Pain Science Executive - Canadian Physiotherapy Association

The Pain Science Division is a special interest group of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association that serves physiotherapists who have an interest in better understanding and managing pain and in connecting with likeminded clinicians, educators and researchers.

Arthur Woznowski-Vu, PT, PhD(c)

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).

Dominique Gilbert

Chair Elect

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.

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.

Rochelle Furtado

Communications Liaison

Rochelle Furtado is a physiotherapy student and PhD candidate in the Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Program at Western University in London, Ontario. Rochelle’s doctoral thesis is focused on post-op pain management after a joint replacement surgery.

She is currently supported by a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships – Doctoral Award (CGS-D) awarded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Prior to her doctoral work, she earned a Master of Science from Western, and a Bachelor of Sciences (Honours) from the University of Ottawa.

Nathan Augeard

Newsletter Editor

Nathan Augeard is a physiotherapist in Quebec and the founder of Physio Connection, a Canadian network aiming to connect people living with pain with qualified physiotherapists. He is also a PhD student in Rehabilitation Sciences at McGill University.

Nathan’s research focuses on improving how physiotherapy students learn to manage pain across Canadian universities. Overall, he is a strong advocate for facilitating access to high-quality care, by improving how (future) physiotherapists are trained to manage pain.

Prior to undertaking his PhD, Nathan earned a MSc in Advanced Practice and a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy from Glasgow Caledonian University (Scotland). When he is not busy working, you will probably find him cycling, baking sweet treats, rock-climbing, or training in martial arts.

Brandyn Powelske

Knowledge Translation Committee Representative

Hi, my name is Brandyn. I am a practicing Physical Therapist with over six years of experience in the field of private practice in Edmonton, Alberta and currently working in Clinical Education at the University of Alberta. I graduated from the University of Alberta Physical Therapy program in 2014 and I have a strong passion for post-graduate Pain Science learning, including the Pain Sciences Mentorship program with the Canadian Physiotherapy program and completion of a Graduate Certificate in Pain Management from the University of Alberta in 2019.

In addition to clinical practice, I am a PhD rehabilitation science student in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine under the supervision of Dr. Greg Kawchuk, researching group-based pain management programs for chronic low back pain (GLA:D Back) and the clinical use of practice guidelines for low back pain. Outside of work and academics I love getting off the grid to hike in the summer and ski in the winter.

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