Professor Joanna Zakrzewska

Biography & Education

About Professor Joanna Zakrzewska

After obtaining dental (King’s College London) and medical (University of Cambridge) degrees and specialist training in oral medicine Professor Joanna Zakrzewska gained an MD in trigeminal neuralgia and a personal chair in facial pain.

Professor Zakrzewska was the first non-anaesthetist to become a member of the Faculty of Pain Medicine, and is Chairperson of the Medical Advisory Board and founder Trustee of Trigeminal Neuralgia Association U.K..

After 10 years in an academic post at the dental school at Queen Mary, London, Professor Zakrzewska moved to University College London Hospital (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust.

Between 2007- 2015 she developed and ran the largest award winning U.K. centre for facial pain which is integrated with other disciplines across UCLH. Professor Zakrzewska is currently setting up a National Institute for Trigeminal Neuralgia to ensure all patients in the U.K. have equal access to evidence based management. The care pathway she developed is incorporated in the National Guidelines for Trigeminal Neuralgia published by the Royal College of Surgeons which has had input from all the major U.K. stakeholders. She has also been part of the team publishing both European and American guidelines.

A principal investigator in clinical trials and currently supervising a PhD on core outcomes in trigeminal neuralgia, Dr Zakrzewska has worked for many years with an interdisciplinary humanities team to improve communication among healthcare providers and was a co-supervisor of a PhD on the visual language of pain.

She has written six books, contributed chapters to 28 books, written over 200 peer-reviewed papers, and is rated the top research expert in trigeminal neuralgia in the world. She has given over 100 invited talks in 30 countries.

Research & Publications

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Professional Memberships

British Medical Association, International Association for the Study of Pain, British Pain Society, International Headache Society, British Headache Society, Cochrane Collaboration- oral/neuromuscular, Society of Authors, Royal Society of Medicine.

GMC Number

2525044

NHS Base

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust