MD FRCP FRCA

United Kingdom
Imperial College
United Kingdom

Andrew Rice is Professor of Pain Research at Imperial College London, where since 1995 he has led an interdisciplinary group engaged in translational research. He received his medical degree from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London in 1982 and his research doctorate from St. Thomas’ Hospital Medical School in 1991 – which was supervised by Professor Steve McMahon. He underwent clinical specialist training at St Thomas’ Hospital and in Oxford. His research focusses on neuropathic pain in the context of infectious disease (HIV, leprosy, HTLV-1 and herpes zoster), diabetes and military conflict-related trauma. Having been active in pre-clinical pain research, he now works on improving the experimental rigour and external validity of animal models and innovating pre-clinical evidence synthesis using systematic review and meta-analysis approaches. Andrew’s clinical research embraces multi-modality deep profiling/stratification of neuropathic pain patients with a view to personalised medicine. He is also active in clinical trials and evidence synthesis. He played a key role in the pre-clinical and early clinical development of a first in class angiotensin receptor antagonist. He works on the military medical history of neuropathic pain. His research has been funded from many sources, but notably by the European Commission, Wellcome Trust and UKRI (especially Medical Research Council). He is an author of more than 230 peer reviewed publications (H-index 62), many of which are in the premier specialist journal (PAIN). He has published in other notable journals including: The Lancet, Brain, Lancet Neurology, Nature Methods, New England Journal of Medicine and the British Medical Journal. He conceived and was lead editor of the four volume “Textbook of Clinical Pain Management”. Andrew advocates an interdisciplinary collaborative approach to research. He has participated in many consortia and was a Principal Investigator of the Wellcome Trust funded London Pain Consortium, of which he was also Administrative Director 2008-12. He was a workpackage lead for animal model innovation in the EU Innovative Medicines Initiatives EUROPAIN and for development of guiding principles to improve preclinical robustness in EQIPD (Enhancing Quality In Preclinical Data). He is a workpackage lead in the Advanced Pain Discovery Platform collaboration PainStorm. Between 2016 and 2022 Andrew served as a Councilor of the International Association for the Study of Pain and in 2022 was elected President-Elect. He is liaison to South-East and South Asian IASP Federations and advocates for low- and middle-income countries. He was Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee for the 18th World Congress on Pain (2020) and of the IASP Taskforce on Cannabinoid Analgesia. He previously held leadership positions in the IASP Special Interest Group on Neuropathic Pain, of which he was Chair 2012-14. In England, Andrew serves on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Commission on Human Medicines (Neurology, Pain & Psychiatry Expert Advisory Group), the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (Varicella/Herpes Zoster subgroup) and the Non-Freezing Cold Injury Independent Senior Advisory Committee. In 2017 Andrew was awarded the Rynd medal by the Faculty of Pain Medicine, College of Anaesthetists of Ireland. In 2015, he delivered the Patrick Wall Lectures at the British Pain Society and at the Faculty of Pain Medicine, Royal College of Anaesthetists. Also in 2015, he received the Imperial College Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Animal Research. He was the Michael Cousins lecturer at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in 2009 and Covino Lecturer at Harvard University in 2008. Until he stepped down from direct clinical work in 2023, after 41 years in the National Health Service, Andrew was a consultant member of comprehensive multi-disciplinary pain management team at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He delivered a diagnostic and treatment service for patients with neuropathic pain and small fibre neuropathies. www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.rice