People

Director of PARC

Consultant in pain medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust

Vivek graduated in 1992 and completed his training at Barts and The London School of Anaesthesia. He was appointed Consultant in Pain Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust in 2006. His research interests include interventional pain medicine and neuromodulation. He is a Chief Investigator and Principal Investigator in numerous ongoing trials.

PARC is affiliated with the William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary University of London.

Dr Jayne Gallagher MBBS, FRCA, FFPMRCA

Consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine and clinical lead for pain management, Barts Health NHS Trust

Jayne’s clinical and research interests include back and neck pain, neuropathic pain, and a multidisciplinary, rehabilitative approach to pain.

Dr Kristin Ullrich MD, Diploma of Pain Medicine (Ireland), European Diploma in Anaesthesiology

Consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine and lead for inpatient pain services, Barts Health NHS Trust

Kristin graduated from University of Jena in 1994. She completed an MD in 2001 evaluating quality improvement in postoperative pain management, and was involved in the QUIPS project. She has been a Principal Investigator for PAIN OUT, an EU-funded study to improve clinical care of patients with postoperative pain. Her research interests include the improvement of postoperative pain.

Dr Serge Nikolic MD, FRCA, FFPMRCA

Consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust

Serge’s clinical and research interests are neuromodulation including spinal cord stimulation, and interventional spinal pain management in particular cervical pain.

Dr Saowarat Snidvongs BSc (Hons) Biological and Clinical Sciences, MBBS, FRCA, FFPMRCA, MD

Consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust

Saz qualified from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School at Imperial College School of Medicine in London, and completed her MD thesis on lumbar facet joint injections for the management of low back pain. She is the Principal Investigator of the FACET feasibility study, the MODS study and the Sensing ETT study. Her research interests include chronic low back pain management, studies of medical devices, and sex and gender differences in pain.

Dr Theresa Wodehouse PhD (Respiratory Physiology)

Principal scientist, Barts Health NHS Trust

Theresa is a PhD supervisor and co-investigator in many trials. Her laboratory work includes gene expression techniques, quantitative sensory testing and measures of interventional pain treatment. She is experienced in research study design, protocol development and submission to regulatory authorities.

Dr Shankar Ramaswamy MBBS, MD, FRCA, FFPMRCA, EDRA

Consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust

Shankar qualified from Madras Medical College, and completed his postgraduate studies at PGIMER in Chandigarh. Having completed anaesthetic training in southeast Scotland, he came to London for advanced pain training at Imperial College. Shankar has completed the PARC research fellowship and is studying for a PhD in quantitative sensory testing and its role as a measurement tool in chronic pain. His research interests are quantitative sensory resting and pain phenotyping.

Mrs Charlotte Guest, RGN, MSc Nursing Science, MSc Pain Management

Lead clinical nurse specialist in pain management, Barts Health NHS Trust

Charlotte graduated in July 2009, having completed a 4 year Masters in Nursing Science course at the University of Nottingham. Additionally, she completed her second Masters at the University of Leicester in Pain Management. Her career began in cardiothoracic surgery and subsequently A&E where she developed an interest in pain management. Her clinical and research interests include neuromodulation, postoperative and neuropathic pain.

Ms Athina Karavasopoulou BSc Nursing, MSc Clinical Surgical Nursing, MSc Advanced Nursing Practice

Research nurse, Barts Health NHS Trust

Athina studied at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and is an experienced anaesthetic and theatres recovery nurse. Working as a trainee pain clinical nurse specialist has allowed her to expand her research role at PARC, where she is involved in numerous interventional pain studies including the FACET feasibility study.

Ms Alia Ahmad, BSc Biology with Microbiology, MSc Cancer Cellular and Molecular Biology

Research manager, Barts Health NHS Trust

Alia graduated in 2013 having completed her master’s degree in Cancer Cell and Molecular Biology at Leicester University. She has a strong background in phase I, II and IV clinical trials. She has organised, co-ordinated and data-managed many studies at PARC since 2015. She has experience in CTIMP, non-CTIMP and device studies.

Ms Joanne Lascelles, RN, BSc Nursing, MSc Pain Management

Clinical nurse specialist in neuromodulation and pain management, Barts Health NHS Trust

Joanne began her nursing career in 1993 specialising in renal and high dependency nursing. She developed an interest in pain management and began working with the pain team in 2003. Whilst completing her masters degree in Pain Management at Leicester University she became fascinated with neuromodulation and started working with a specialist neuromodulation service in 2012. She moved back to Barts Health NHS Trust in 2017 where she continues her work with neuromodulation patients. Her research interests include neuromodulation, neuropathic pain and data analysis.

Dr Kavita Poply, FRCA, FCARCSI, FFPMRCA

Neuromodulation fellow, Barts Health NHS Trust

Kavita has recently completed her anaesthetic and advanced pain training. She is studying for a PhD in the characterisation of dynamic brain imaging in patients undergoing neuromodulation.