Zhen Zheng

Dr Zheng is an AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) registered Chinese Medicine practitioner. She completed her PhD at University of Melbourne in pain research. Dr Zheng has more than 20 years of experience in conducting clinical research in acute and chronic pain and insomnia. Due to her significant track record in pain and acupuncture research, she was invited to contribute to the 4th (2015) and 5th editions (2020) of Acute Pain Management: Scientific Evidence, by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA).

She was an NHMRC TRIP fellow (National Health and Medical Research Council Translating Research into Practice), and led a multi-disciplinary team successfully implement acupressure for prevention and management of post-operative nausea and vomiting in public hospital in Victoria.

Over the last two years, Dr Zheng has led multidisciplinary teams at RMIT, in collaboration with Northern Health and Victoria Virtual Emergency Department to address the challenges of Long-COIVD.

She was a chief investigator of two National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded research projects, examining the effect of acupuncture on opioid consumption by patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Her other areas of research expertise are
o Promoting patient education and engagement in pain management, Long-COVID recovery and insomnia management.
o assessing the central and peripheral mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia, such as its effect on primary and secondary hyperalgesia and temporal summation of pain;
o identifying the role of acupuncture in pain management and optimal acupuncture treatment protocols for various types of pain;
• She has a special interest in translating evidence into clinical teaching of undergraduate students, applying implementation science to patient engagement and bridging knowledge gaps about pain among different disciplines.