In this upcoming episode, Dr. Meier will discuss how people move differently in the presence of (or in anticipation of) pain. Changes in motor control may play an important role in musculoskeletal pain. His lab uses a cross-disciplinary approach that combines neuroscience and movement biomechanics to provide new insights into the role of potential interactions between movement behavior, psychological factors and supraspinal mechanisms in the development and maintenance of persistent low back pain. We’ll touch also on fear avoidance and pain related movement avoidance. Dr. Michael L. Meier is a senior pain researcher and group leader at the Department of Chiropractic Medicine at the University of Zurich. He received his master’s degree in neuropsychology and his doctorate in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Zurich, focusing on the processing of pain and nociception in the brain. In 2019, he received a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) to study the role of movement behavior and cortical processes in the development and persistence of low back pain. A hallmark of his work is linking research from different disciplines such as biomechanics, neuroscience, and psychology, shedding light on novel interacting pathomechanisms underlying persistent low back pain whose pathoanatomical cause is often unclear.
Dr. de Luca and I discuss her research on spinal pain in the elderly and chiropractic. Katie de Luca is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Chiropractic at Macquarie University. She is a chiropractor in clinical practice, however her research focuses on the epidemiology and management of musculoskeletal conditions, with expertise in the elderly. In 2016 she was awarded her PhD from the University of Newcastle, School of Medicine and Public Health. Her thesis explored the experience of pain in women with arthritis, and resulted in substantial contributions to the fields of rheumatology, pain and ageing research. She has 25 peer-reviewed journal publications and more than 50 conference presentations, which includes several invited keynote presentations on back pain in the elderly. These have been at regional, national and international conferences in gerontology, pain, public health and chiropractic forums. She is on the editorial boards of Chiropractic and Manual Therapies and JMPT, and peer-reviews for another 13 journals. She has received several large competitive grants, most recently being awarded in excess of $400,00 in an industry led grant from the Australia Chiropractors Association to perform a longitudinal study on back pain in older Australians who present to a chiropractor for treatment of their low back pain. She has won many research prizes, including 1st prize at the World Federation of Chiropractic Biennial Conference in Washington DC (March, 2017). She is actively on the board for the Chiropractic Australia Research Foundation, and is the Research Chair for Sports Chiropractic Australia. She is one of only 13 CARL Fellows, a group which she is privileged to be a part of. She hopes to be a leading chiropractic researcher on spinal pain in the elderly.
Is sitting killing you? What kind of posture should you have seated or standing? How much time should you sit versus stand at work? How much spine flexion is too much? Can chiropractic manipulation help with seated postures? These are some of the many questions that are addressed in this interview. Dr. Diana De Carvalho is an Assistant Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in the Discipline of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine. She holds the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation Professorship in Spine Biomechanics and is cross-appointed to the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation.
