physicians in pain procedures and neuromodulation nationally and internationally.

Dr. Patel earned her medical degree from Rutgers University and went on to complete an internship in Internal Medicine at Yale University.  She completed her Anesthesiology residency and Interventional Pain Medicine fellowship at Columbia University.  She also studied medical acupuncture at Harvard University.  Dr. Patel has practiced medicine in India and Africa and has organized efforts to address the undertreatment of pain medicine and anesthesia in these regions.  

Dr. Patel is a founding member of Women in Neuromodulation (WIN) as well as Women Innovators in Pain Medicine (WIPM). Dr. Patel is currently Vice President of WIPM.  Dr. Patel has been a Director for the Association of Pain Program Directors since 2020.  

Dr. Patel also conducts original clinical research and is the Co-Principal Investigator of the RESTORE trial. She serves as the Deputy Editor of Pain Practice and as Section Editor of the forthcoming sixth edition of Bonica’s Management of Pain.  Her work has been published in Neuromodulation and other peer reviewed journals.  Her career is dedicated to improving Neuromodulation physician training, patient outcomes, and access to care.

Arthur Cukiert, MD - Latin America

Arthur Cukiert was born in Santo Andre, Brazil in 1963. He graduated at Sao Paulo University in 1986 and finished his neurosurgical training at the Hospital das Clinicas of Sao Paulo University in 1991. He spent a year at the Montreal Neurologic Institute as a Clinical & Research Fellow. Back in Brazil, he worked at Sao Paulo Hospital das Clinicas, developed the Hospital Brigadeiro neurosurgical service and was a medical assistant at the ABC Faculty of Medicine in Sao Paulo. He received a PhD degree in Neurophysiology in 1996 from the Biological Sciences Institute of the Sao Paulo University. He is presently the Director of the Sao Paulo Epilepsy Clinic, and Head of its Epilepsy Surgery Program. He is part of the ILAE Pediatric Surgery Task Force and had organized several Epilepsy Surgery Techniques Meetings over the years. He was President of the Brazilian Functional Neurosurgery Society and of the Brazilian Congress of Update in Neurosurgery. He presented more than 400 lectures worldwide, attended to 350 meetings, presented 800 abstracts and published 150 peer reviewed papers and 9 books. His activities center on the surgical treatment of refractory epilepsy and pituitary tumors.

Published Books:

1. Neuroendocrinology textbook.  A Cukiert e B Liberman (Eds), Editora Lemos, São Paulo, 2002, 638 pp.
2. Medical and surgical treatment of refractory epilepsy. A Cukiert (Ed), Editora Lemos, São Paulo, 2002, 394 pp.
3. Advances in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of partial epilepsy. A Cukiert, F Cendes, JC da Costa and FGM Naylor (Eds), Arquivos de Neuropsiquiatria, vol 61, suplement 1, 2003, 122 pp.
4. Physiology and pathophysiology of growth hormone. Bernardo Liberman and Arthur Cukiert (Eds), Editora Lemos, São Paulo SP, 2004, 419 pp.
5. Generalized Epilepsies. Arthur Cukiert (Ed), Segmento Pharma Editora, São Paulo SP, 2006, 220 pp.
6. Quality of life in epilepsy. M Albuquerque e A Cukiert (Eds), Editora Alaúde, São Paulo SP, 2007, 350 pp.
7. Neuromodulation. Arthur Cukiert (Editor), Editora Alaúde, São Paulo, Brasil, 488 pp.
8. Functional Neurosurgery, Arthur Cukiert (Editor), Editora Alaude, São Paulo, 776 pp.
9. Operative Techniques in Epilepsy Surgery, Thieme, New York, 2019, 259 pp.

Top Seven Papers:

1. Frameless stereotaxy for surgery of the epilepsies: preliminary experience. Technical note. A. Olivier, I. Germano, A. Cukiert, T. Peters. J Neurosurg 81: 629-633, 1994.
2. Results of surgery in patients with refractory extratemporal epilepsy with normal or non-localizing magnetic resonance findings investigated with subdural grids. A Cukiert, JA  Burattini, E Machado, A Sousa, JO Vieira, M Argentoni, C Forster, C Baldauf. Epilepsia 2001; 42:889-894.
3. Extended, one-stage callosal section for treatment of refractory secondarily generalized epilepsy in patients with Lennox-Gastaut and Lennox-like syndromes. Cukiert A, Burattini JA, Mariani PP, Camara RB, Seda L, Baldauf CM, Argentoni M, Baise-Zung C, Forster CR, Mello VA. Epilepsia 2006, 47:371-4.
4. Outcome after corticoamygdalohippocampectomy in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy and mesial temporal sclerosis without preoperative ictal recording. Cukiert A, Burattini JA, Mariani PP, Cukiert CM, Argentoni M, Baise-Zung C, Forster CR, Mello VA. Epilepsia 2006, 47:371-4.
5. Centro-median stimulation yields additional seizure frequency and attention improvement in patients previously submitted to callosotomy. Cukiert A, Cukiert CM, Burattini JA, Mariani PP, Argentoni M, Baise-Zung C, Forster CR, Mello VA. Seizure 2009, 18: 588-592.
6. Long-term outcome after callosotomy or vagus nerve stimulation in consecutive prospective cohorts of children with Lennox-Gastaut or Lennox-like syndrome and non-specific MRI findings. Cukiert A, Cukiert CM, Burattini JA, Lima AM, Forster CR, Baise C, Argentoni-Baldochi M. Seizure 2013, 22:396-400.
7. Seizure outcome after hippocampal deep brain stimulation in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy: A prospective, controlled, randomized, double-blind study.  Arthur Cukiert,†Cristine Mella Cukiert, †Jose Augusto Burattini, †Pedro Paulo Mariani, and *Daniela Fontes Bezerra. Epilepsia,58(10):1728–1733,2017.

 Dr Ashish Gulve, FFPMRCA, FFPMCAI, FRCA, FCARCSI, MD - Europe, Canada, and Africa

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.

Dr. Gulve continues to be active in research, serving as the principal investigator on a number of clinical trials in neuromodulation. He has a keen interest in teaching and is well-published with his work appearing in a number peer-reviewed journals. He has written book chapters as well.

He is currently the Regional Advisor in Pain Medicine for the Faculty of Pain Medicine at the Royal College of Anaesthetists and also teaches in various courses nationally and internationally. He is also Past President of the Neuromodulation Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland (NSUKI).

Guoming Luan, MD, PhD - Asia, Australia and New Zealand

Prof. 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.

Prof. Luan is currently acting editor and sub-editor for more than 9 medical journals including 'Journal of the INS', 'The Chinese Journal of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery' and 'The Chinese Journal of Minimal Invasive Neurosurgery'. He has published more than 100 articles both in national and international journals. He is the ‘Editor in Chief’ of 8 books and has been published in over 10 National and Government led scientific publications. Furthermore, he has worked on 10 national, civic and ministry scientific research programs. He is not only the President of Chinese Neuromodulation Society, but also a vice-chairman of China Association Against Epilepsy and the Secretary-General of Asian Epilepsy Surgery Congress.