PainSA is a chapter of the International Association for the Study of Pain. Our mission is to improve all aspects of pain management in Southern Africa.
We are a multidisciplinary society whose membership includes all healthcare professionals
PainSA is a chapter of the International Association for the Study of Pain. Our mission is to improve all aspects of pain management in Southern Africa.
We are a multidisciplinary society whose membership includes all healthcare professionals
President – Psychiatrist
Michelle King qualified as a psychiatrist in 2007. In 2011 she completed her Masters in Early Childhood Intervention through UP. Since then she has completed Post Graduate diplomas in both Interdisciplinary Pain Management and Palliative Medicine through UCT.
As part of her private practice, she works with an interdisciplinary pain and palliative care team. She believes in empowering people so that they can take charge of their physical and mental health, and as a result, live their lives to the fullest.
President Elect – Occupational Therapist
Linda is an Occupational Therapist by training but have been working full time in the field of pain management for the last 5 years. She currently heads up an interdisciplinary team of clinicians in the private sector of the Western Cape where we have a group of pain clinics focusing on the treatment of musculoskeletal chronic pain.
Linda is passionate about education, improving pain care for all South Africans and collaborating with other professions to produce research and evidence for best practice for our population.
Secretary
Gill is an OT working in private practice in Johannnesburg. She qualified in 1990 and has post graduate diplomas in neuro, vocational rehabilitation, hand therapy and interdisciplinary pain management. Her work experience includes working at Natalspruit Hospital for 4 years (spinal rehabilitation, orthopaedics, plastics, paediatrics and adult neurology), 1 year working in London and Belfast and since then private practice in Johannesburg. Her practice focuses on the treatment of clients with hand injuries and adult neuro and she has a special interest in treatment of persistent pain and preventing persistent pain in the clients that she sees. She is also involved in Functional Capacity Evaluations and medico-legal work. Gill is passionate about learning and sharing knowledge and has been involved in lecturing and external examining for undergrad and post grad courses and presented many workshops and lectures. Over the years she has been involved in OTASA, INSTOPP, SASHT (past president), IFSHT and is the current secretary of OTPMG (Occupational Therapy Pain Management Group).
Treasurer – Consultant Anaesthetist
Sudha Bechan works as a consultant anaesthetist at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH), and is an honorary lecturer in the Discipline of Anaesthesiology at the University of Kwazulu-Natal Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, and an examiner for the College of Medicine of South Africa. She is the Head Clinical Unit of Acute and Chronic Pain Services and High Risk Obstetric Anaesthesia at IALCH and runs the IALCH Pain Clinic. Her interests are in education and training of medical personnel, anaesthesia for high risk obstetric anaesthesia, and paediatric anaesthesia. Her research interests are in pain and perioperative medicine and include interdisciplinary, spiritual and holistic patient centred care, and the international PAINOUT postop pain project. She also supervises a number of MMed research projects focusing on pain, and anaesthesia related topics, for registrars.
Council Member – Neurosurgeon
Dr Adriaan Liebenberg is a neurosurgeon who works as a clinician in the Pain Collective and is the director of several healthcare companies. He is driven to create solutions that will improve the lives of all people who live in chronic pain.
Council Member – Physiotherapist
Tory Madden is a clinician-researcher and associate professor at the University of Cape Town, with additional affiliations to the University of South Australia and KU Leuven, Belgium. She chairs the research portfolio group of PainSA. Tory’s research brings aspects of neuroscience, psychology, physiology, and immunology into both observational and basic experimental studies in humans, to make sense of the complex interactions between systems that underpin pain. She believes that a thorough understanding of pain mechanisms is the first step towards better treatments to relieve or prevent persistent pain.
Council Member – Pain Practitioner
Born and bred in Cape Town, Dr Nadah Karriem is a Pain Practitioner at PAIN, a private multisite interdisciplinary pain management clinic in Cape Town. She is also the CEO of Hesperus, an NPC formed to provide access to pain management for the less fortunate. She completed her MBChB at the University of Stellenbosch in 2014 and has worked across three of the major hospitals in Cape Town; Groote Schuur, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Mowbray Maternity Hospital. She completed her Diploma in Child Health through the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. Dr Karriem has a deep sense of tenderness for the plight of those who suffer with chronic pain.
Council Member – Occupational Therapist
Helen Roome is an Occupational Therapist working in independent practice in KZN offering individual and group-based therapy to people living with persistent pain. Her expertise in pain management builds on almost 30 years of broad clinical experience in adult physical and psychiatric OT rehabilitation in public and private health settings. Her work is also informed by her MA Theology, Practical Diploma in Labour Law and PG Diploma in Interdisciplinary pain management. Helen is a founding member and current chairperson of the OT Pain Management Group of South Africa. She has a special interest in Fibromyalgia/Chronic Widespread Pain and co-facilitates a Fibromyalgia support group with a person living with the condition. Helen has also published a book to support people in self-management of their pain called “Your pain playbook: effective daily strategies for life beyond pain.”
Past president – Specialist Anaesthesiologist
Sean Chetty is a Specialist Anaesthesiologist based at the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town. After completing his undergraduate medical degree at the University of Natal, he completed his post-graduate specialist training in Anaesthesiology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Professor Chetty went on to complete his Sub-specialist certificate in Critical Care before branching out into the field of Pain Medicine. He has also completed his PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand.
He is currently the Deputy Head of the Department of Anaesthesiology & Critical Care at the Tygerberg hospital and the Stellenbosch University. Professor Chetty is also the director of the Priority Pain Management unit at the Mediclinic Panorama Hospital in Cape Town.
His areas of research interest include acute pain management for the obstetric patient, neuropathic pain syndromes and the management of pain and sedation in the critically ill patient. He has a passion for expanding medical education and is regularly involved in medical education initiatives for health care professionals.
Council member – Physiotherapist
Gill Bedwell is a clinician-researcher, lecturer, and PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town. Gill’s research investigates the interplay between psycho-neuro-immune processes to better understand both vulnerability and protective factors that influence pain and its persistence. Gill is committed to advancing pain research in South Africa, improving pain management by integrating research with clinical expertise, and building meaningful collaborations with the international pain community.
Council member – Anaesthetist
Marshall Sithole works as an anaesthetist and pain practitioner in private practice. He runs a pain and peri-operative clinic in Limpopo, Tzaneen. He is passionate about pain and aims for a pain-free society. His main interests are acute pain management, perioperatively, and chronic pain management, particularly in the cancer patient. He completed his Diploma in anaesthesia in 2015 and is currently completing his post-graduate diploma in interdisciplinary pain management with UCT.
