Neil gained his PhD at the University of Sydney in 2000 and has published over 50 papers in peer reviewed journals. He has been an editor of the Journal of Chronic fatigue syndrome, is on several editorial boards and has been involved in research at several universities in Australia and abroad. He is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. He is involved with a research group at the Bio21 Institute in Melbourne including metabolomics, microbiology and genetic aspects of chronic pain disorders.

Metabolomics, microbiology and genetic aspects of chronic pain disorders

Chenchen Wang, MD, MSc is Professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine and Division of Rheumatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Wang completed her rheumatology and clinical epidemiology training at McGill University in 1999. Her research focuses on clinical and epidemiological studies of Complementary and Integrative Medicine disciplines and their applications to treatments in chronic rheumatic condition, especially osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Currently, Dr. Wang serves as the principal investigator on a number of NIH-funded clinical trials evaluating mind-body therapies on chronic conditions and publishes extensively in this field. In addition, Dr. Wang holds many advisory roles, including membership on the National Advisory Council for National Center for Complementary of Integrative Health at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. She was recently elected Vice Chairperson, World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (Computational Medicine, 2015-2019).

Complementary and Integrative, Medicine,osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Fibromyalgia, and Systemic lupus erythematosus

Nick Read (www.nickread.co.uk) is a retired gastroenterologist, physiologist and nutritionist and currently maintains a private practice in psychotherapy. During his academic career, he held chairs in Gastrointestinal Physiology, Human Nutrition and Integrated Medicine, published over 500 original papers and reviews and 11 books, including ‘Sick and Tired; healing the illnesses, doctors cannot cure,’ (Phoenix, 2006), which helps people understand and manage illnesses that have no clear cause or pathology. Dr Read is now an active blogger (www.thesensitivegut.wordpress.com) and the Chair of Trustees and medical adviser for The IBS Network (www.theibsnetwork.org), the UK’s national charity for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome with a mission to facilitate patient efficacy and self-management. A dedicated advocate of self-care, Dr Read attempts to delay the ageing process by fell running, wild swimming and infinite curiosity. His new book, Cooking for The Sensitive Gut (Pavilion) co-authored with Joan Ransley, will be published in January 2016.

Towards an integrated understanding of the nature of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and other poorly explained illnesses (inc. Fibromyalgia).

Wolfgang Bauermeister, is a US-trained Physiatrist certified by the American Board of Physical medicine and Rehabilitation specializing in Pain – and Sports –Medicine. He did his residency in the teaching Hospitals of TUFTs University in Boston, Massachusetts USA. He is a major contributor to the development of novel techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of problems related to fascia and muscles, like Fibromyalgia - Chronic Widespread Pain and Myofascial Pain Syndromes. He presents a new paradigm for the diagnosis of soft tissue pain through pioneering the Real-Time Elastography and orthopaedic shockwave therapy in sports- and pain medicine. He began exploring the effects shockwaves on soft tissue in the 90th. Through his research realized their profound effect on fascia and on trigger points resulting in pain relief and functional rehabilitation. That led to the creation of his Trigger point-Shockwave-Therapy as an alternative to injection techniques and manual manipulation of fascia and muscles.

Fibromyalgia, Chronic Widespread Pain, Myofascial Pain Syndromes,Fascia and muscles,