Dr Dhan Senaratne

Dr Dhan Senaratne is a SCREDS Clinical Lecturer at the University of Dundee and an ST7 Resident Doctor in Anaesthesia & Pain Management at NHS Tayside.

He studied medicine at the University of Cambridge and has worked as a resident doctor in Reading, Oxford, New Zealand, and Glasgow. He joined the University of Dundee and NHS Tayside in November 2022 to complete a Wellcome Trust supported PhD. His PhD thesis looked at the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on chronic pain and multimorbidity (available on the Discovery website).

Recent Publications

Higgins C, Senaratne DN, Ghimire B, Parajuli A, Sharma S, Hales TG, et al. Investigation of pain research in Nepal since update of Health Research Priority Areas: A scoping review. The Journal of Pain. 2026 Aug 4;0(0). View this publication.

Senaratne DNS, Smith BH, Hales TG, Marryat L, Colvin LA. The impact of adverse childhood experiences on sensory thresholds in adults living with multimorbidity and chronic pain: an observational feasibility study. BJA Open. 2026 Mar 1;17. View this publication.

Koponen ME, Senaratne DNS, Hébert HL, Smith BH, Colvin LA. Identifying predictors of neuropathic pain medication prescribing, adherence, and discontinuation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2026 Feb 1;136(2):600–17. View this publication

Senaratne DNS, Singleton S, Timmins K, Spiteri J, Redmond P, Taylor A, et al. Adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain in adults aged 86: findings from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. Front Aging. 2025 Oct 16;6. View this publication.

Liang IJ, Senaratne DNS, Smith BH. Phenotyping Chronic Pain and Neuropathic Pain in Population Studies. European Journal of Pain. 2025 Oct 8;29(10):e70146. View this publication.

Taylor HE, Salf JC, Roper-Marchand CR, Senaratne DNS, Smith BH, Colvin LA, et al. Are adults with chronic pain more likely to develop hypertension than adults without chronic pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2025 Sep 1;135(3):685–96. View this publication.

Senaratne DNS, Koponen M, Barnett KN, Smith BH, Hales TG, Marryat L, et al. Impact of adverse childhood experiences on analgesia-related outcomes: a systematic review. British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2025 Feb 1;134(2):461–91. View this publication.

Senaratne DNS, Smith BH, Hales TG, Marryat L, Colvin LA. Impact of adverse childhood experiences on sensory thresholds in adults living with multimorbidity and chronic pain (the ACE-MAP study): protocol for an observational feasibility study. BMJ Open. 2025 Jan 1;15(1):e091053. View this publication.

Senaratne DNS, Thakkar B, Smith BH, Hales TG, Marryat L, Colvin LA. The impact of adverse childhood experiences on multimorbidity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine. 2024 Aug 15;22(1):315. View this publication.

Recent Presentations

Adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain. RCoA/SSA Joint Winter Scientific Meeting (invited speaker); November 2025; Perth, UK.

Adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain. MSc in the Clinical Management of Pain (invited speaker), University of Edinburgh; April 2025; Edinburgh, UK.

Multimorbidity and chronic pain. Nepal National Pain Symposium (invited speaker), Nepal Association for the Study of Pain; November 2024; Kathmandu, Nepal.

Adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain in octogenarians in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. CAPE/Alleviate Annual Conference, Advanced Pain Discovery Platform; May 2024; Dundee, UK.