About me

Hello! I'm Sammy Millard (she/her/hers), a post-doc at the Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain (CNAP), Aalborg University, Denmark. I study how we can predict chronic pain development using the brain and the maladaptive neurological and psychological responses to pain that might maintain chronic pain conditions.

In my free time I enjoy rock climbing, playing classical guitar, and exploring the outdoors.

Where to find me

CNAP. Google Scholar. ResearchGate. ORCID. OSF. Bluesky. LinkedIn. Twitter. GitHub. GitLab. NeuRA.

Book contribution

“A Patterned Sling”, Journey to Eternity: and more stories of (mis)adventure on rock and in the mountains.
Published by Climb & Wine. Available to buy at Climbing Anchors.

Thesis

Unravelling the PAF–Pain Relationship: Modulating Peak Alpha Frequency and Prolonged Pain Sensitivity Through Pharmacological and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Approaches. University of New South Wales (UNSW), Neuroscience Research Australia (NEURA). PQDT-Global. 2024.
Millard SK.

Publications

Predicting individual pain sensitivity using a novel cortical biomarker signature. JAMA Neurology. 2025.
Chowdhury NS, Bi C, Furman AJ, Chiang AKI, Skippen P, Si E, Millard SK, Margerison SM, Spies D, Keaser ML, DA Silva JT, Chen S, Schabrun SM, Seminowicz DA.
Can non-invasive brain stimulation modulate peak alpha frequency in the human brain? A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Neuroscience. 2024.
Millard SK, Speis, DB, Skippen, P, Chiang AKI, Chang, WJ, Lin, AJ, Furman AJ, Mazaheri A, Schabrun SM, Seminowicz DA.
A 5-day course of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation before pain onset ameliorates future pain and increases sensorimotor peak alpha frequency. PAIN. 2024.
Chowdhury NS, Taseen KJ, Chiang AKI, Chang W, Millard SK, Schabrun SM, Seminowicz DA.
Peak alpha frequency is not significantly altered by five days of experimental pain and repetitive transcranial stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Preprint. BioRxiv.
Millard SK, Chiang AKI, Chowdhury NS, Chang W, Furman AJ, De Martino E, Graven-Nielsen T, Schabrun SM, Seminowicz DA.
ENIGMA-Chronic Pain: a worldwide initiative to identify brain correlates of chronic pain. PAIN. 2024.
Quide Y, ..., Millard SK, ..., Gustin SM.
Posterior-superior insula repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces experimental tonic pain and pain-related cortical inhibition in humans. PAIN. 2024.
Chowdhury NS, Millard SK, De Martino E, Larsen DB, Seminowicz DA, Schabrun SM, de Andrade DC, Graven-Nielsen T.
Combined transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography reveals alterations in cortical excitability during pain. Elife. 2023
Chowdhury NS, Chiang AKI, Millard SK, Skippen P, Chang WJ, Seminowicz DA, Schabrun SM.
Effects of nicotine compared to placebo gum on sensitivity to pain and mediating effects of peak alpha frequency. Preprint. BioRxiv.
Millard SK, Chiang AKI, Humburg P, Chowdhury NS, Rehan R, Furman AJ, Mazaheri A, Schabrun SM, Seminowicz DA.
A Silent Disco: Differential Effects of Beat-based and Pattern-based Temporal Expectations on Persistent Entrainment of Low-frequency Neural Oscillations. J Cogn Neurosci. 2023.
Bouwer FL, Fahrenfort JH, Millard SK, Kloosterman NA, Slagter HA.
Intramuscular injection of nerve growth factor as a model of temporomandibular disorder: nature, time-course, and sex differences characterising the pain experience. Neurobiology of Pain. 2023.
Schabrun SM, Si E, Millard SK, Chiang AKI, Chen S, Chowdhury NS, Seminowicz DA.
The reliability of two prospective cortical biomarkers for pain: EEG peak alpha frequency and TMS corticomotor excitability. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 2023.
Chowdhury NS, Skippen P, Si E, Chiang AKI, Millard SK, Furman AJ, Chen S, Schabrun SM, Seminowicz DA.
The Effect of Acute and Sustained Pain on Corticomotor Excitability: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Group and Individual Level Data. The Journal of Pain. 2022.
Chowdhury NS, Chang WJ, Millard SK, Skippen P, Bilska K, Seminowicz DA, Schabrun SM.
The influence of sensory potentials on transcranial magnetic stimulation – Electroencephalography recordings. Clinical Neurophysiology. 2022.
Chowdhury NS, Rogasch NC, Chiang AKI, Millard SK, Skippen P, Chang WJ, Bilska K, Si E, Seminowicz DA, Schabrun SM.
Predicting Post-operative Pain in Lung Cancer Patients using Pre-operative Peak Alpha Frequency. British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2022.
Millard SK, Furman AJ, Kerr A, Seminowicz DA, Gao F, Naidu BV, Mazaheri A.
No indications for altered EEG oscillatory activity in patients with chronic post-burn itch compared to healthy controls. Scientific Reports. 2022.
Millard SK, Bokelmann K, Schalbroeck R, van der Wee NJA, van Loey NEE, van Laarhoven AIM.
“Just not knowing” can make life sweeter (and saltier): Reward uncertainty alters the sensory experience and consumption of palatable food and drinks. Journal of Experimental Psychology General. 2021.
Rauwolf P, Millard SK, Wong N, Witt A, Davies TJ, Cahill AM, Madden GJ, Parkinson JA, Rogers R.
The Influence of Experimental Pain on Primary Motor Cortex Function: Protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Preprint.
Chowdhury N, Chang WJ, Millard SK, Skippen P, Bilska K, Seminowicz D, Schabrun SM.
A novel cortical biomarker signature for predicting pain sensitivity: protocol for the PREDICT longitudinal analytical validation study. PAIN Reports. 2020.
Seminowicz D, Bilska K, Chowdhury N, Skippen P, Millard SK, Chiang AKI, Chen S, Furman AJ, Schabrun SM.
Cancer Pain in People With Intellectual Disabilities: Systematic Review and Survey of Health Care Professionals. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2019.
Millard SK, de Knegt NC.
A scoping investigation of eye-tracking in Electronic Gambling Machine (EGM) play. Gamble Aware. 2017.
Rogers R, Butler J, Millard SK, Cristino F, Davitt L, Leek C.

Presentations

Predicting Post-operative Pain in Lung Cancer Patients using Pre-operative Peak Alpha Frequency.
International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) virtual series on pain 2021.

Predicting Post-operative Pain in Lung Cancer Patients using Pre-operative Peak Alpha Frequency.
Awarded 2nd place at the Trainee DataBlitz Summer 2020. Human Pain Seminar Series.