Collectively they have a wealth of experience in the management of patients with chronic pain, but most importantly they all share a common goal, to provide high quality care to their patients in keeping with the values and high standards of Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
Pain consultants
The Leeds PAIN Service has five pain consultants:
Dr Baranidharan
Dr Baranidharan (Dr Barani) is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine practicing at Leeds Teaching Hospitals since 2006. He is the clinical lead for Pain Medicine and holds an appointment as Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Leeds.
Dr Baranidharan completed his MBBS from Madras Medical College (1996), Madras, India. He pursued his Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine training from Yorkshire Deanery, UK and McMaster University, Canada (1999-2006). He has a Fellowship in Anaesthesia (FRCA) and Pain Medicine (FFPMRCA) from the Royal College of Anaesthesia and the Faculty of Pain Medicine.
Dr Baranidharan developed the Neuromodulation Centre in Leeds from a small service to one of the biggest units in Europe. He is active in research and teaching. Most of his research activities are on Neuropathic pain and Neuromodulation. He has a special interest in managing pain of visceral origin. He has had a significant contribution in developing a National Neuromodulation Registry for the UK and currently chairs the Data set Committee and the Clinical Governance Committee.
Dr Baranidharan is an elected Board Member of the Faculty of Pain Medicine and the Vice Chair of the Board of Examiners. He is part of the professional standards committee and has contributed to various national initiatives. He has successfully run his annual cadaver workshop in Leeds since 2008.
Dr Black
Dr Black is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
She completed her Undergraduate medical training at The University of Aberdeen and her anaesthesia and pain medicine training within the Yorkshire Deanery and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Pain Medicine.
She is the current Regional Advisor for Pain Medicine and has clinical interests in neuromodulation, cancer pain and transitional pain. Her clinical interests include cancer pain management, paediatric transition into adult pain services, and neuromodulation.
Her specialist research interest area involves the study of the autonomic nervous system and how it is influenced by chronic pain and neuromodulation, both spinal cord stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation.
Dr Titterington
Dr Titterington is originally from the South of England and moved to Leeds for university and has stayed. He is a fully qualified anaesthetist and interventional pain consultant (MB ChB, FRCA, FFPMRCA) at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and has completed a Fellowship in cancer pain and neuromodulation.
His main interests are: chronic low back pain and sciatica, neck pain, chronic post-surgical pain, cancer pain treatment with intrathecal infusions and neurolytic techniques, treatment of nerve pain with neuromodulation (spinal cord stimulation), knee and shoulder pain. He does not believe in high dose opioids as a long-term option for pain management.
He is involved in teaching as the local pain medical educational supervisor and lead for audit. He also recruits patients for our research studies and contributes to our publications.
Dr Montgomery
Dr Montgomery is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Leeds. He completed his undergraduate medical training at The University of Newcastle upon Tyne and his Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine training within the Northern and Yorkshire Deaneries and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Pain Medicine. He is involved in undergraduate education with the University of Leeds and has completed a Fellowship in Medical Education at The University of Newcastle upon Tyne where he completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Education and was conferred a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Dr Whelan
Dr Whelan MBChB FRCA FFPMRCA is a pain and anaesthetic consultant working at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. He is a fellow of both the Royal college of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Pain Medicine. He is an honorary lecturer for the University of Leeds and has completed fellowships in rural India and Zambia. He has multiple international publications, and a keen research interest in neuromodulation and novel therapies that may improve chronic pain.
Nursing
The Nursing Team consists of Clinical Nurse Specialists and a Clinical Support Worker. Their Service is Mon – Fri 8am – 4pm and they provide services for Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) patients pre and post implant. They run telephone, video and face to face clinics that include Information Sessions, advice with medications and post implant, they provide assessment, support and programming of SCS.
Jenny Jennings, team leader
Jenny Jennings is the nursing team leader and has worked as a Specialist Nurse in Pain since 2008. Prior to this, she worked in acute surgery and critical care. She has always had a keen interest in Pain Management and is aware of the huge impact chronic pain has on patient’s lives and aims to provide a service that helps people to improve their pain, quality of life and help to manage living with chronic pain as best as possible.
Pain Management Team
Karen Robertson, Specialist Nurse
Mayona Raneses-Jeffrey, Specialist Nurse
Hollie Watson, Specialist Nurse
Ella Sykes, Specialist Nurse
Ellie Leonard, Senior Clinical Support Worker
Pharmacy
Lis Farquhar is an Advanced Clinical Pharmacist for Chronic Pain Management and provides input to the PAIN Service. She also runs clinics on medication management often helping patients reduce the amount of strong opioids they are taking.
Psychology
The Pain Psychology Team are highly skilled and have considerable experience working with patients suffering with chronic pain. Within the Leeds PAIN Service they work with patients to reduce the secondary effects of chronic pain and provide assessments for patients who are under consideration for neuromodulation.
Dr Vivienne Laidler, Principal Clinical Psychologist
Dr Caroline Firman, Principal Clinical Psychologist
Dr Rachael Clarke, Senior Clinical Psychologist
Dr Andrea Brown, Senior Clinical Psychologist
Dr Maria Chu, Clinical Psychologist
Research
The Research Team works closely alongside the Leeds Pain and Interventional Neuromodulation Service offering patients with long term pain the opportunity to take part in clinical research trials exploring treatments for a variety of pain conditions. The aim of these studies is to improve our understanding of pain conditions and to establish new treatments for our patients.
Dr Baranidharan, Dr Black, Dr Montgomery, Dr Titterington and Dr Whelan are all investigators on our research studies and work with our research team:
Emma Binns, Senior Research Nurse
Emma Binns is the Senior Research Nurse for the Pain Management team. She has worked in the Trust since 2017, initially on a Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, and then moved to work in Research, first in Haematology and then Rheumatology. She is passionate about improving patients’ quality of life through the development of new treatments.
Lisa Speight, Research Nurse
Lisa Speight is a Clinical Research Nurse working in the research team. She commenced working in the Trust in 1997, working initially in acute surgery including the surgical high dependency unit. She also then worked in the Occupational Health Department for many years prior to joining the pain research team.
Dr Bretherton-Liu, Research Fellow
Dr Bretherton-Liu is a Research Fellow in the Pain Research Team. She started working in the Trust in 2020 after working as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant with Professor Jim Deuchars and Professor Susan Deuchars at the University of Leeds, on a project investigating transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation in individuals aged 55 years and older. Prior to this, she pursued a PhD at the University of Leeds with Professor Luke Windsor and Professor Jim Deuchars after completing a BSc Hons in Psychology.
Monica Laria Suarez, Clinical Trials Assistant
Monica started started working for Leeds Teaching Hospitals just over 6 years ago. She worked as an endoscopy administrator for 4 years, and most recently as a radiotherapy practitioner. It was precisely her last role working for oncology that opened her eyes to the importance of research within healthcare, leading her to pursue a career within clinical trials. Monica is very pleased to have joined the Leeds Pain Team, contributing to improving patients’ lives.
Adam Ley, Clinical Trials Assistant
Adam, hailing from London, is a new member of the Pain Research Team, joining as a Clinical Trials Assistant. With a BSc in Psychology from Roehampton University and an MSc in psychiatric research from King’s College, Adam is dedicated to impactful research. His education has provided him with valuable insights into research methodologies and a commitment to advancing healthcare research. Equipped with solid research skills and a dedication to improving patient outcomes, Adam is excited to join the team at LTHT in driving innovation in pain management.