Paul Wrigley

Conjoint Associate Professor Paul Wrigley holds a senior academic position in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, where he contributes to clinical practice, teaching, and research in pain medicine. His academic background includes an MBBS, Graduate Certificate in Medicine (Clinical Neurophysiology), Master of Medicine (Pain Management), and a PhD in neuropharmacology from the University of Sydney. Wrigley is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FANZCA) and a Fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FFPMANZCA). Having trained in anaesthesia and pain medicine, he serves as Senior Staff Specialist in Pain Medicine at Royal North Shore Hospital and maintains conjoint appointments emphasizing his dual clinical and academic roles.

As Head of the Sensory-Neurophysiology Research Laboratory within the Pain Management Research Institute at the Kolling Institute, Paul Wrigley dedicates his efforts to advancing understanding and treatment of chronic pain. His research specializations encompass chronic pain, clinical trials, and clinical neurophysiology, with a focus on improving quality of life for patients. Wrigley's scholarly impact is evidenced by over 2,957 citations on Google Scholar. Key publications include 'New evidence for preserved somatosensory pathways in people with chronic complete spinal cord injury' (recognized with the FPM Best Free Paper Award), 'A Systematic Review of the Variation in Pain Catastrophizing Scale Scores across 11 Countries' (Pain and Therapy, 2022), 'A systematic review of cross-cultural validation of the pain catastrophizing scale and pain self-efficacy questionnaire' (European Journal of Pain, 2020), and 'Reduced Glutamate in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Is Associated With Chronic Pain in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury: A 1H MRS Study' (Frontiers in Neurology, 2019). His PhD research culminated in the book 'Cold Thermal Processing in the Spinal Cord: In Search of Endogenous Analgesia' (2009). Wrigley has received prestigious ANZCA research fellowships, including the St Jude Medical ANZCA Research Fellowship for neurophysiological investigations and the Mundipharma ANZCA Research Fellowship for studies on regional changes in cerebral activation during pain processing. He also contributes to pain education through supervision of training and involvement in postgraduate courses and multidisciplinary workshops at the University of Sydney.

Professional Email: paul.wrigley@sydney.edu.au