Co-Founders

Najam J. Mian
HBSc, MD, FRCPC (Physiatry), FRCPC (Pain Medicine), Dip Sport Med
Co-Founder, Canadian Pain & Regenerative Institute

Dr. Mian is an advocate of the multi-disciplinary model of care for chronic musculoskeletal and spinal pain management. He has specialized expertise in interventional pain management procedures under fluoroscopy and ultrasound guidance, including regenerative medicine procedures.

He completed an undergraduate honors pharmacology degree and medical school at the University of Alberta over 8 years, followed by specialty and subspecialty residency training over 7 years at the University of Toronto. After certifying as a Physiatrist through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and as a Sports & Exercise Medicine Physician through the Canadian Academy of Sports & Exercise Medicine (CASEM) in 2016, he was selected as one of two inaugural trainees for the Pain Medicine subspecialty residency program in the Department of Anesthesia, University of Toronto. He successfully wrote the RCPSC Pain Medicine examination in 2018. He is the first Physician to become Canadian triple-certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (Physiatry), Pain Medicine, and Sports Medicine.

He is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine. He enjoys teaching learners in clinic, at academic half-days, undergraduate medical education sessions, and society meetings. He teaches annually at the RCPSC Pain Medicine examination and refresher course. He is provincial Clinical Lead for Project ECHO chronic pain (www.painbc.ca/ECHO), Specialist Lead of the Chronic Pain Spread Network, and contributor to PainBC’s physician education working group, Pain Foundations course, and Practice Support Program.

His clinical practice also includes Consulting at the Transitional Pain Clinic at Vancouver General Hospital, which employs multi-disciplinary and multi-modal pain education and treatment options to patients after surgery to help reduce reliance on opioid medications. He has been qualified as a medical expert in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, in both the fields of Pain Medicine and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Kshitij Chawla
MD, FRCPC (Physiatry), FRCPC (Pain Medicine)
Co-Founder and Associate Medical Director

Dr. Chawla is a Physiatrist and Pain Medicine Specialist practicing in the Greater Vancouver Area.

He graduated from medical school at Manipal University and pursued specialty in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Manitoba. He further subspecialized in Pain Medicine at University of Ottawa. He has successfully completed FRCPC certifications in both of these disciplines by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He has extensive expertise in advanced image-guided spine and pain interventions.

Dr. Chawla is the co-founder and associate medical director of Canadian Pain and Regenerative Institute (CPRI).He holds active staff and hospital privileges at the Pain Clinic at Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre (JPOCSC) and Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH).

At CPRI, JPOCSC and SMH, Dr. Chawla's clinical practice includes multidisciplinary and interventional pain management and musculoskeletal medicine. He sees a wide variety of conditions from spine, headache, facial pain, neuropathic pain syndromes, post-surgical and cancer pain. His interventional pain practice includes advanced fluoroscopy guided spine, head, neck and orofacial pain treatments and ultrasound guided musculoskeletal- peripheral joint, nerve and tendon interventions.

Dr. Chawla holds faculty position at the University of British Columbia at the rank of Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine. He is passionate about medical education and teaches medical residents and fellows on a regular basis.

He advocates for Pain and people living with this chronic disease at the regional, provincial and national levels through multiple medical leadership, administrative and philanthropic engagements.

He is the Division Head of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology in the Fraser Health Authority. At the provincial and national level, he serves as a committee member and examiner of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for the discipline of Pain Medicine. He is a Board Member for the renowned charity, Pain BC and it's liaison to Pain Canada.

He has been an advisor to the Ministry of Health of BC on Health Technology Assessments, advisor to the College and Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia and the Association of Faculty of Medicine of Canada.

Tina Wong-Neilsen, Administrative / HR Consultant

Tina brings a unique skill set of over 20 years in private and public healthcare, working at St. Paul’s and Vancouver General Hospital within the cardiothoracic surgical teams and setting up Chronic Pain clinics with multidisciplinary teams. Tina has worked with some of the top doctors at the Specialist Referral Clinic and many accomplished doctors in the med-legal space.

Tori Etheridge Director of Rehabilitation

Tori has had a passion for rehabilitation since beginning the Sports Science program in 2007. She built on that passion to achieve a Bachelors of Kinesiology in 2011 and a subsequent Masters in Physical Therapy in 2014 from the University of British Columbia. Her career as a Physiotherapist began in the public practice of Surrey Memorial Hospital. She gravitated to fast-paced environments like emergency, ICU, acute stroke and outpatient rehabilitation and It quickly became apparent that she developed a passion and aptitude for pain science; progressing to the Pain Program at the Jim Pattison Outpatient Centre. She explored many aspects of care including: rehabilitation of various persistent pain conditions, program development, group classes and mentorship.

Tori’s passion was then drawn towards clinical research, landing a position collaborating with others in the health and technology district. They worked together to scope and scale neuro modulation and other leading-edge neuro technologies. It was through this experience that she became one of the two Master Trainers in Canada for a company with a new-to-market, innovative neuro modulation device. She earned that title by teaching certification courses that covered topics such as neuroscience, neuroplasticity and neuro-rehabilitation. Over time, Tori has been involved in published and peer reviewed clinical studies related to brain health, cognitive assessment tools, and pain science. She has been both a primary author and clinical contributor and she continues her interest of research into her daily practice. In 2018, she took on an instrumental role to transform a clinical research site into a treatment clinic and oversee a multidisciplinary team that specialized in a variety of neurological conditions. With her team, they focused on integrating leading-edge technology for brain health and rehabilitation into current therapy modalities.

Tori has also dedicated time to Pain BC and the Pain Sciences Division of Canadian Physiotherapy Association. Focusing on knowledge translation and creating tools and content to help members grow, thrive and serve. She has been both a presenter and a participant at conferences and is a faculty member for the Foundation for Medical Excellence and College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC. She is a Clinical Instructor at the University of British Columbia focused in persistent pain, neurological and vestibular topics and a preceptor for students on clinical placement. She has additionally collaborated with others in the Ugandan Sustainable Orthopedic and Trauma Program (USTOP), assisting with the set up of a Physiotherapy clinic in a rural/remote area, training staff, treating patients and liaising with Rotary International to discuss international health initiatives.

She values patient engagement and hopes to create a safe and collaborative space where clients can be treated holistically.

David Raza, Director of Client Services and Corporate Development

David Raza has joined our team as the Director, Client Services and Corporate Development. David brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our organization and we are thrilled to have him as part of our executive team. He has over 20 years experience within the finance, insurance, and medical sectors. David’s last position was with an independent medical assessment company as the Director, Strategic Accounts.