Bernhard Frank

Consultant in Pain Medicine, Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust

Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, University of Liverpool

Adjunct Professor, Liverpool John Moores University

Main research interests

My interests include neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, clinical pharmacology of analgesic drugs, clinical trials, non-invasive neuromodulation including brain navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).

I am the Chief Investigator for the NIHR-HTA funded FREMS-PDPN trial:

Trial website: The FREMS-PDPN Study (digitrial.com)

NIHR: The Utility Of Frequency-Modulated Electromagnetic Neural Stimulation (FREMS) As A Third Line Treatment In Patients With Painful Diabetes-Related Peripheral Neuropathy: A Randomised Controlled Trial (FREMS-PDPN) - NIHR Funding and Awards

I am also the co-investigator for the BIOR study:

Behavioural Intervention for Opioid Reduction BIOR | Liverpool John Moores University (ljmu.ac.uk)

Biography

I was appointed at the Walton Centre in 2009.

My current roles include Clinical Lead for Neuropathic Pain including complex facial pain and Opioid Management.

I am also the research lead for Pain Medicine at the Walton Centre.

I am a Fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine at the College of Anaesthetists in Ireland, Dublin (awarded in 2010).

I received my CCT in Anaesthesia in 2009 after specialist training in Newcastle upon Tyne and the North East of England.

I was a Senior Registrar in Pain Medicine at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia during 2007/08.

I am a Fellow of the College of Anaesthetist at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin (awarded in 2006).

I received my Doctor of Medicine from Newcastle University in 2005, having graduated in Medicine at the University of Kiel, Germany in 1996.

Publications 2018 - 2023

Goebel A, Jacob A, Frank B, Sacco P, Alexander G, Philips C, et al. Mycophenolate for persistent complex regional pain syndrome, a parallel, open, randomised, proof of concept trial. Scand J Pain. 2018;18(1):29-37.

Grayston R, Czanner G, Elhadd K, Goebel A, Frank B, Uceyler N, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of small fiber pathology in fibromyalgia: Implications for a new paradigm in fibromyalgia etiopathogenesis. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2019;48(5):933-40.

Bisla J, Ambler G, Frank B, Gulati S, Hocken P, James M, et al. Successful and unsuccessful recruitment and retainment strategies in a UK multicentre drug trial for a rare chronic pain condition which performed above target. Br J Pain. 2020;14(3):171-9.

Burgess J, Javed S, Frank B, Malik RA, Alam U. Mirogabalin besylate in the treatment of neuropathic pain. Drugs Today (Barc). 2020;56(2):135-49.

Fallon N, Brown C, Twiddy H, Brian E, Frank B, Nurmikko T, et al. Adverse effects of COVID-19-related lockdown on pain, physical activity and psychological well-being in people with chronic pain. British Journal of Pain. 2020:2049463720973703.

Twiddy H, Frank B, Alam U. A Consideration of the Psychological Aspects to Managing Patients with Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: An Insight into Pain Management Services at a Tertiary Centre in the UK. Diabetes Ther. 2020.

Burgess J, Ferdousi M, Gosal D, Boon C, Matsumoto K, Marshall A, Frank B et al. Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: Epidemiology, Pathomechanisms and Treatment. Oncol Ther. 2021.

Burgess J, Frank B, Marshall A, Khalil RS, Ponirakis G, Petropoulos IN, et al. Early Detection of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: A Focus on Small Nerve Fibres. Diagnostics. 2021;11(2).

Johnson S, Marshall A, Hughes D, Holmes E, Henrich F, Nurmikko T, Frank B et al. Mechanistically informed non-invasive peripheral nerve stimulation for peripheral neuropathic pain: a randomised double-blind sham-controlled trial. J Transl Med. 2021;19(1):458.

Price E, Gianfrancesco O, Harrison PT, Frank B, Bubb VJ, Quinn JP. CRISPR Deletion of a SVA Retrotransposon Demonstrates Function as a cis-Regulatory Element at the TRPV1/TRPV3 Intergenic Region. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021;22(4).

Berwick R, Frank B. Medicines optimization in acute and chronic pain. Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine. 2022;23(7):395-401.

Hewitt D, Byrne A, Henderson J, Wilford K, Frank B, Chawla R, Sharma ML, et al. Pulse Intensity Effects of Burst and Tonic Spinal Cord Stimulation on Neural Responses to Brushing in Patients With Neuropathic Pain. Neuromodulation. 2022.

Begley EK, Poole HM, Sumnall HR, Frank B, Montgomery C. Opioid prescribing and social deprivation: A retrospective analysis of prescribing for CNCP in Liverpool CCG. PLoS One. 2023;18(3):e0280958.

Poole HM, Frank B, Begley E, Woods A, Ramos-Silva A, Merriman M, et al. Feasibility study of a Behavioural Intervention for Opioid Reduction (BIOR) for patients with chronic non-cancer pain in primary care: a protocol. BMJ Open. 2023;13(1):e065646.