Patricia J Armati (BSc MSc PhD) is Honorary Professor in Neuroscience in the Central Clinical School, The University of Sydney, and Mind and Brain Institute of The University of Sydney, with a long-standing interest in the relationship between neurons and neuroglia. She has published over 100 scientific papers and book chapters and is editor of The Biology of the Schwann Cell (Cambridge University Press, 2007), The Biology of Oligodendrocytes (Cambridge University Press, 2010), and Marsupials (Cambridge University Press, 2006), the first textbook on marsupials. She has been a board member of the International Peripheral Nerve Societyand an editorial board member of the Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System. Currently, she is an editor of the Journal of Neurolipids.

Roberta T Chow (MBBS (Hons) FRACGP PhD) is a general practitioner in private practice in Sydney, specialising in pain medicine at a primary-care level. During the course of her general practice she developed a special interest in pain medicine, with a diploma from the Pain Management and Research Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, and a PhD in the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney, Australia, that focused on a clinical trial of neck pain. She is an Honorary Research Associate at the Brain and Mind Institute at The University of Sydney and President of the Australian Medical Laser Society, and has been a member of the Steering Committee for the development of the Australian National Pain Strategy, a guide to integrated and innovative planning for pain management across Australia. Dr Chow uses both orthodox and complementary therapies, particularly low-level laser therapy and acupuncture, for pain management.