Paul Edward Rolan (born January 1956) is an Australian physician, medical researcher, academic, and public health advocate.
[2] Rolan partnered with Guy Ludbrook, Professor of Anaesthesia at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, to research links between chronic pain and the immune system.
It undertakes commercial studies on behalf of the international pharmaceutical industry, generally in the areas of pain and anaesthesia with drugs that often have a narrow therapeutic index, so intense medical and nursing care are needed.
[13] Rolan's major clinical and academic focus is in treatment of chronic pain, from the underlying causes of disease to development of biomarkers and evaluation of new therapies.
[6][4] In addition to his formal academic roles, Rolan has actively promoted public health and a science-based approach to medicine.
He is often called on by media to give expert commentary on a wide range of pharmaceutical topics including chronic headache caused by long-term overuse of medication,[14] how codeine can increase pain sensitivity,[15] implications of sex bias in medical trials,[16] and the use of Botox for treating migraines.
His expertise is also utilized on matters of alternative health practices and scams, such as alkaline water which he described as "a nine or 10 on the Richter scale of BS",[19] or the billions of dollars Australians are spending on unproven vitamins and nutrition supplements.
[18] He gained significant media attention in 2011 after he raised a formal complaint with the Therapeutic Goods Administration about false and misleading advertising by the popular over-the-counter medicine Nurofen.