Bo Christer Bertilson
Affiliated to Teaching/Tutoring
E-mail: bo.bertilson@ki.se
Visiting address: Alfred Nobels Allé 23, 14183 Huddinge
Postal address: H1 Neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle, H1 Allmänmedicin och primärvård, 171 77 Stockholm
About me
- Research leader ME/CFS and Pain and Movement disorders
and Coordinator Academic Development
I am a MD and a licensed sports medical physician. In 2009 I earned a PhD
by defending my thesis "/*On the assessment of nerve involvement and of
dysfunction in patients with spinal pain”*. /I now serve as research
leader at the Medect Clinical Trials and Bragée pain clinic and of the Pain
Inflammation and Fatigue (PIAF) network at Karolinska Institutet.
https://kise.sharepoint.com/teams/GRP_PIAF [1]
As a researcher, focus is on diagnostic methods and treatment of
non-specific pain and dysfunction including ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, IBS and
similar dysfunctions that often develop after whiplash trauma. I am the
writer/co-writer of about 20 referee reviewed and about 80 medical
student/resident scientific publications. I have served as reviewer of
scientific articles and PhD opponent and am presently coordinator of
scientific development at Academic Primary Care Center and on the research
board for NRH Trauma Riks. https://www.nrhtrauma.se/vetenskapligtrad/ [2]
As a teacher, I have given thousands of lectures/seminars/courses on
subjects such as pain diagnostics, sports and orthopaedic medicine and
health promotion, injection technique, research planning, and scientific
writing and presentation. I presently supervise three PhD students and half
a dozen medical students and resident physicians in their scientific work.
As a physician I have conducted more than 100.000 patient visits and served
as National Team physician to the Handball and Track and Field
Associations. Also as medical advisor to several patient organisations, to
the Swedish Social Insurance Agency central office in Stockholm and on
several regional and national boards tasked with reports and guidelines on
the care of patients with pain, for example "Nationellt uppdrag - Smärta".
https://webbutik.skr.se/sv/artiklar/nationellt-uppdrag-smarta.html [3]
In 2002 I wrote the book "Att diagnostisera kluriga fall" (To Diagnose Tricky
Cases") which has been used at KI and other medical universities. The
book is, by request, being translated to english. To further the diagnostic
accuracy and effective care of patients with "non-specific pain and
dysfunction" I have, in cooperation, with dedicated colleagues developed a
digital application named "/*Paint IT*/" and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
algorithms to assess patient made discomfort (pain) drawings.
1975 Top 5% grade point average, Brigham Young
Univ. United States
1992-1994 Chairman, Stockholm Sports Medical Society
1995-2001 Team physician, National Handball and Track and Field Team
2000 Swedish Family Medicine Research Award by
Astra
2000-2004 Expert government central insurance office in Stockholm
for investigation of patients
with whiplash/non-specific pain
dysfunction
2004-2006 Expert and primary care representative in Stockholm County
Council work on medical programs
for musculoskeletal
functions, pain, lumbar pain, rheumatism, and whiplash
2005 “Spine physician of the year”, Swedish
Spine Association
2012-2014 Expert, National Board of Health and Welfare, Council for
radiology of the spine and
chronic pain
2015-2016 Mentor4research scholarship recipient at The Royal Swedish
Academy of Engineering Sciences for
pain app innovation
2016-17 Expert and primary care representative in the national
collaborative committee for future directions in knowledge for
“National assignment on pain”
https://webbutik.skr.se/bilder/artiklar/pdf/7585-444-1.pdf
2020- Member, decision body, Stockholm Region
Innovation Fund
Highest ranked research article in Spine on reliability of physical
examination tests used in the assessment of patients with shoulder problems
according to systematic review 2010, /“Reliability of physical examination
tests used in the assessment of patients with shoulder problems: a systematic
review”/
Most viewed research article in Frontiers Neurology /“Signs of Intracranial
Hypertension, Hypermobility, and Craniocervical Obstructions in Patients With
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” /
/http://loop-impact.frontiersin.org/impact/article/513006#totalviews/views/
Education and degrees: Degree in Medicine at Karolinska Institutet (KI), 1983
(M.D.) - Registered physician in medicine, 1985
- Specialist in Family
Medicine, 1991 - and Doctor of Medical Science (Ph.D.) at KI, 2009.
[1] https://kise.sharepoint.com/teams/GRP_PIAF
[2] https://www.nrhtrauma.se/vetenskapligtrad/
[3] https://webbutik.skr.se/sv/artiklar/nationellt-uppdrag-smarta.html
Research
- My current main scientific activity relates to non-specific pain and
dysfunction such as head, neck- and back pain, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Fibromyalgia (FM), irritable bowel system
(IBS) and other often overlapping symptoms.
The overall aim is to better understand pathophysiology and develop more
effective care of these health problems that constitute 30-40 % of diagnoses
in primary care (VAL 2017). Based on the diagnostic methods I assessed in my
PhD studies I have continued to use, refine and add to these methods in
cooperation with leading experts from different parts of the world including
the Nordic countries, Great Britain and the US (Harvard and Stanford
Universities) and a large number of students. The network I have been
privileged to help develop is called PIAF, indicating “Pain Inflammation
and Fatigue”. Within the network we have daily discussions and once a month
an open (international) meeting in which we present and discuss the latest
research. To the monthly meeting I invite selected researchers to share and
discuss their knowledge and hypothesis, please see
https://kise.sharepoint.com/teams/GRP_PIAF [1]
In the PIAF research network I serve as main supervisor for three PhD
students who recently passed the half-time review, all three with focus on
pain diagnostics and management. Four other primary care clinicians have
entered and completed the VR founded Primary care research school at KI with
my help and presently I am main supervisor of 5 research projects by
residents and medical students. In the last 6 months we have started 2 new
research projects on ME/CFS and Covid 19 where I act as chair or coordinator.
A unique database on above 6000 patients with ME/CFS, chronic pain and/or
exertion syndrome has been developed at the Bragée clinics in Stockholm
since I accepted a part time position as research leader there in 2018. The
database is to our knowledge, by far, the world’s largest database on
patients with ME/CFS and the like. It contains clinical, radiological and
laboratory data and more than 40 validated questionaries filled out at
different times during the assessment process of the patients referred to the
clinic from all of Sweden. The database has been developed in cooperation
with statistic and logistic experts and relevant patient organisation
representatives and contains millions of easily accessed datapoints. The cost
for the work has been covered by Medect clinical trials. I have presented our
database to government officials, the National Board of Health and Welfare
and the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of
Social Services (SBU) in several meetings with the purpose to invite other
clinics to register and broaden it to become a national register.
August 2020 we published an article in Frontiers Neurology (a highly ranked
journal in the field of neurology) based on data from the first 200+
patients in our ME/CSF cohort. In the article we present a new hypothesis on
a possible pathological pathway to ME/CFS, FM, widespread pain and fatigue.
Within a couple of months after publication the article became the most
viewed article in the history of Frontiers Neurology. By Mars 2021, the
article had > - 33.000
views. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.00828/full
[2]
Our findings have contributed to the initiation of a new internet based
international research group where hypothesis and research collaboration
opportunities has developed, the MECFSbrainspine@groups.io [3].
In addition to the PIAF research network and the MECFSbrainspine network I
serve as medical advisor to a number of patient organisations and on the
research board for NRH Trauma Riks with the aim to support research and
education on the effects, diagnostic and treatment methods of injuries to the
head neck and spine. https://www.nrhtrauma.se/vetenskapligtrad/ [4] In this
position I have been the NRH representative to inform about and propose
national strategies to government representatives including the Minister of
Social Affairs.
*Scientific publications, referee reviewed in chronologic order*
*Bertilson BC*, Grunnesjö M, Strender LE. /Reliability of clinical tests in
the assessment of patients with neck/shoulder problems – impact of
history./ Spine. 2003 Oct 1 - 28(19):2222-31
PMID: 14520035 DOI: 10.1097/01.BRS.0000089685.55629.2E
https://insights-ovid-com.proxy.kib.ki.se/pubmed?pmid=14520035 [5]
*Bertilson BC*, Bring J, Sjöblom A, Sundell K, Strender LE. /Inter-examiner
reliability in the assessment of low back pain (LBP) using the
Kirkaldy-Willis Classification (KWC)./ Eur Spine J. 2006 Nov - 15(11):1695-703
PMID: 16435110 DOI: 10.1007/s00586-005-0050-3
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00586-005-0050-3 [6]
*Bertilson BC*, Grunnesjö M, Johansson SE, Strender LE. /Pain drawing in the
assessment of neurogenic pain and dysfunction in the neck/shoulder region:
inter-examiner reliability and concordance with clinical examination. /Pain
Med. 2007 Mar - 8(2):134-46
PMID: 17305685 DOI: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2006.00145.x
https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article/8/2/134/1847313 [7]
*Bertilson BC*, Brosjö E, Billing H, Strender LE. /Assessment of nerve
involvement in the lumbar spine: agreement between magnetic resonance
imaging, physical examination and pain drawing findings. /BMC Musculoskelet
Disord. 2010 Sep 10 - 11:202
PMID: 20831785 PMCID: PMC2944219 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2474-11-202
https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2474-11-202
[8]
*Bertilson BC*, Claesson A, Claesson C, Sjövald E. /Correlation of MRI
findings of intervertebral disc water content and disc height with self-rated
quality of life, pain, and disability./ British Journal of Medicine and
Medical Research. 2014 Feb 22 - 4(14):2639-2652
DOI:10.9734/BJMMR/2014/7345
http://www.journalrepository.org/media/journals/BJMMR_12/2014/Feb/Bertilson4142013BJMMR7345_1.pdf
[9]
*Bertilson BC*, Heidermark A, Stockhaus M. /Irritable bowel syndrome – a
neurological spine problem?/ British Journal of Medicine and Medical
Research. 2014 May 29 - 4(24):4154-4168
DOI : 10.9734/BJMMR/2014/9746
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d5b4/43630661371b745e1793a0581214e78fa476.pdf
[10]
Nawaz H, Umer M, Noordin S, *Bertilson BC*, Li J, Ahmed AS, Ahmed M.
/Synovial Neuronal Changes in Knee Joint Osteoarthritis./ Open Journal of
Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases. 2016 May 27 - 6(2):26-33
http://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=66855 [11]
Bernhoff G, Landén Ludvigsson M, Peterson G, *Bertilson BC*, Elf M, Peolsson
A. /The pain drawing as an instrument for identifying cervical spine nerve
involvement in chronic whiplash-associated disorders./ Journal of Pain
Research. 2016 May 30 - 9(1):397-404
PMID: 27358576 PMCID: PMC4912326 DOI: 10.2147/JPR.S104747
https://www.dovepress.com/the-pain-drawing-as-an-instrument-for-identifying-cervical-spine-nerve-peer-reviewed-article-JPR
[12]
Zhang C, Kjellström H, Ek CH, *Bertilson BC*. /Diagnostic Prediction Using
Discomfort Drawing with IBTM/, JMLR W& - C Track Volume 56, Proceedings of
Machine Learning for Healthcare 2016
http://proceedings.mlr.press/v56/Zhang16.html [13]
Zhang C, Kjellström H, *Bertilson BC*. /Diagnostic Prediction Using
Discomfort Drawings/. NIPS 2016 Workshop on Machine Learning for Health,
arXiv:1612.01356
https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.08206 [14]
Olsson JE, Wallentin FY, Toth-Pal E, Ekblad S, *Bertilson BC*. /Psychometric
analysis of the Swedish version of the General Medical Council's multi source
feedback questionnaires./ International Journal of Medical Education. 2017
Oct 07 - 8:252-261
PMID: 28704204 PMCID: PMC5511742 DOI: 10.5116/ijme.5948.0bb6
https://www.ijme.net/archive/8/validation-of-the-swedish-version-of-the-gmc-questionnaire/?ref=linkout
[15]
Klasson M, Zhang K, *Bertilson BC*, Zhang C, Kjellström H. /Causality
Refined Diagnostic Prediction./ NIPS ML4H 2017
https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10915 [16]
Olsson JE, Ekblad S, *Bertilson BC*, Toth-Pal E. /Swedish adaptation of the
General Medical Council's multisource feedback questionnaires: a qualitative
study. /International Journal of Medical Education. 2018 June 15 - 9:161–169
PMID: 29908128 PMCID: PMC6129165 DOI: 10.5116/ijme.5af6.c209
https://www.ijme.net/archive/9/swedish-adaptation-of-the-gmc-questionnaires/?ref=linkout
[17]
Olofsson H, Carlsson L, *Bertilson BC*. /Multimorbidity among Patients with
Back Pain. A Study of Records at a Swedish Primary Health Care Centre./ J
Family Med Prim Care: Open Acc. 2018 July 23 - 118
DOI: 10.29011/JFOA-118. 100018
https://www.gavinpublishers.com/articles/Research-Article/Family-Medicine-and-Primary-Care-Open-Access/Multimorbidity-among-Patients-with-Back-Pain-A-Study-of-Records-at-a-Swedish-Primary-Health-Care-Centre
[18]
*Citation:* Olofsson H, Carlsson L, Bertilson BC (2018) Multimorbidity among
Patients with Back Pain: A Study of Records at a Swedish Primary Health Care
Centre. J Family Med Prim Care Open Acc 2: 118. DOI:
10.29011/2688-7460.100018
Ekblad S, Reventlid M, Lönnborg J, *Bertilson BC*. /Three Interrelated
Experiences to Live with Chronic Pain - A Qualitative Pilot Study with a
Group of Patients with Refugee Status in Swedish Primary Care. /EC Psychology
and Psychiatry. 2018 Oct 31 - 7(11): 896-903
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecpp/pdf/ECPP-07-00355.pdf [19]
Patomella, AH, Mickols G, Asaba E, Nilsson G, Fridén C, Kottorp A,
*Bertilson BC*, Tham K. /General practitioners’ reasoning on risk
screening and primary prevention of stroke – a focus group study/. BMC
Family Practice. 2018 Dec 4 - 19(1)
PMID: 30514217 PMCID: PMC6278124 DOI: 10.1186/s12875-018-0883-6
https://bmcfampract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-018-0883-6 [20]
Carlsson L, Olofsson H, *Bertilson BC*. /Multimorbidity Patterns in Patients
with Back Pain: A Study of Patient Records at a Primary Health Care Centre in
Sweden./ J Family Med Prim Care: Open Acc. 2019 Feb 21 - 3:126
DOI: 10.29011/JFOA-126/100026
https://www.gavinpublishers.com/articles/Research-Article/Family-Medicine-and-Primary-Care-Open-Access/multimorbidity-patterns-in-patients-with-back-pain-a-study-of-patient-records-at-a-primary-health-care-centre-in-sweden
[21]
*Citation:* Carlsson L, Olofsson H, Bertilson BC (2019) Multimorbidity
Patterns in Patients with Back Pain: A Study of Patient Records at a Primary
Health Care Centre in Sweden. J Family Med Prim Care Open Access 3: 126. DOI:
10.29011/2688-7460.100026
Bernhoff G, Saripanidis C, *Bertilson BC*. /"As if neck injuries did not
exist": An interview study of patients' and relatives' perceptions of web
information on and management of whiplash injuries in Sweden./ Interact J Med
Res. 2019 May 21 - 8(2):e9881
PMID: 31115342 DOI: 10.2196/ijmr.9881
https://www.i-jmr.org/2019/2/e9881/ [22]
Tu R, Zhang K, *Bertilson BC*, Kjellström H, Zhang C. /Neuropathic Pain
Diagnosis Simulator for Causal Discovery Algorithm Evaluation. /June 2019
https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.01732 [23]
Bragée B, Michos A, Drum B, Fahlgren M, Szulkin R, *Bertilson BC. */Signs
of Intracranial Hypertension, Hypermobility and Craniocervical Obstructions
in patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. /Front.
Neurol. 11:828.doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020. Published:28 August 2020
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.00828/full [24]
Preprint: https://osf.io/qwn5h/ [25]
Maria Flink, Ph.D. - Sebastian Lindblom
- Malin Tistad, Ph.D.
- Ann Charlotte
Laska, Ph.D. - *Bo Christer Bertilson*, Ph.D.
- Jan Hasselström, Ph.D.
- Marie
Elf, Ph.D. - Lena von Koch, Ph.D.
- Charlotte Ytterberg, Ph.D. /Person-centred
care transitions for people with stroke: development and evaluation of a
co-designed intervention/. Submitted to NURL-D-19-01230
Ruibo Tu, Kun Zhang, Paul Ackermann, *Bo Bertilson*, Clark Glymour, Hedvig
Kjellström, and Cheng Zhang. /Causal discovery in the presence of missing
data. /Submitted to Journal of Machine Learning Research, Tue, 23 Jun 2020,
preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.04010 [26]
[1] https://kise.sharepoint.com/teams/GRP_PIAF
[2] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.00828/full
[3] mailto:MECFSbrainspine@groups.io
[4] https://www.nrhtrauma.se/vetenskapligtrad/
[5] https://insights-ovid-com.proxy.kib.ki.se/pubmed?pmid=14520035
[6] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00586-005-0050-3
[7] https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article/8/2/134/1847313
[8] https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2474-11-202
[9] http://www.journalrepository.org/media/journals/BJMMR_12/2014/Feb/Bertilson4142013BJMMR7345_1.pdf
[10] https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d5b4/43630661371b745e1793a0581214e78fa476.pdf
[11] http://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=66855
[12] https://www.dovepress.com/the-pain-drawing-as-an-instrument-for-identifying-cervical-spine-nerve-peer-reviewed-article-JPR
[13] http://proceedings.mlr.press/v56/Zhang16.html
[14] https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.08206
[15] https://www.ijme.net/archive/8/validation-of-the-swedish-version-of-the-gmc-questionnaire/?ref=linkout
[16] https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10915
[17] https://www.ijme.net/archive/9/swedish-adaptation-of-the-gmc-questionnaires/?ref=linkout
[18] https://www.gavinpublishers.com/articles/Research-Article/Family-Medicine-and-Primary-Care-Open-Access/Multimorbidity-among-Patients-with-Back-Pain-A-Study-of-Records-at-a-Swedish-Primary-Health-Care-Centre
[19] https://www.ecronicon.com/ecpp/pdf/ECPP-07-00355.pdf
[20] https://bmcfampract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-018-0883-6
[21] https://www.gavinpublishers.com/articles/Research-Article/Family-Medicine-and-Primary-Care-Open-Access/multimorbidity-patterns-in-patients-with-back-pain-a-study-of-patient-records-at-a-primary-health-care-centre-in-sweden
[22] https://www.i-jmr.org/2019/2/e9881/
[23] https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.01732
[24] https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.frontiersin.org%2Farticles%2F10.3389%2Ffneur.2020.00828%2Ffull& - amp
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[25] https://osf.io/qwn5h/
[26] https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farxiv.org%2Fabs%2F1807.04010& - amp
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Teaching
- My teaching competence is primarily in the area of pain and orthopaedic
assessment, including assessment of clinical and radiological findings.
Secondly in teaching scientific planning and writing. My current teaching
includes lectures, seminars and supervision of medical and PhD students and
residents in their research projects.
Teaching is my favorite work. I believe it is the greatest calling, a
privilege and an opportunity to improve and elevate mankind and society, or
as Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you
can use to change the world”.
My teaching experience goes back to my time as a teenage scout leader, when
“learning by doing” was the motto. Later, during medical school, I taught
physics, biology, math and more to college students part-time. Since becoming
a physician in the 1980s, I have spent thousands of hours preparing course
and lesson material and teaching medicine to KI and Region Stockholm students
and health professionals, mainly the subjects of pain, orthopaedics and
sports medicine. Since the 1970s, I have also taught weekly in the community
on healthy living, drugs, non-violence and spiritual and ethical topics to
groups of 10 to a 1000 persons.
Since my dissertation in 2009 I have spent a total of about 1200 hours on
active clinical and scientific teaching and about 800 hours supervising 1 to
3 medical students each semester.
Articles
-
Article: ASIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY. 2023;79:103354
-
Article: BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH. 2022;22(1):212
-
Article: PLOS ONE. 2022;17(9):e0274023
-
Article: FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY. 2022;13:949787
-
Article: BMJ OPEN. 2021;11(12):e047329
-
Article: FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY. 2020;11:828
-
Article: INTERACTIVE JOURNAL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH. 2019;8(2):e9881
-
Article: BMC FAMILY PRACTICE. 2018;19(1):190
-
Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL EDUCATION. 2018;9:161-169
-
Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL EDUCATION. 2017;8:252-261
-
Article: JOURNAL OF PAIN RESEARCH. 2016;9:397-404
-
Article: BMC MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS. 2010;11:202
-
Article: PAIN MEDICINE. 2007;8(2):134-146
-
Article: EUROPEAN SPINE JOURNAL. 2006;15(11):1695-1703
-
Article: SPINE. 2003;28(19):2222-2231
Employments
- Affiliated to Teaching/Tutoring, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-2024
Degrees and Education
- Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2009
- Licentiate Degree, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, 2003