The first interview in the PRF Spotlight Series: Voices Shaping Pain Science features Dr. Michael Gold, PhD delving deep in to discussion of the history and future of sodium channels.

From the identification of sodium channels as drivers of nociceptor excitability to the emergence of NaVs as therapeutic targets, this conversation bridges the history of pain research with the future of mechanism-based analgesia.

Part 1 of our interviews on Sodium Channels and the Making of a Field.

Michael Gold, PhD

University of Pittsburgh

Francisco Isaac  Gomes-Aragão, DDS, MSC, PhD

University of São Paulo, BR

Beatriz Lima Adjafre, PhD

University of São Paulo, Br

Music by Seal Party. 

During the 2024 North American Pain School (NAPS), five pain researchers participated in the PRF-NAPS 2024 Correspondents Program.  In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, PRF correspondent Rima El-Sayed spoke with scientist and patient partner Alice Wagenaar-Tison, PhD candidate at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.  During their wide-ranging conversation, Wagenaar detailed her experience with chronic pain, gave advice to any chronic pain patients interested in becoming a patient partner, and how you do not need to be a scientist to help design studies with patients in mind.

Podcast participants include:

• Alice Wagenaar-Tison, University of Québec at Trois-Rivières, Canada
• Rima El-Sayed, University of Toronto, Canada

Editor's note: During the 2023 North American Pain School (NAPS), five pain researchers participated in the PRF-NAPS 2023 Correspondents program.  As we prepare to hear from our 2024 NAPS Correspondents, we're taking a look back at some highlights of NAPS 2023 and some of the people who made them possible.  

In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, PRF correspondent Taylor ­­­Yeater spoke with Keith Meldrum – a dedicated pain advocate and one of two patient partners invited to attend NAPS 2023.  In their wide-ranging conversation, Keith discussed living with persistent pain for over 30 years, his extensive advocacy efforts for people living with pain, and the special impact of his experience at NAPS.  Be sure to check out Keith's blog for more of his thoughts on advocacy and his experience of living with persistent pain.

Podcast participants include: 

• Keith Meldrum, British Columbia, Canada
• Taylor ­­­­Yeater, PhD, University of Minnesota, USA

Editor's note: In 2024, IASP is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, culminating at the IASP 2024 World Congress on Pain. To highlight this milestone, IASP is reflecting on its history and the advances and contributions made by its members over the past 50 years. Throughout the remainder of 2024, Pain Research Forum will be providing a series of podcasts featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and management, including those with major roles at IASP.  

In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, frequent PRF contributor Lincoln Tracy spoke with  Dr. Fernando Cervero, who has been an IASP member for nearly 50 years and currently serves as co-chair of the 50th Anniversary Taskforce. As part of their wide-ranging conversation, Professor Cervero spoke about his path to becoming a neuroscientist researching pain, his longstanding involvement with the IASP, friendships with other founding members like Louisa E. Jones, the challenges he faced during his time as IASP President, and the importance of supporting the next generation of early career researchers and clinicians.

Podcast participants include:

• Fernando Cervero, MD, PhD, DSc, McGill University, Canada, and University of Bristol, UK
• Lincoln Tracy, PhD, Melbourne, Australia (host)

Editor's note: In 2024, IASP is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, culminating at the IASP 2024 World Congress on Pain. To highlight this milestone, IASP is reflecting on its history and the advances and contributions made by its members over the past 50 years. Throughout the remainder of 2024, Pain Research Forum will be providing a series of podcasts featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and management, including those with major roles at IASP.   

In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, Lincoln Tracy spoke with Louisa E. Jones – who occupied a pivotal role in the foundation of IASP. During their chat (initially recorded in 2021), Louisa spoke about the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to pain research and management, some of the "underrecognized" contributors to IASP's evolution, and the impact of IASP's pain terminology and curricula on the development of more effective science communication. To learn more about Louisa and the beginnings of IASP, be sure to check out her book – First Steps: The Early Years of IASP (1973-1984).  

Podcast participants include:

•         Louisa E. Jones, Washington, USA
•         Lincoln Tracy, PhD, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Editor's note: In 2024, IASP is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, culminating at the IASP 2024 World Congress on Pain. To highlight this milestone, IASP is reflecting on its history and the advances and contributions made by its members over the past 50 years. Throughout the remainder of 2024, Pain Research Forum will be providing a series of podcasts featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and management, including those with major roles at IASP.  

In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, frequent PRF contributor Fred Schwaller spoke with Dr. John D. Loeser – a founder of IASP during its formal incorporation in 1974. During their wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Loeser spoke about his introduction to the field of pain research and management after meeting Dr. John J. Bonica and Dr. Wilbert "Bill" Fordyce, his role in the genesis of IASP during the International Symposium on Pain in Issaquah (Washington, USA), the state of pain education in current medical school curricula, and policy barriers that impact advances in the field. To learn more about Dr. Loeser and his indelible mark on the field of pain research and management, be sure to check out his recently published biography – John Loeser: The Man Who Reimagined Pain.

Podcast participants include:

• John D. Loeser, MD, University of Washington, USA
• Fred Schwaller, PhD, Berlin, Germany (host)

On 23 August 2023, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity published the article, "Beyond Biopsychosocial: The Keystone Mechanism Theory of Pain." In this article, researchers from the United Kingdom and Germany propose the keystone model of pain, which offers a practical balance between the expansive biopsychosocial model of pain and other reductive approaches by providing advantages for the transition from treating at the population level to that of individual people. In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, two of the article's authors speak with PRF contributor, Lincoln Tracy, PhD, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. They discuss how the group formulated this theory of pain and how it builds upon the successes of the biopsychosocial model to provide a theoretical foundation for basic and translational pain science to move forward with a strong emphasis on factors that shape an individual's pain phenotype in a practical manner.

Podcast participants include:

•         Timothy Lawn, PhD, King's College London, UK
•         Jan Vollert, PhD, University of Exeter, UK
•         Lincoln Tracy, PhD, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (host)

This episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast highlights an emerging resource for adults and youths with the lived experience of pain called the Power Over Pain Portal. The Power Over Pain Portal works toward improving access to chronic pain care by providing access to free resources in a "one-stop shop," including articles, videos, podcasts, courses, workshops, peer support, and even 24/7 one-on-one counseling – offered through Wellness Together Canada. While initiated and designed by a consortium of researchers, clinicians, patient partners, hospitals, and institutions in Canada, the Power Over Pain Portal is freely available worldwide. In this episode, PRF spoke with developers of the Power Over Pain Portal to learn more about its initiation, resources, and plans for the future.

Podcast participants include:

• Lynn Cooper, Director of Research & Education – Canadian Injured Workers Alliance
• Jennifer Stinson, RN-EC, PhD, CPNP, FAAN, SickKids, Toronto, Canada
• Yaad Shergill, DC, MSc, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and One Elephant Integrative Health Team Inc., Ontario, Canada
• Gregory Carbonetti, PhD, IASP Associate Director of Publications (host)

This 16th episode of The Pain Beat highlights the work of a vibrant consortium of pain researchers working on a project known as Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS). A2CPS is focused on the identification of biomarkers to predict which patients will transition from acute to chronic pain, and which patients living with chronic pain can improve their quality of life with management (see related PRF news story). The Pain Beat invited several Primary Investigators from A2CPS to talk about the work of the consortium, and how listeners of The Pain Beat can get involved themselves!

Podcast participants include:

• Kathleen Sluka, PT, PhD, FAPTA, A2CPS Principal Investigator; University of Iowa, USA
• John Burns, PhD, A2CPS Principal Investigator; Rush University Medical Center, Illinois, USA
• Chad Brummett, MD, A2CPS Principal Investigator; University of Michigan, USA
• Michael Olivier, PhD, A2CPS Principal Investigator; Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA.
• Stephani Sutherland, PhD, A2CPS Communications Director; Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA (moderator)

Editor's note: The North American Pain School (NAPS) took place 19-24 June 2022, in Montebello, Québec City, Canada. NAPS – an educational initiative of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) and Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks (ACTTION), and presented by the Quebec Pain Research Network (QPRN) – brings together leading experts in pain research and management to provide trainees with scientific education, professional development, and networking experiences. This year's theme was, "Controversies in Pain Research." Five of the trainees were also selected to serve as PRF-NAPS Correspondents, who provided firsthand reporting from the event, including interviews with NAPS' Visiting Faculty members and Patient Partners, summaries of scientific sessions, and coverage on social media. 

In the podcast below, PRF-NAPS Correspondent Joseph Lesnak, a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa, US, spoke with NAPS Visiting Faculty member Rajesh Khanna. Rajesh is a Professor of Molecular Pathobiology and the Director of New York University's Pain Research Center in the US. His research focuses on the functions of voltage-gated ion channels and the discovery of novel biologics and small molecules targeting pain and neurodegenerative diseases (see related PRF news article). Joseph and Rajesh discussed targeting Nav1.7 for pain relief, the challenge of moving a pharmacologic through the regulatory process, and a serendipitous finding that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts here and Spotify here.

This 15th episode of The Pain Beat is the third and final of a three-part series discussing the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – awarded to David Julius, University of California, San Francisco, USA and Ardem Patapoutian, Scripps Research, California, USA – for their work on molecules important for somatosensation (see PRF related interview here, PRF related news story here, part one of this series here, and part two of this series here). In this episode, The Pain Beat spoke with a group of collaborators and former mentees to discuss what the discoveries mean for the somatosensory field, as well as stories and insights about what it was like working with Drs. Julius and Patapoutian during that time.

Podcast participants include:

• Allan Basbaum, PhD, FRS, University of California, San Francisco, USA
• Diana Bautista, PhD, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• Alexander Chesler, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Maryland, USA
• Ellen Lumpkin, PhD, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• Tayler Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, USA (Host)

Editor's note: For the past 21 years, September has been declared Pain Awareness Month in the United States. During this time, we reflect on the global burden of pain and assess ways to increase engagement, awareness, and advocacy regarding this issue. While September has concluded, we should continue to engage in these vital practices! For a unique perspective on the challenges of raising pain awareness, PRF spoke with Staja "Star" Booker, PhD, RN.

Star is an Assistant Professor in the Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence (PRICE Center) at the University of Florida, USA, and her recent work has contributed to our knowledge of osteoarthritis pain in older African Americans. She is active in several national pain, nursing, and gerontology organizations, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP). Additionally, Star serves as a member of the Pain Research Forum Editorial Board.

In the podcast below, recorded on 21 September 2022, Star speaks with PRF Virtual Correspondent Paulina Scheuren, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. They discuss Star's experience working at the PRICE Center, pain management hurdles for underrepresented minorities, and misinformation vs. missed information regarding chronic pain.

Editor's note: This article is part of PRF's featured content series "Investigating Virtual Reality for Pain Management: Past, Present, and Future," which has been made possible thanks to a generous grant from the MAYDAY Fund. 

Over the past two decades, the technology supporting virtual reality (VR) has significantly advanced, and its utility in healthcare settings has advanced along with it. In January 2020, Deirdre Logan and 15 other academics and clinicians, as well as industry and philanthropy partners, formed the  Interdisciplinary Network on Virtual and Augmented Technologies for Pain Management (INOVATE) consortium. This group aims to advance the field of VR for pediatric chronic pain rehabilitation.

During this episode of the Pain Research Forum Podcast, IASP's Publications Manager, Renee Chasse, speaks with Dr. Deirdre Logan and fellow INOVATE member Dr. Sara Williams about their background working together in pediatric pain research, their experience with the consortium over the past 5 years, and how they envision the future of the field specific to therapeutic advances made possible by Extended Reality (XR).

Podcast participants include:

• Deirdre Logan, PhD, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Sara Williams, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
• Renee Chasse, PhD, International Association for the Study of Pain (host)

This 14th episode of The Pain Beat is the second of a three-part series discussing the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – awarded to David Julius, University of California, San Francisco, USA and Ardem Patapoutian, Scripps Research, California, USA – for their work on molecules important for somatosensation (see PRF related interview here, PRF related news story here, and part one of this series here). In this episode, The Pain Beat spoke with Nobel Prize laureate Ardem Patapoutian and Bertrand Coste, Aix-Marseille University, France, to discuss their discovery of mechanically sensitive ion channels – Piezo1 and Piezo2.

Podcast participants include:

• Ardem Patapoutian, PhD, Scripps Research, California, USA
• Bertrand Coste, PhD, Aix-Marseille University, France
• Tayler Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, USA (Host)

This 13th episode of The Pain Beat is the first of a three-part series discussing the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – awarded to David Julius, University of California, San Francisco, USA and Ardem Patapoutian, Scripps Research, California, USA – for their work on molecules important for somatosensation (see PRF related interview here, and PRF related news story here). In this episode, The Pain Beat spoke with Nobel Prize laureate David Julius and Michael Caterina, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Maryland, USA, to discuss their discovery of TRPV1. The conversation provides insight regarding their thought processes and problem solving, the enduring challenges of scientific discoveries, and the fun they had along the way.

Podcast participants include:

• David Julius, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, USA
• Michael Caterina, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Maryland, USA
• Tayler Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, USA (Host)

Editor's note: On 2 August 2022, JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) published the article, "Effect of Graded Sensorimotor Retraining on Pain Intensity in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial." This trial, which included 276 participants, sought to estimate the effect of a sensorimotor retraining intervention (RESOLVE) on pain intensity in people with chronic low back pain. In the podcast below, several of this study's researchers speak with PRF contributor, Lincoln Tracy, PhD, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. They discuss the trial's design and setting, its main findings, and the future research resulting from this work.  

Podcast participants include:

• Matthew Bagg, PhD, Centre for Pain IMPACT at NeuRA, Sydney, Australia, and the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute at Curtin University, Perth, Australia
• Aidan Cashin, PhD, Centre for Pain IMPACT at NeuRA, Sydney, Australia, and the University of New South Wales
• Edel O'Hagan, PhD, Centre for Pain IMPACT at NeuRA, Sydney, Australia, and the Westmead Applied Research Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia
• James McAuley, PhD, Centre for Pain IMPACT at NeuRA, Sydney, Australia, and the University of New South Wales
• Lincoln Tracy, PhD, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (Host)

Senior Manager's note: Sarah D'Angelo is a passionate advocate for patient education and increasing empathy among caretakers, care providers, and the general public for chronic pain. She uses her skills as an artist, writer, and scientist as a way to bring visibility to the invisible and complex processes of pain. As a pain patient herself, she has first-hand experience with the difficulties of dealing with pain on a daily basis. She talks openly about some of her experiences and struggles in the hopes of reducing the stigmatization of pain. Sarah graduated with her B.S. degree in May 2021 from Rutgers University, New Jersey, US. She plans to apply to Neuroscience doctoral programs in the US to further her education and specialize in the field of pain neuroscience. She hopes to bridge some of the translational gaps within preclinical pain research by exploring the bidirectional relationships existing between chronic pain and other biological mechanisms and neuroethology. 

In the podcast below, recorded in September 2021, Sarah speaks with PRF Correspondent Bhushan Thakkar, a PhD student at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, US. They discuss Sarah's lived experiences with pain, her role as a pain advocate and pain scientist, and how these two roles can co-exist amidst the challenges they present. Additionally, Sarah discusses her career goals and how she uses her art to talk about chronic pain.

Here, Emeralda speaks with PRF Correspondent Bhushan Thakkar, a PhD student at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, US. They discuss Emeralda's lived experiences with pain, her role as a pain researcher and patient partner, her motivations for working as a patient advocate, and how pain scientists and researchers can meaningfully engage with patient partners in research and academia. Additionally, Emeralda talks about the importance of using a non-stigmatizing and non-judgmental approach to talk about chronic pain.

For its eleventh episode, The Pain Beat brought together experts to discuss the biological evolution of nociceptors, their subtypes, and plasticity as part of the Gulf Coast Consortium's #Pain2021 Webinar Series. These experts study nociceptors across a variety of animal models, including Drosophila, C. elegans, cephalopods, rodents, and humans. The discussion focused on how an evolutionary perspective brings novel insights into the role and function of nociceptors and if, why, and how organisms experience pain.

Podcast participants include:

• Greg Neely, PhD, University of Sydney, Australia
• Edgar T. Walters, PhD, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA
• Robyn Crook, PhD, San Francisco State University, California, USA
• Ewan St. John Smith, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK
• Ted Price, PhD, University of Texas at Dallas, USA (Moderator)
• Peter Grace, PhD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA (Host)

Here, Bannister speaks with PRF Correspondent Bhushan Thakkar, a PhD student at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, US. They discuss Bannister's recent funding from the Parkinson's Foundation UK, the role of descending control in chronic pain focusing on the brainstem pathways, as well as its measurement using conditioned pain modulation and the challenges involved in this area. Additionally, Bannister discusses her research goals and focus in the areas of translational chronic pain research

Podcast participants include:

• Theanne Griffith, PhD, University of California, Davis, US
• Kelly Smith, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, US
• Kara Marshall, PhD, Baylor University, Texas, US
• Lindsay Ejoh, PhD Candidate, University of Pennsylvania, US
• Tayler Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, US (Moderator)

Podcast participants include:

• Ishmail Abdus-Saboor, PhD, Columbia University, US
• Carl Saab, PhD, Case Western University, US
• Vivianne Tawfik, MD, PhD, Stanford University, US
• Mark Zylka, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US
• Tayler Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, US (Moderator) 

Podcast participants include:

• Gregory Dussor, PhD, University of Texas at Dallas, US
• Jeffrey Mogil, PhD, McGill University, Montreal, US
• Anne Murphy, PhD, Georgia State University, Atlanta, US
• Kate Sadler, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, US (moderator)

On this episode of The Pain Beat, Adam Dourson moderates a discussion about the role of the immune system in pain – what we know currently and ideas about how the immune system can be a target for new strategies to treat chronic pain.

Podcast participants include:

• Geffroy Laumet, PhD, Michigan State University, US
• Luda Diachenko, PhD, McGill University, CA
• Thiago Cunha, PhD, University of Sao Paolo, BR
• Temugin Berta, PhD, University of Cincinnati, US
• Adam Dourson, PhD, Washington University in Saint Louis, US

 PRF thanks Lite Yang and Adam Dourson for producing the podcast and Kevin Seal for creating the music.

Editor's note: IASP will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. Even though the anniversary is still a few years away, it already has us thinking about the history of IASP and the evolution of pain research over the past five decades. So, we are providing a series of podcasts that will cover both of those topics, featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and care, including those with major roles at IASP.

Our latest such podcast Marshall Devor, PhD. Devor is the Alpert Professor of Pain Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (HUJI). His research has focused on the neurobiology of neuropathic pain, and more recently also on mechanisms involved in loss of consciousness and pain-free surgery. His laboratory has published extensively in the pain field, with work of a notably integrative nature involving neurophysiology, computer simulations, neuroanatomy (light and electron microscopy), genetics, and behavioral models.

Here, Devor speaks with freelancer writer Fred Schwaller, PhD, to discuss his career path, including his work as a postdoc with Pat Wall, some of the history of the pain field, and much more.

Editor's note: Gregory Dussor, PhD, is Associate Professor and Eugene McDermott Endowed Fellow in the Department of Neuroscience and Center for Advanced Pain Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. The focus of his work is the understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic headache disorders such as migraine, using a variety of preclinical models.

In this podcast, Dr. Dussor speaks with PRF Correspondent Sarah D'Angelo, who recently graduated with a BS in biology from Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey, US, to discuss his path to migraine research, mechanisms of migraine including differences between the sexes, the evolutionary purpose of migraine, and his much-ballyhooed performance in a video for Ted's Pain Cream.

Editor's note: Fiona Boissonade, PhD, is Professor of Neuroscience and Director of Impact and External Engagement at the University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry, UK. She is also an executive member of the University of Sheffield Neuroscience Institute and leads the Institute's "Technology: Devices and autonomous systems" cross-cutting theme.

Dr. Boissonade has a major research interest in the mechanisms of altered neuronal excitability that contribute to the development of chronic pain. Much of this research has been done at the academic-industrial interface. Collaborations with GSK, Pfizer, Daiichi Sankyo and Eli Lilly have funded a wide range of translational studies, using preclinical (in vitro and in vivo) models and human tissues to identify and validate a range of regulators of neuronal excitability as potential targets for the development of novel analgesics and anti-inflammatory therapeutics. Dr. Boissonade also has significant expertise in nerve regeneration. This work investigates methods of improving nerve repair through the use of a range of therapeutic agents, bioengineered conduits and cell therapies. Other projects include investigation of neuronal-stromal interactions in tumor progression and wound healing.

In this podcast, Dr. Boissonade speaks with PRF Correspondent Frederick Jones, CASE PhD student, University of Leeds, UK, and Eli Lilly & Co, US, to discuss her work in the area of nerve repair and pain, the importance of bridging the translational divide in research, and more.

Is there life beyond academia for pain researchers? That question is the focus of PRF's latest podcast – and the answer is a resounding "yes"! This optimistic outlook comes from four podcast participants who all successfully made the transition from studying pain in the ivory tower to alternative careers, including:

The group spoke with PRF Correspondent Larissa de Clauser, a postdoctoral fellow at Eurac, Bolzano, Italy, to discuss their transitions from academia into non-academic roles, sharing their motivations, struggles, day-to-day work responsibilities, and advice to make such transitions as smooth as possible.

Eva Feldman, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, US. She is Director of the University of Michigan ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) Center of Excellence. She also runs her own laboratory, the NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies, where she has devoted her career to the study of neurological diseases, with an emphasis on ALS and neuropathies, including diabetic neuropathy.

In the podcast below, Dr. Feldman speaks with PRF Correspondent Sara Hakim, a PhD student at Harvard Medical School, Boston, US, to discuss the problem of diabetic neuropathy, its causes and treatment, and her lab studies of this condition.

Editor's note: IASP will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. Even though the anniversary is still a few years away, it already has us thinking about the history of IASP and the evolution of pain research over the past five decades. So, we are providing a series of podcasts that will cover both of those topics, featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and care, including those with major roles at IASP.

Our latest such podcast features Judith Turner, PhD. Dr. Turner, a Past President of IASP, is a pain psychologist whose current research interests include chronic opioid therapy, effectiveness of opioid tapering and pain self-management treatments, effectiveness and moderators of treatments for chronic pain, and predictors and mediators of pain treatment outcomes (see full bio below). In this podcast, Dr. Turner speaks with PRF Correspondent Manasi M. Mittinty, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist and lecturer at the University of Sydney, Australia, to discuss her journey in the field of pain psychology, the biopsychosocial model of pain, and her experience serving as IASP President.

Editor's note: IASP will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. Even though the anniversary is still a few years away, it already has us thinking about the history of IASP and the evolution of pain research over the past five decades. So, we are providing a series of podcasts that will cover both of those topics, featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and care, including those with major roles at IASP.

Our latest such podcast features Barry Sessle, BDS, BSc, MDS, PhD, DSc. Dr. Sessle, a Past President of IASP, is a pioneer in orofacial pain research, having studied orofacial pain and neuromuscular function for almost 50 years (see full bio below). In this podcast, Dr. Sessle speaks with PRF Correspondent Francisco Isaac Fernandes Gomes, DDS, a PhD student at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, to discuss his background and early career, how the understanding of orofacial pain has evolved over the years, and what it was like to be the President of IASP.

For its seventh episode, The Pain Beat gathered together an international group of pain researchers to discuss brain imaging of pain in humans. The podcast focuses on how studies of expectation and the placebo effect have advanced our understanding in this area. What we've learned so far, whether pain brain imaging can be used as a diagnostic tool, and future prospects for neuroimaging are all addressed in this lively discussion.

Podcast participants include:

• Christian Büchel, MD, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
• Irene Tracey, DPhil, University of Oxford, UK
• Tor Wager, PhD, Dartmouth College, Hanover, US
• Howard Fields, MD, PhD, University of California San Francisco, US (moderator)

• Gregory Carbonetti, PhD, Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, Stony Brook University, US
• Elizabeth Good Christopherson, Rita Allen Foundation, US
• Juan Miguel Jimenez-Andrade, PhD, Autonomous University of Tamaulipas, Mexico
• Laura Lindenfeld, PhD, Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, Stony Brook University, US
• Carolina Laura Roza Fernández de Caleya, PhD, Universidad de Alcalá, Spain
• Edgar Alfonso Romero-Sandoval, MD PhD, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, US (moderator)

For its fifth episode, The Pain Beat gathered together a group of pain researchers virtually to discuss how the mammalian nervous system encodes sensory modalities related to touch, pain and temperature. Are there labeled lines? Is there population coding? Do the mechanisms differ by location – the brain, spinal cord or periphery?

Podcast participants include:

• Diana Bautista, PhD, UC Berkeley, US
• Nicholas Betley, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US
• Adam Hantman, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia, US
• Mark Hoon, PhD, National Institutes of Health (NIH), NIDCR, Bethesda, US
• Taylor Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, US (moderator)

On this episode of The Pain Beat, Ewan St John Smith hosted fellow scientists and clinicians with expertise in visceral pain, including Federica La Russa - a scientist who also brought the patient perspective. The participants belong to the ADVANTAGE Consortium led by Geoff Woods, University of Cambridge, UK.  The discussion covered psychological and clinical perspectives on the experience of visceral pain and treatment as well as the in latest preclinical research and how visceral pain studies differ from other types of pain. 

Podcast participants include:

• Ewan St. John Smith, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK
• Franziska Denk, PhD, University College London, UK
• Federica La Russa, PhD, Freelance Science Writer
• Andrew Horne, University of Edinburgh, UK
• Amanda Williams, PhD, University College London, UK

For its fourth episode, The Pain Beat gathered together a group of pain researchers via Zoom to discuss the use of human tissue in pain research and prospects for clinical translation of new knowledge emerging from this approach. Podcast participants include:

• Steve Davidson, PhD, University of Cincinnati, US
• Michael Hildebrand, PhD, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
• Clifford Woolf, MB, BCh, PhD, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, US
• Laura Stone, PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US
• Alex Chamessian, MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, US (moderator)

For its third episode, The Pain Beat gathered a group of pain researchers together to discuss ideas and issues related to the transition from acute to chronic pain. Podcast participants include:

• A. Vania Apkarian, PhD, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, US
• Annemieke Kavelaars, PhD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, US
• Arkady Khoutorsky, PhD, DVM, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• Anne Louise Oaklander, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, US
• Ted Price, PhD, University of Texas at Dallas, US (moderator)

For its second episode, The Pain Beat gathered together a group of pain researchers in Keystone, Colorado, US, where two joint Keystone Symposia, Somatosensation: From Detection to Perception and Pain: Aligning the Target, were being held from February 2-5, 2020. The podcast participants include:

• Allan Basbaum, University of California San Francisco, US
• Robert Gereau, Washington University School of Medicine, US
• Yarimar Carrasquillo, National Institutes of Health, US
• Stephani Sutherland, PRF freelancer (moderator)

The group found a quiet spot amidst the hubbub of the meeting to discuss whether optogenetics and chemogenetics are feasible approaches to pain treatment, and if so, how effective they might be. The podcast also includes brief introductions to these two approaches.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Pain Beat, The IASP Pain Research Forum's new monthly podcast series! Supported by a generous grant from The MAYDAY Fund, The Pain Beat brings together the world's leading pain investigators in order to spark dialogue and debate around important ideas in pain research. Guided by Rebecca Seal, Scientific Director of The Pain Beat, these podcasts feature open and spirited discussion about the hottest topics in pain and how the field moves forward from here.

For the first episode, The Pain Beat gathered together a group of pain researchers in Keystone, Colorado, US, where two joint Keystone Symposia, Somatosensation: From Detection to Perception and Pain: Aligning the Target, were being held from February 2-5, 2020. The podcast participants include:

• Alexander Chesler, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, US
• Ardem Patapoutian, Scripps Research, La Jolla, US
• Sarah Ross, University of Pittsburgh, US
• Cheryl Stucky, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, US
• Stephani Sutherland, PRF freelancer (moderator)

The group found a quiet spot away from the hubbub of the meeting to discuss the following question: What biological levels should be targeted to produce the most effective pain therapies: molecules, cells, circuits, or systems? 

In this podcast in honor of IASP's 50th anniversary in 2024, Amanda C de C Williams, PhD, discusses her path to pain psychology, what she wants people with pain to know, the evolutionary perspective on pain, and much more.

Jeffrey Mogil, PhD, is the E. P. Taylor Professor of Pain Studies and the Canada Research Chair in the Genetics of Pain at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has made seminal contributions to the field of pain genetics, sex differences in pain and analgesia, and pain testing methods in the laboratory mouse. In the podcast below, Dr. Mogil speaks with PRF Correspondent Oakley Morgan, a PhD student at University College London, UK, to discuss the definition of terms in the pain field, including the recent IASP update to the definition of pain, the evolutionary purpose of chronic pain, the behavioral assessment of pain in animals, and what it was like to be in a disco funk band.

In this podcast in honor of IASP's 50th anniversary in 2024, Dr. Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, PhD, discusses his career and contributions to the development of the fear-avoidance model of pain.

In this podcast in honor of IASP's 50th anniversary in 2024, Dr. Eija Kalso discusses her career in the pain field, multidisciplinary pain care, translational research, and her involvement with IASP.

This podcast features Megan Detloff, PhD, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and the Marion Murray Spinal Cord Research Center at Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, US. Detloff studies how rehabilitative exercise affects the molecular underpinnings that contribute to chronic pain development after spinal cord injury, among other interests.

 In this podcast, Detloff speaks with PRF Correspondent Courtney Bannerman, a PhD student at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, to discuss the nature of spinal cord injury, the consequent development of chronic pain and how she studies this in animals, the effects of exercise on spinal cord injury pain, and much more.

Pediatric pain is under-recognized and under-treated throughout the world. Recently, a Lancet Child & Adolescent Commission was formed to address this critical problem. In this PRF podcast, three co-authors on the Commission meet virtually with PRF Correspondent Wendy Gaultney to discuss the origins of the Commission's work, the problem of pediatric pain, and the way forward to improve the lives of children and adolescents with pain. Podcast participants include:

• Paula Forgeron, RN, MN, PhD, Professor, Director and Associate Dean, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Canada
• Richard Howard, FFPMRCA, Consultant in Paediatric Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK
• Tonya Palermo, PhD, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, US

Editor's note: During the 2023 North American Pain School (NAPS), five pain researchers participated in the PRF-NAPS 2023 Correspondents program.  As we hear from our 2024 NAPS Correspondents, we're taking a look back at some highlights of NAPS 2023 and some of the people who made them possible.  

In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, PRF Correspondent Lindsay Ejoh spoke with Frank Porreca – a dedicated pain researcher and one of top 10 most cited pharmacologists in the world.  During their conversation, Porreca detailed the process of drug development, the importance of examining sex differences in drug development research, as well as his experience at the North American Pain School.

Podcast participants include:

• Frank Porreca, PhD, University of Arizona, USA
• Lindsay Ejoh, PhD Candidate, University of Pennsylvania, USA, @neuro_melody

This podcast features K. Ray Chaudhuri, MD, DSc, Professor of Movement Disorders and Neurology at King's College Hospital and King's College London, UK, and Medical Director of the Parkinson Foundation International Centre of Excellence at King's College, and Yazead Buhidma, a PhD student at the Wolfson Centre of Age-related Diseases at King's College London. Chaudhuri studies Parkinson's disease (PD) and is a world leader in defining non-motor symptoms and non-motor phenotypes of PD. Meanwhile, Buhidma is working to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of PD pain and test potential treatments, by linking findings from Parkinsonian animal models with functional neurological changes, pharmacological tests, and post-mortem analysis of Parkinson patient tissue.

Chaudhuri and Buhidma speak with PRF Correspondent Jayden O'Brien, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, Australia, to discuss the problem of pain in Parkinson's disease (PD), how researchers are studying PD pain in animals and what they are learning about its mechanisms, and more.

IASP will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. Even though the anniversary is still a few years away, it already has us thinking about the history of IASP and the evolution of pain research over the past five decades. So, we have begun a new series of podcasts that will cover both of those topics, featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and care and/or to IASP.

Our third such podcast features pioneering pain researcher Stephen McMahon, PhD. Dr. McMahon is Sherrington Professor of Physiology at King's College London, UK, where he leads a research group in clinical neuroscience. He also directs the Wellcome Trust Pain Consortium, an international network of leading pain researchers. He trained under Patrick Wall at University College London before moving to King's College London in 1985 to run his own lab. His major research interest is pain mechanisms and he has been working to identify and understand pain mediators. More recently he has focused on neuroimmune interactions and the role of genetics and epigenetics in pain.

In this podcast, Dr. McMahon discusses his early days in the pain research field, what it was like to train with Patrick Wall, the gate control theory of pain, central sensitization, and much more.

In this podcast, Dr. Maria Fitzgerald, PhD, discusses how she got into the pain field, what it was like to work with Patrick Wall, the science of pain in infants, and more.

Editor's Note: IASP will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. Even though the anniversary is still a few years away, it already has us thinking about the history of IASP and the evolution of pain research over the past five decades. So we are beginning a new series of podcasts that will cover both of those topics, featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and care and/or to IASP.

In our first such podcast, pioneering pain researcher and IASP honorary member Howard Fields, MD, PhD, an emeritus professor at the University of California, San Francisco, reminisces about the International Symposium on Pain, a 1973 meeting held in Issaquah, Washington, that would lead to the formation of IASP; the advent of the gate control theory of pain and what the pain research landscape was like at that time; his career path; and why he's excited about the future of pain research.