معرفی
Professor Michael Nicholas is a Clinical Psychologist with over 40 years of experience in chronic pain research and management. He holds a conjoint Professor position at the Pain Management Research Institute within the Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney, and directs multidisciplinary pain management programs at the MJC Pain Management & Research Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital. He established the first Multidisciplinary Back Pain Program at Westmead Hospital (1988) and developed the globally used Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ). With a PhD from the University of Otago (1988) and an MSc(Hons), he has held leadership roles at St Thomas's Hospital (London), University of NSW (1991), and since 1994 at University of Sydney.
- PhD, University of Otago
- MPsychol (Clin)
- MSc(Hons), University of Sydney
His research focuses on psychosocial contributors to chronic pain, early intervention protocols, and workplace disability prevention. He co-developed the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire with Sweden's Steve Linton, influencing WHO's ICD-11 pain classification. His work on the WISE study (2013–2022) demonstrated cost-effective interventions for injured workers, adopted by NSW Health.
Recent publications (2020–2024) emphasize telehealth pain care, cross-cultural pain assessment tools, and workplace pain management. His 15 most recent articles address low back pain interventions, predictive modeling, and economic analyses of multidisciplinary programs.
- IASP John D Loeser Lifetime Achievement Prize (2022)
- Honorary Doctorate, Örebro University (2015)
- Australia's Research Field Leader for Pain (2020–2023)
- NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation Pain Network Co-Chair (2016–2022)
He has trained over 400 ADAPT Pain Management Programs since 1994 and leads the internationally recognized online Masters Degree in Pain Management at University of Sydney. His work extends to opioid deprescribing, rehabilitation psychology, and low-resource setting adaptations.
As Associate Editor for PAIN, Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, and Scandinavian Journal of Pain, he shapes global pain scholarship. His grants exceed $12 million, including $4 million in recent years for rural pain training and CALD community programs.
