Dr Paul Licina

Dr Paul Licina is an orthopaedic and spinal surgeon based at the Brisbane Private Hospital. He is a highly experienced surgeon who has a special interest in degenerative spinal conditions, particularly back pain, and treats all conditions of the spine. Dr Licina completed his orthopaedic training in Queensland before undertaking further spinal training in Nottingham, England, under the guidance of world-renowned spinal surgeon John Webb.

In addition to his busy private practice, Dr Licina is dedicated to research and education. He played a key role in establishing the AO Spine Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, which was later incorporated into the QUT Orthopaedic and Trauma Research Group, where he holds the title of Adjunct Professor. Dr Licina is also the founder of the Brisbane Private Hospital Research Group, which focuses on computer-assisted image-guided surgery and less invasive spinal surgery, including bone graft alternatives.

Dr Licina is a sought-after speaker and has travelled both nationally and internationally as faculty for various spine courses and conferences. He has also been involved in ground-breaking research involving spinal cord injury, which included performing the world’s first transplant of specialised olfactory cells into the spinal cord of a paralyzed patient to develop a new technique to promote spinal cord recovery.

Dr Licina's current research interests include computer-assisted image-guided surgery and minimally invasive spinal surgery, and he is the founder of BackSpace, a multidisciplinary, medically supervised back pain and post-surgery rehabilitation clinic, which recently opened at Brisbane Private Hospital. He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Australian Orthopaedic Association, and a member of the Scoliosis Research Society, the North American Spine Society, and the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery.