Our response to COVID-19

We're supporting people to maintain their wellbeing and manage isolation.

LEARN MORE

Hayley Leake

RESEARCHER PROFILE

Doctoral Candidate Research Assistant

h.leake@neura.edu.au

Pain Chronic pain Back pain

Hayley Leake is a research assistant and a member of the pain research group headed by Dr James McAuley, and the Centre for Pain IMPACT at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA). She is also a Doctoral Candidate at the University of South Australia (UniSA) under the supervision of Professor Lorimer Moseley. Her doctoral research centres around the development of pain education interventions for adolescents with chronic pain. Hayley’s research includes a systematic review exploring mechanisms of treatments for paediatric pain; a Delphi-survey for consensus on learning objectives of adolescent pain science education; and a mixture of qualitative studies exploring how youth and their parents understand pain. Hayley’s research has been presented at national (Australian Pain Society) and international conferences (International Symposium on Pediatric Pain).

Hayley is a physiotherapist, with a clinical career in both public and private settings in Australia. She also holds a casual academic position at the University of New South Wales, within the School of Public Health and Community Medicine and is involved in the teaching and evaluating of undergraduate students.

Projects Hayley Leake is currently involved with

CURRENT PROJECTS

Medicines for Back Pain


ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JAMES MCAULEY, MATTHEW K BAGG, MICHAEL WEWEGE, MICHAEL FERRARO, RODRIGO RIZZO, HAYLEY LEAKE, PAULINE ZAHARA, EDEL O’HAGAN, AIDAN CASHIN, THIAGO FOLLY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SYLVIA GUSTIN, DR MATTHEW JONES, DR MARKUS HUEBSCHER, DR SIOBHAN SCHABRUN

Medicines are the most common treatment for back pain. The aim of this program of research is to improve our understanding of the clinical effects of medicines.

Studies currently in progress:

  1. Scoping review of paracetamol, NSAIDs and opioid analgesics for chronic low back pain (led by Matthew K Bagg). The objective of this study is to identify and describe the characteristics of available clinical trials of commonly used analgesic medicines for chronic low back pain. This information will inform the design and conduct of other studies in the research program.
  2. Paracetamol, NSAIDs and opioid analgesics for chronic low back pain: a network meta-analysis (led by Matthew K Bagg). The objective of this study is to produce information about the clinical effects of available analgesic medicines for chronic low back pain. This information will be available in a Cochrane review to assist clinical prescription of medicines. The protocol is published and available here.
  3. Prescribing practices of medicines for adults with low back pain: a systematic review (led by Michael Wewege). The objective of this study is to determine how different medicines are prescribed to adults with low back pain and how this differs across countries. The protocol for this study is being developed.
  4. Analgesic medicines for adults with low back pain: a network meta-analysis (led by Michael Wewege). The objective of this study is to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of a range of analgesic medicines for adults across different classifications of low back pain. The protocol for this study has been submitted for publication.
  5. Muscle relaxant medicines for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis (led by Aidan Cashin and Thiago Folly). The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness and tolerability of muscle relaxant medicines for adults with low back pain. The protocol is available here.
  6. Novel biologic medicines for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis (led by Rodrigo Rizzo). The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness and tolerability of novel biologic medicines for adults with low back pain. The protocol is available here.

Completed studies:

  1. Evaluation of the impact of unpublished data from clinical trial registries on the effects of medicines for low back pain (led by Matthew Bagg). The objective of this study was to evaluate whether there is a difference between clinical trial data that are published and those that are not published. The findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.
  2. Antidepressant medicines for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis (led by Michael Ferraro). The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness and tolerability of antidepressant medicines for adults with low back pain. The findings have been submitted for publication. The protocol is available here.

Medicines for Back Pain – Publications:

  • Bagg MK, McLachlan AJ, Maher CG, Kamper SJ, Williams CM, Henschke N, Wand BM, Moseley GL, Hübscher M, O’Connell NE, van Tulder MW, Nikolakopoulou A, McAuley JH. (2018). Paracetamol, NSAIDS and opioid analgesics for chronic low back pain: a network meta-analysis [Protocol]. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 6. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013045. PMCID: PMC6513465
  • Bagg MK, O’Hagan E, Zahara P, Wand BM, Hübscher M, Moseley GL, McAuley JH. (2020). Reviews may overestimate the effectiveness of medicines for back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. doi: 10.1016/ j.jclinepi.2019.12.006. PMID: 31816418

Medicines for Back Pain – Registrations of Study Protocols:

  • Folly T, Bagg MK, Wewege M, Ferraro MC, Schabrun S, Gustin SM, Day R, McAuley JH. (2019) UMbRELLA: Understanding efficacy and safety of Muscle RELaxant medicines for Low back pain – systematic Literature review and meta-Analysis (protocol).Open Science Framework, available at: https://osf.io/xuw5h
  • Rizzo RN, Bagg MK, Ferraro MC, Wewege M, Cashin A, Leake HB, O’Hagan E, Jones M, McAuley JH. (2020). Efficacy and safety of medicines targeting neurotrophic factors in the management of low back pain: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Open Science Framework, available at: https://osf.io/zax6d
  • Ferraro MC, Bagg MK, McAuley JH. (2019). RADICAL: Systematic Review of Anti-Depressant Medicines if Considered Analgesics for Low Back Pain (protocol). Open Science Framework, available at: https://osf.io/cedm3

READ MORE

Medicines for Back Pain

RESOLVE Trial for Chronic Low Back Pain


DR HOPIN LEE, RODRIGO RIZZO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JAMES MCAULEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SYLVIA GUSTIN, PROFESSOR LORIMER MOSELEY, DR MARKUS HUEBSCHER, MATTHEW K BAGG, AIDAN CASHIN, EDEL O’HAGAN, HAYLEY LEAKE, ANIKA HAIGH
For people with long term back pain that is not getting better. We are testing two pain treatment programs that target the brain, for people with chronic low back pain.

READ MORE

RESOLVE Trial for Chronic Low Back Pain

RESEARCH TEAM

DR ADRIAN TRAEGER Postdoctoral Research Fellow : a.traeger@neura.edu.au

MICHAEL FERRARO Trial Manager : m.ferraro@neura.edu.au

RODRIGO RIZZO PhD Candidate : r.rizzo@neura.edu.au

DR MATTHEW JONES Postdoctoral Research Fellow : matthew.jones@unsw.edu.au

MICHAEL WEWEGE Doctoral Candidate : m.wewege@neura.edu.au

THIAGO FOLLY Research Assistant

ANIKA HAIGH Research Assistant

PAULINE ZAHARA Research Assistant

DR IAN SKINNER Postdoctoral Research Fellow

DR HOPIN LEE Honorary Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Markus Hubscher

DR MARKUS HUEBSCHER Postdoctoral Fellow

MATTHEW K BAGG PhD candidate : +61 2 9399 1870
: m.bagg@neura.edu.au

AIDAN CASHIN Doctoral Candidate : +61 2 9399 1806
: a.cashin@neura.edu.au

EDEL O’HAGAN PhD candidate : +61 2 9399 1618
: e.ohagan@neura.edu.au

SUPERVISORS

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JAMES MCAULEY Senior Research Scientist and Group Leader, NeuRA Director, Centre for Pain IMPACT Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW

Further information about Hayley Leake

RELATED INFORMATION

Qualifications 

Bachelor of Physiotherapy (First Class Hons.) University of South Australia.

Awards/Prizes

  • 2020 – Australian Pain Society’s Pain in Childhood SIG travel grant
  • 2019 – Best Poster Presentation, University of South Australia, School of Health Sciences Research Week     
  • 2019 – International Association for the Study of Pain trainee financial aid award, Pain in Childhood SIG
  • 2019 – School of Health Science Conference Scholarship, University of South Australia

Grants

  • 2018 – 2021, Research Training Program Domestic Scholarship
  • 2019 BUPA Health Research Grant, University of South Australia
  • 2018 Global Voices Scholarship, World Health Assembly, Geneva, Switzerland

Publications without PubMed IDs 

  • Pate JW, Heathcote LC, Simons LE, Leake HB, Moseley GL. (2020). Creating online animated videos to reach and engage youth: lessons learned from pain science education and a call to action. Paediatric and Neonatal Pain. doi:10.1002/pne2.12015.
  • Leake HB, Heathcote LC, Simons LE, Stinson J, Kamper SJ, Williams CM, Burgoyne LL, Craigie M, Kammers M, Moen D, Pate JW, Szeto K, Moseley GL. (2019). Talking to teens about pain: a modified Delphi study of adolescent pain science. Canadian Journal of Pain, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 200-208. doi:10.1080/24740527.2019.1682934

 

PUBLICATIONS

Implicit motor imagery performance is impaired in people with chronic, but not acute, neck pain.

Wallwork SB, Leake HB, Peek AL, Moseley GL, Stanton TR
PeerJ. 2020 ;8():e8553. doi: 32095368. Epub 2019 Feb.

There is evidence of impaired implicit motor imagery performance in people with chronic neck pain, which may suggest disruptions to proprioceptive representation of the neck. These disruptions seem specific to the neck (performance on hand images intact) but non-specific to the exact location of neck pain.

Pain neuroscience education on YouTube.

Heathcote LC, Pate JW, Park AL, Leake HB, Moseley GL, Kronman CA, Fischer M, Timmers I, Simons LE
PeerJ. 2019 ;7():e6603. doi: 30923652. Epub 2018 Mar.

The Internet in general, and YouTube in particular, is now one of the most popular sources of health-related information. Pain neuroscience education has become a primary tool for managing persistent pain, based in part on the discovery that information about pain can change pain. Our objective was to examine the availability, characteristics, and content of YouTube videos that address the neuroscience of pain.

Reliability and validity of a mobile tablet for assessing left/right judgements.

Williams LJ, Braithwaite FA, Leake HB, McDonnell MN, Peto DK, Lorimer Moseley G, Hillier SL
Musculoskelet Sci Pract. 2019 04;40():45-52. doi: 30703633. Epub 2018 Feb.

To evaluate the concurrent validity and test-retest reliability of a mobile tablet for assessing LRJ. The mobile tablet demonstrated good to excellent concurrent validity with the desktop computer in two separate samples. The mobile tablet also demonstrated good to excellent test-retest reliability. The mobile tablet for LRJ is a valid alternative to the original desktop version.

View all publications