Pain Science Executive

Dominique Gilbert

Chair

Ms Dominique Gilbert has been working as a physiotherapist for more than 30 years. In private practice since 1996, her innovative approach emphasizes proper education of patients, as well as focusing on active treatment for pain management and returning to function. In fact, she believes that encouraging her patients to adopt active lifestyles during treatment encourages a more realistic self-evaluation of the patient’s own physical capabilities.

Due to her interest in the biopsychosocial model and its implications for the clinical treatment of patients suffering from chronic pain, she collaborates with psychologists to produce integrated reports, which combine both the physical and psychological evaluations of a patient, to determine his or her capacities. The nature of her work often brings her to work on contentious cases, which forces her to maintain up-to-date knowledge in her field. She obtained a post-graduate diploma in Insurance Medicine and Forensics from the University of Montreal in 2009. Following her graduation, she became a member of the Quebec Society of Forensic Experts (SEEMLQ) in 2013, as well as became a member of the Canadian Society of Medical Evaluators in 2014.

In 2011, she was recognized as a specialist in Pain Science by the Canadian Physiotherapy Association, and is now on the committee for evaluating candidates for the title of specialist.

Noticing that there was a lack of knowledge and coherence in the techniques which were taught for diagnosing musculoskeletal pain, she worked on a survey of the literature in this field, to highlight the best methods for evaluating lower back pain. Her dissertation allowed her to obtain a Masters in Biomedical Science from the University of Montreal in 2015.

She has been invited to teach courses on pain in the Physiotherapy curriculum of McGill University and University of Montréal.

Since 2019, she works with an older population (60 to 85-year-old) in the Pain Management Program offered through the West Island CLSC. The intervention offers a multidisciplinary evaluation to globally understand the symptomatology. The physiotherapy treatment (5 sessions over 3 months) provides coaching in pain management, but mostly in return to function using sports training techniques.

Arthur Woznowski-Vu, PT, PhD(c)

Past Chair

Arthur Woznowski-Vu is a licensed physiotherapist, PhD candidate, proud dad, husband, and lifelong martial artist from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. After a few years of clinical practice and several professional development courses, he became very interested in understanding pain according to the latest science for the benefit of enhancing his effectiveness as a physiotherapist to help people living with pain. Arthur believes that pain science has an important, yet undervalued, role to play in the daily clinical practice of most physiotherapists. Conversely, he also believes that physiotherapy clinicians’ work experience and insights have an important, yet undervalued, role to play in the conduct of pain research. Thus, Arthur reduced his clinical hours to pursue a PhD in Rehabilitation Science at McGill University, under the supervision of Dr. Timothy Wideman and Dr. Michael Sullivan. His thesis focuses on pain-related sensitivity to physical activity from a biopsychosocial lens. He has been the recipient of several scholarships, such as from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Fonds de Recherche du Québec en Santé, Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en Santé et en Sécurité du Travail, Richard and Edith Strauss Foundation, and Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation. Arthur is now in the final year of his PhD. Otherwise, he also does some teaching (McGill University, Université de Montréal). Arthur became the Chair of the Pain Science Division in 2021. He also previously volunteered for the Division as the Knowledge Translation representative (2016-2018), for the Canadian Physiotherapy Association as the Co-Chair of the Knowledge Translation Committee (2018-2021), and for his local physiotherapy community as the organizer of a “pain science to practice” discussion group (2015-2020).

Roshni Ravi

Treasurer

Roshni Ravi is a resident physiotherapist who currently works in private practice as an ortho and pelvic physiotherapist. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 2021 with a Masters of Physical Therapy and from McMaster University in 2019 with a Bachelors of Kinesiology. She is the current Treasurer for the PSD and was the previous student chair of the student subcommittee. In her spare time she enjoys teaching piano, working out and staying up to date on current literature. She is also interested in pursuing a PhD in pelvic health research in the future.

Alex Chisholm, PT, BScPT, PgCPain, FACHS

Secretary

Alex Chisholm is a physiotherapist with over 30 years of clinical experience. Alex has her post graduate certificate in Multidisciplinary Pain Management from the University of Alberta. She was part of the working group that helped to create the free, on-line Chronic Pain Toolkit with Physiotherapy Alberta.  She is a fellow of the Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society, (previously the Canadian Federation of Clinical Hypnosis) and a ‘Comfort talk” trainer with Dr Elvira Lang.  She is a member of the Alberta Pain Strategy perioperative committee and the planning committee for the World Pain Summit. Alex currently works on the Burns/Plastics team at the Foothills Medical center where she pursues her passion for both inpatient and outpatient burn survivor rehab, and has taught locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally on pain and pain management techniques. Her goal is to merge the science and art of pain management.

Tiffany Tiu

PSD Student Committee Chair

Tiffany is a second-year Physical Therapy student at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about the value of physiotherapy for improving quality of life, as well as facilitating knowledge translations and critical thinking within the profession. She developed and runs Paincast, the official podcast of the Pain Science Division, and publishes biweekly on Spotify and Apple Podcast on topics related to pain and physiotherapy. She is leading a national student committee on Pain Science under the PSD to bring PT students from all over Canada together to learn about pain science and advocate for it among PT students. Outside of PT school, she works as a strength and conditioning coach at UofT, combining fitness, rehab, and prehab for students, community clients, and athletes, and runs a business called Fitt with Tiff. She also works on Biomechanics research projects at the Biomechanics of Orthopeadic Sport Medicine Lab at the University of Toronto.

William Bateman

Newsletter Editor

William Bateman has been a practicing physiotherapist for 10 years. He started his career in private practice and in 2015 opened a small clinic dedicated to treating rock climbing injuries. Given the sport’s propensity for persistent tendon injuries he quickly developed an interest in pain to better treat his clients. In 2019 an opportunity was presented to assist in designing and implementing a pilot program offering persistent pain services to the underserved and marginalized populations of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The program was BC’s first low-barrier non-pharmacological pain management program. After its first year, the team secured funding and decided to partner with a mental health rehab team to more adequately address the complex interplay between persistent pain and mental health. William’s experience on this team led him to pursue continuing education courses in mental health, trauma-informed care, and substance use and addictions.

William’s involvement with CPA first started as a mentee in the Pain Science Division’s Mentorship Program. He benefited a great deal from the program and eventually returned the favour as a mentor himself. He currently sits on the executive committee as the Newsletter Editor and looks forward to sharing with the PSD’s membership engaging and interesting content in the pain world.

Elizabeth Hammond

Knowledge Translation

Elizabeth Hammond is a PhD physical therapist, educator, researcher, and learner who lives and works on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg Manitoba. Elizabeth is a hand and upper extremity physical therapist with a research interest in understanding the mechanisms, management, and treatment of peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain. Elizabeth is currently a faculty member in the department of Physical Therapy in the College of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Manitoba, research associate at the Rehabilitation Centre for Children (RCC) and affiliated with the Excellence in Neurodevelopment and Rehabilitation Research In Child Health (ENRRICH) at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM). Elizabeth is the moderator and coordinator for the PSD Community of Practice. 

Rebecca Wilson

Communications Liaison

Rebecca Wilson is a physiotherapist at the Nova Scotia Arthritis and Rehabilitation Centre. She graduated with a Masters of Science in Physiotherapy in 2023, and a Bachelor of Arts (Combined Honours) in the History of Science and German Studies from the University of King’s College in 2014. She specializes in persistent pain and is a part of the Pain Self-Management Program team. Along with her psychologist and occupational therapist team members, she co-teaches this program, providing education around pain neuroscience concepts, flare-up management, and using exercise to manage pain and increase activity tolerance. In her pre-physio life, Rebecca ran her own therapeutic yoga business, which inspired her to pursue further study of physiotherapy in order to help her patients heal with movement. She continues to be passionate about yoga and mindfulness.

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