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Selected Symposia Abstracts ABOUT US Advances in Nociplastic Pain: Assessment, Treatment, and Neurobiological Mechanisms Joel Fishbein, PhD, Yoni Ashar, PhD, Laura Simons, PhD VA San Diego, University of California San Diego, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Stanford University School of Medicine Nociplastic pain—pain that arises from altered nociception despite no tissue or somatosensory disease or lesion—offers a common mechanism to help explain diverse pain conditions (e.g., low back pain, tension headache, and fibromyalgia). Given the relatively new recognition of nociplastic pain as a distinct entity, research on effective assessments, targeted treatments, and neurobiological underpinnings is critical. In this symposium, we will present innovations in the assessment, treatment, and neurobiological mechanisms of nociplastic pain. Joel Fishbein, PhD, will present findings on a new brief self-report questionnaire to assess nociplastic pain, the Nociplastic Pain Questionnaire, collaboratively developed by researchers, clinicians, and patients. Factor analytic results (N = 378) indicate three core clinical domains of nociplastic pain: 1) influence of thoughts/emotions on pain, 2) allodynia/hyperalgesia, and 3) variable pain location/timing. Laura Simons, PhD, will present evidence supporting graded exposure therapy for nociplastic pain. She will describe how graded exposure therapy, by reintroducing avoided movements or activities, can significantly reduce avoidance behaviors, modulate central pain sensitivity, and improve overall function in those with nociplastic pain. Dr. Yoni Ashar will describe new findings on the neurobiological mechanisms of nociplastic pain and its treatment. He will present data linking nociplastic pain to multisensory sensitization via heightened unpleasantness and insula responses to aversive auditory stimuli, as well as longitudinal mediation analyses investigating gray matter volume change as a mediator of Pain Reprocessing Therapy. Moderator Luana Colloca, MD, PhD will bring expertise in the neurobiological bases of pain and its modulation to synthesize research findings and guide discussion. Angling Toward Analgesics from Diverse Perspectives and Approaches Bryan Roth, MD, PhD, Rebecca Seal, PhD University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, University of Pittsburgh Abstract: An overwhelming imperative in the pain field is to identify better analgesics. This symposium presents an integrated vision of how to understand and control nociception. We aim to convey advances in basic, translational and clinical pain research with the sense of excitement that comes from therapeutic discovery. The presentations address fundamentals of analgesia-related protein structures, discovery of novel ligands for such receptors, and identification of key nociceptive circuits. These findings are extended to translational and clinical investigations. Dr. Roth is the developer of chemogenetics and presents a multilayered investigation of transmembrane GPCRs subserving analgesia using CryoEM and ultra-high throughput in silico screening. Dr. Roth has identified new lead candidates having analgesic actions. Dr. Seal presents a transcriptomic cellular atlas of the dorsal horn across species from mice to humans as a translational framework for the development of novel pain therapeutics that target specific cell types of the dorsal horn. These targets are discussed with respect to studies from her laboratory that have illuminated the neural circuitry that mediates mechanical allodynia. Dr. Iadarola presents molecular investigations of two classes of nociceptive dorsal root ganglion neurons subserving tissue damage versus bio-warning signals and clinical interventions that inactivate these critical afferent populations to treat intractable pain. This symposium synthesizes multiple discovery research approaches to analgesia based on both broad and fundamental perspectives. Brain Mechanisms for the Transition From Acute to Chronic Pain Paul Geha, MD, Siobhan Schabrun, PhD, Paulo Branco, PhD, A. Vania Apkarian, PhD University of Rochester, University of Western Ontario, Northwestern University Chronic pain exacts a significant burden on individuals, healthcare, and society. Chronic pain has no cure, and once entrenched, it is often irreversible. Thus, focusing on prevention is critically important. Doing so requires a better understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the transition from acute to chronic pain, identifying modifiable risk factors, and developing tools that can identify individuals at risk for developing chronic pain. In this symposium, we will explore the brain's role in the transition from acute to chronic pain, highlighting findings from studies in humans using neuroscience tools including structural and functional MRI, electroencephalography, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. We will specifically discuss longitudinal studies that followed patients over time after pain onset—within days of whiplash injury, weeks of experimentally induced temporomandibular disorder and months after the onset of back pain—and attempt to identify brain properties that hold predictive value for the later development of chronic pain. We will discuss 1) how brain properties influence the risk of developing and maintaining chronic pain, and their predictive value for long-term outcomes; 2) whether these properties represent predispositions or reflect maladaptive adaptations to injury; 3) their possible underlying mechanisms; and 4) how longitudinal studies may identify potential novel targets and interventions to prevent the transition from acute to chronic pain. Together, this symposium will shed light on the role of nociceptive, somatosensory, and emotional learning circuitry in the development of chronic pain, and highlight potential new directions for research in the field, as well as new translational opportunities. Bridging the Gap Between Acute and Chronic Pain: The Role of Perioperative Transitional Pain Services Faye Rim, MD, Maxwell Slepian, PhD, Patricia Lavand'homme, MD, PhD, Alexandra Sideris Hospital for Special Surgery/Weill Cornell Medicine, University Health Network/University of Toronto, St Luc Hospital, University Catholic of Louvain Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is a major concern after surgery, with a median incidence ranging from 20-30%. While most patients recover after their procedure, a subset does not follow the typical trajectory leaving them vulnerable to the development of CPSP and overly reliant on opioids. Patients with CPSP may suffer from poor quality of life and use a disproportionate amount of healthcare resources. Research efforts over the past two decades have identified patient and clinical risk factors contributing to CPSP, and interventions have focused on perioperative preventative strategies including the creation of Transitional Pain Services (TPSs). This symposium brings together diverse clinical and research perspectives from practitioners who created, oversee, and study TPSs across various health care systems, including those in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The speakers will outline the role of TPSs as multidisciplinary services that offer personalized, mechanism-based interventions for surgical patients at increased risk for severe acute pain, persistent post-surgical pain, and prolonged or aberrant opioid use. Speakers will highlight experiences from their hospitals, including the need for a TPS, the structure and staffing models, pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches and treatments administered to patients, their impact on patient recovery and outcomes, as well as challenges with implementation and continued buy-in for a TPS program. Cancer Pain: What Can We Learn From Reverse Translation? Judith Paice, PhD, Nicole Scheff,PhD, Matthew Sapio, PhD Northwestern University, University of Pittsburgh, National Institute of Health Cancer pain is a dynamic issue impacting patients at diagnosis and through survivorship. The way we view and treat cancer pain may impact prognosis and response to therapeutic strategies. This symposium will focus on insights from clinical and basic science research from investigators spanning all career stages who are working to understand the dynamic issue of cancer pain from the patient perspective all the way down to the tumor microenvironment. First, Dr. Paice will present an overview of the types of pain syndromes most common and the use of opioids as the current standard of care in this patient population. Dr. Scheff will discuss pretreatment pain as a potential biomarker in cancer to indicate perineural invasion, immune evasion, and metastasis using both clinical samples and data collected from preclinical models. Dr. Sapio will discuss the impact of pain on cancer treatments, particularly radiation, and the therapeutic strategy of starting TRPV1 fibers to reduce pain and improve radiation response. Innovations in Neural Biobehavioral Phenotypes to Enhance Pain Care Across the Lifespan Christine Sieberg, PhD, EdM, MA, Irina Strigo,PhD, Benedict Alter, MD, PhD Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, University of Pittsburgh Preclinical research has identified mechanisms thought to underly pain, but measuring these mechanisms in patients has proved challenging. Phenotyping refers to comprehensive measurement of multiple mechanisms in patients. Recent work has shown heterogeneity across patients, such that different phenotypes exist within given pain syndromes. This raises the possibility that a patient with a specific phenotype may respond better to a treatment if that treatment targets the relevant mechanism, potentially leading to personalized pain management. This interdisciplinary symposium will highlight cutting edge research addressing knowledge gaps in phenotyping and present evidence that treatments have a greater chance of success if matched to the relevant brain biobehavioral phenotype. Dr. Benedict Alter will review phenotyping approaches and present recent findings of pain modulatory phenotypes in osteoarthritis in older adults. Dr. Christine Sieberg will discuss stress biomarker, behavioral, and neuroimaging phenotyping related to chronic post-surgical pain across the lifespan. Dr. Irina Strigo will present evidence for brain-based pain processing phenotypes and their relevance to endogenous pain modulation profiles and for treating chronic low back pain. Speakers will cover techniques used in biobehavioral phenotyping including advanced functional brain imaging, quantitative sensory testing, hair steroid hormones, and state-of-the-art psychosocial assessments. The clinical relevance of the phenotyping will be highlighted, presenting clinical trial data demonstrating associations between phenotypes and outcomes. Discussion topics will probe ways that basic, translational, and clinical researchers can synchronize phenotyping efforts such that mechanisms of pain can be measured in patients to classify phenotypes and enhance clinical care through personalized pain management. Innovative Targets for Headache Treatment Adriana Della Pietra, PhD, Gregory Dussor, PhD, Mark Burish, MD, PhD, Andrew Russo, PhD University of Iowa, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, UTHealth Houston Over 50% of migraine, post-traumatic headache, cluster headache, and other headache patients remain undertreated, signaling a critical need for alternative therapeutic strategies. This symposium will explore the latest advances in novel treatments for headache disorders, focusing on innovative mechanisms involving glymphatic function, circadian rhythms, neuroimmunology, and neuromodulation. Dr. Adriana Della Pietra will present preclinical research on how glymphatic system dysfunction contributes to headache, particularly post-traumatic headache, and discuss the therapeutic potential of targeting the noradrenergic system to restore glymphatic clearance and alleviate pain. Dr. Gregory Dussor will expand on the preclinical perspective by exploring the role of protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) and the work in his laboratory on this receptor in behavioral models and electrophysiology in human sensory neurons. This receptor is activated by proteases released by various immune cells. Importantly, this work helps provide important mechanistic information that bridges to ongoing work in the clinic as PAR2 monoclonal antibodies move into human trials for migraine. Dr. Mark Burish will conclude the session by providing clinical insights into the management of cluster headaches and migraine through the regulation of circadian rhythms at the cellular, systems, and behavioral levels. His recent work identifying circadian characteristics within the trigeminal ganglion suggests a potential link to the daily cycles of headaches, offering a novel perspective on how circadian regulation could influence headache disorders. Together, the speakers will provide a comprehensive overview of novel treatments for headaches, offering new therapeutic targets to improve patient outcomes. Interdisciplinary Strategies to Decode Mechanisms of Musculoskeletal Pain Hang Lin, PhD, Rachel Miller, PhD, Allan Basbaum, PhD, Nadeen Chahine, PhD, Kelsey Collins, PhD University of Pittsburgh, Rush University, University of California San Francisco, Columbia University Musculoskeletal diseases are the largest contributors to chronic pain and leading indications for opioid prescription. Clinically, substantial discordance exists between pain and radiographic evidence of structural damage in musculoskeletal diseases, which challenges the assumption that pain represents existing structural damage. Although musculoskeletal pain is the primary driver for patient care-seeking behavior in conditions like osteoarthritis, low back pain, and fracture, the current understanding of the mechanisms of musculoskeletal pain is limited. This workshop will focus on interdisciplinary, preclinical, and in vitro strategies to decode mechanisms of musculoskeletal pain. Hang Lin, PhD will demonstrate a joint-on-a-chip human induced pluripotent stem cell system to interrogate musculoskeletal pain and screen drugs in vitro. Then, Rachel Miller will give her perspective on translational preclinical models to understand pain in osteoarthritis, and share how the NIH CCOMP P30 can support work in this space. Third, Allan Basbaum, PhD, will present new tools and techniques to understand fracture pain. This session will be moderated by Nadeen Chahine, PhD and Kelsey Collins, PhD, who are working on low back pain and knee joint pain, respectively. Presenters are encouraged to address the role of age, sex differences, and multi-morbidity in their presentations to help solve the whole animal and whole person health problem of musculoskeletal pain across musculoskeletal diseases. The session will conclude with a moderated panel discussion with audience questions and a focus on developing an interdisciplinary strategy to decode mechanisms that are conserved or diverge across musculoskeletal diseases to pave the way toward novel non-opioid therapeutics. Mechanisms of DRG and Spinal Cord Stimulation for Pain Control Andrei Sdrulla, MD, PhD, Kerry Bradley, PhD, Michael Gold, PhD Oregon Health and Science University, Nervo Corp, University of Pittsburgh Supporters of neuromodulation approaches, such as spinal cord stimulation and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation for the treatment of chronic pain point to results from successful trials documenting large effect sizes and lasting effects. Critics of these approaches point out that the trials have been supported by the neuromodulation industry and are not run blind. This landscape may be changing with both interest from NIH in the mechanisms underlying these therapeutic approaches and the advent of neuromodulation approaches that lend themselves to blinded control trials. These issues will be addressed in this symposium, with Kerry Bradley, Vice President, Scientific Affairs for Nervo Corporation providing a summary of the clinical and preclinical work that’s been published, as well as insights from his team on how to address the lingering concerns with this technology. Michael Gold will summarize the mechanisms thought to underlie the therapeutic efficacy of DRG stimulation for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as recent data from his laboratory suggesting that satellite glial cells within the DRG may play a significant role in the mechanisms underlying this stimulation approach. Finally, Andei Sdrulla, will discuss recent results from his laboratory characterizing the modulatory effects of SCS on dorsal horn interneurons and output projection neurons studied with an intersectional genetics approach to drive the expression of the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6s in molecularly defined spinal populations. Minor Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Chronic Pain: From Mouse to Man Andrea Jones, PhD, John Streicher, PhD, Ziva Cooper, PhD, Nicholas Gilpin, PhD Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona, University of California, Los Angeles Cannabinoid drugs are legal for medicinal and recreational use in most states, but their use has vastly outpaced our understanding of their effects on pain outcomes, and health more generally. Dr. Jones will discuss data describing the effects of inhalation of vaporized cannabichromene (CBC) and cannabigerol (CBG), both alone and in combination with cannabidiol (CBD), on nociceptive, behavioral and physiological outcomes in a rat model of chronic inflammatory pain (CFA). Her data suggest that CBC and CBG vapor inhalation attenuate hypersensitivity in CFA-treated rats, and alter locomotion, body weight and body temperature, and that these effects are modulated by sex and time. Dr. Streicher will discuss data showing that the terpenes geraniol, linalool, beta-caryophyllene, beta-pinene, and alpha-humulene provide comparable pain relief to morphine in inflammatory and neuropathic pain models via adenosine A2a receptor actions in spinal cord. His lab has observed that these terpenes are not associated with addiction-like side effects, but instead attenuate opioid reward while simultaneously enhancing opioid pain relief. Dr. Cooper will discuss data from an ongoing Phase I double-blind, placebo-controlled study focused on understanding the analgesic, abuse-related, and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-sparing effects of ecologically relevant doses of the terpenes beta-caryophyllene (BCP) and myrcene. Her lab’s data show that low doses of BCP and myrcene impact clinically relevant endpoints related to cannabis- and THC-induced analgesia and abuse liability. Overall, these studies suggest that minor cannabinoids and terpenes could be safe, effective and high-compliance treatments for multiple chronic pain conditions, either alone or in combination with opioid drugs. Music for Pain: Towards a Mechanistic Understanding Mathieu Roy, PhD, Julian Thayer, PhD, Joke Bradt, PhD McGill University, University of California, Irvine and The Ohio State University, Drexel University Music and music-based interventions (MBIs) are receiving increasing attention as promising approaches for pain management because of their favorable effects on pain, low cost, and absence of negative side-effects and complications common to pharmacological and surgical/procedural treatments. Yet, the mechanisms underlying music’s pain-reducing effects remain largely unknown. This is problematic because without a clear model of underlying mechanisms, researchers and clinicians alike can only rely on trial and error to maximize MBI’s full therapeutic potential. In this symposium, we will 1) share findings from a series of laboratory studies aimed at uncovering the key elements of music responsible for its hypoalgesic effects including the role of arousal, valence, distraction, and reward circuitry activation; 2) present a recently developed dynamical systems model of musically-induced emotions and describe the neurovisceral underpinnings of this model, including the link between the auditory nerve and the amygdala, and the interaction of medial prefrontal cortex and brainstem pain network outputs to the cardiovascular system via the vagus nerve; and 3) present an overview of evidence to date of underlying mechanisms for music’s hypoalgesia effects, based on a recently completed scoping review. Finally, we will introduce attendees to three research networks, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Endowment for the Arts, aimed at promoting and supporting multidisciplinary research to enhance mechanistic understanding of music for pain management. These networks will play a crucial role in advancing mechanistic understanding of the hypoalgesic effects of music and, ultimately, improving patient care and well-being. Othering: Effects of Stigma and Discrimination on Pain Calia Torres, PhD, Ellen Terry, PhD, Bright Eze, PhD, Samantha Meints, PhD University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Florida, Harvard Medical School Othering, a social process of marginalization, is associated with healthcare disparities and reinforces inequities and bias. In this symposium, three speakers from diverse racial, ethnic and geographic backgrounds will discuss two forms of othering, stigma and discrimination, and their impact on pain and treatment outcomes. We will explore intersectional health-related stigma (IHRS) and discrimination among diverse populations of patients with chronic pain; how the impact of othering on pain differs across race, ethnicity, and sex/gender; and identify correlates and potential mechanisms by which othering impacts pain. Importantly, we will discuss interventions by which we can minimize othering and its impact on pain. Dr. Meints will share cross-sectional and longitudinal results examining the relationship between IHRS and pain across three populations: women with chronic pelvic pain, adults with chronic low back pain (CLBP), and individuals undergoing spine surgery. She will also explore the intersection of racial discrimination and pain stigma across Black and White adults with CLBP. Dr. Terry will discuss the associations between discrimination and clinical pain, disability and functional performance among Black and White adults with knee osteoarthritis. She will provide data suggesting discrimination might differentially affect structural brain components across race/ethnicity and sex. Dr. Torres will provide the results of two studies examining racial discrimination, pain stigma, and pain management practices among racialized individuals living with chronic pain. She will highlight heterogeneity in negative experiences across racialized groups and implications for future research and intervention development, including the potential for building on ethnic identity to address discrimination. Overcoming AI challenges for Pain Detection Susan Horner, PhD, Zheyan Zhan, PhD, Diego Klabjan, PhD, Renee CB Manworren, PhD Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University College of Engineering Early-life pain is associated with abnormal structural and functional brain development, resulting in adverse neurodevelopmental consequences, including cognitive and memory impairments, emotional dysregulation, and global pain sensitivity. Therefore, timely and accurate detection of pain is crucial for hospitalized infants. Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered approaches that analyze clinical data and facial action videos offer promise for continuous pain monitoring. Given their role and subject matter expertise, nurses were essential in designing and developing our preliminary pain detection machine learning (ML) model. Using the Neonatal Facial Coding System, the only observational pain assessment tool that includes facial actions associated with brain-based evidence of pain, and the iCopevid needle pain dataset, our ML model has 97.7% precision, 98% accuracy, and 98.5% recall. Since a Pain Recognition Automated Monitoring System (PRAMS) is unnecessary for needle pain, we are retraining our model to detect more complex and clinically relevant post-surgical pain. Consequently, post-surgical videos include images in which infants’ faces are partially obscured by their own hands or medical equipment, like NG & ET Tubes. To address this challenge, we incorporate a diffusion-based inpainting technique to reconstruct obscured facial regions in video frames, thereby enhancing our AI model's ability to detect and interpret pain-related facial actions by restoring missing details. Furthermore, we will employ hybrid federated learning, a distributed ML approach that enables collaborative model training across multiple hospitals while maintaining HIPAA-compliant data protection. Our approach is a significant advancement in pain assessment, with the potential to transform clinical practice and improve early-life pain outcomes. Pain Research Enters the Age of Big Data Katherine Martucci, PhD, Yenisel Cruz-Almedia, MSPH, PhD, Tor Wager, PhD, Michael Falcon, OTD, MHA Duke University, University of Florida, Dartmouth College, Hawaii Pacific University Pain research has entered the era of big data, finally allowing researchers to discern the etiology behind complex and mysterious pain conditions. Multimodal data from thousands of patients will give researchers tools to finally address the complex, multifaceted questions around the biology of chronic pain. Multimodal datasets can include self-reported (e.g., pain intensity and interference) and experimental pain (e.g., quantitative sensory testing) as well as neurobiological factors (e.g., brain imaging for brain structure, function and biochemistry), and blood for immune function, genetic, epigenetic, and omics profiling. Combining many data types, researchers can interrogate the mechanisms driving pain at multiple levels of analysis, group individuals based on their underlying pathophysiology, and identify new biological targets for treatment. Complex data profiles may also help determine who is at high risk for developing chronic pain conditions, and how to build resilience against chronic pain. Collecting and analyzing these large, complex datasets requires large consortia of researchers with a wide diversity of expertise and a commitment to make data publicly available. Attendees will learn about the benefits and challenges of working in large consortia, and how to make use of the data being collected. Talks will cover large studies including the UK BioBank; the Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures consortium; the Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) Research Network; and the Restoring Joint Health and Function to Reduce Pain (RE-JOIN) Consortium. Moderator Michael Falcon, a person with lived experience of chronic pain, will provide his perspective and modify the discussion. Research Insights into Mechanisms of Discogenic Low Back Pain Rebecca Wachs, PhD, Dmitriy Sheyn, PhD, Joseph Lesnak, DPT, PhD Arizona State University, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, University of Texas at Dallas Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and 40% of those with LBP have discogenic pain which arises from degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD). While much research has been done looking at mechanisms of disc degeneration, little known about how disc degeneration leads to LBP. A greater understanding of these mechanisms can lead to better treatment strategies from those suffering from discogenic LBP. This symposium will look at advances in both preclinical and clinical research of discogenic pain to better understand how IVD degeneration leads to LBP symptoms. Dr. Rebecca Wachs will discuss alterations in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) that occur in preclinical models of LBP to lead to increased hyperalgesia. Dr. Wachs’ talk will focus on changes seen in ion channels and cytokines to produce hyperalgesia. Dr. Dmitriy Sheyn will present on research with both porcine models and human tissue to uncover discogenic pain mechanisms. Dr. Sheyn’s talk will also highlight what these findings mean for the development of treatments such as stem cell therapies. Finally, Dr. Joseph Lesnak will present on human tissue models of discogenic LBP produced from disc samples from individuals with low back pain and cultured human DRG neurons. Dr. Lesnak’s work will highlight how factors released from degenerated discs can activate and sensitize human DRG neurons. The audience will gain valuable insight into current research efforts to understand how IVD degeneration can lead to LBP. Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Chronic Pain Across the Lifespan: Insights for Chronic Pain Management Chung Jung Mun, PhD, See Wan Tham, MBBS, MS, Yohannes Woldeamanuel, MD, Patrick Finan, PhD Arizona State University, University of Washington School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona, University of Virginia School of Medicine Emerging research highlights that disturbances in sleep (e.g., insomnia) and circadian rhythms (e.g., fragmented or irregular rhythms) are important risk factors for the development, persistence, and exacerbation of chronic pain. While sleep and circadian rhythms are neurobiologically intertwined, each plays a distinct role in pain processing. However, co-assessment of these factors remains limited within pain research, leaving a gap in understanding how sleep and circadian disruptions independently and interactively impact chronic pain outcomes, particularly across different stages of life. This multidisciplinary panel of clinician-scientists will present cutting-edge research on the role of sleep and circadian disturbances in chronic pain among adolescents and adults, as well as preliminary findings from an innovative behavioral intervention targeting both sleep and circadian disturbances for chronic pain management. Dr. Mun, a pain psychologist and researcher, will discuss findings from a study exploring the effects of sleep and circadian rest-activity rhythm disruptions on daily pain severity in 140 women with temporomandibular disorders. Dr. Tham, a pediatric pain physician and researcher, will present data on sleep deficiency and the variability of sleep-wake rhythm parameters between adolescents with chronic abdominal pain and those who are pain-free. Dr. Woldeamanuel, a neurologist and headache researcher, will share research findings on personalized circadian-based interventions (including sleep) for migraine and explore the underlying mechanisms. Together, this symposium aims to deepen the understanding of how disturbances in sleep and circadian rhythms are associated with chronic pain across the lifespan and to explore novel therapeutic strategies targeting these factors. Targeting Peripheral Opioid Receptors: Advancing Precision Medicine with Reduced Side Effects Luca Posa, PhD, Stephanie Puig, PhD, Ream Al-Hasani, PhD Weill Cornell Medicine,UMass Chan Medical School, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine This symposium will explore the potential of targeting peripheral opioid receptors (ORs) as a promising strategy for effective pain relief while minimizing central side effects such as respiratory depression and addiction. Unlike traditional opioids that act on ORs in the brain and spinal cord, peripherally restricted opioids provide localized pain relief at the site of injury or inflammation, reducing the risk of adverse effects. The symposium will present recent advances in the development of selective peripheral opioids. Dr. Luca Posa will discuss advances in the design of photochromic peripherally restricted opioids, such as light-activated "opto-opioids" that allow precise spatial and temporal control of opioid receptor activation. Dr. Stephanie Puig will present her work on the role of keratinocytes in peripheral opioid signaling and induction of peripheral opioid tolerance via epithelia-neural communication via growth factors, offering new insights into managing long-term opioid use at the periphery. Finally, Dr. Ream Al-Hasani will present the role of peripheral KOR in the modulation of cold hypersensitivity and cold pain and how this has implications for attenuating disease-induced neuropathies. Additionally, the symposium will explore how targeting peripheral ORs can treat different pain conditions, from acute to chronic pain and present data from preclinical studies supporting the efficacy and safety of this approach. This research seeks to redefine opioid therapy providing safer, more targeted pain management. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the future of opioid therapy and the potential of peripheral opioid receptor modulation as a viable alternative to traditional pain treatments. Transdisciplinary Perspectives and Emerging Evidence to Enhance Care in Painful Diabetic Neuropathy (PDN) Paola Pacifico, MD, PhD, Melissa Elafros, MD, PhD, Jijun Xu, MD, PhD, Eva Feldman, MD, PhD Northwestern University, University of Michigan, Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University Painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) presents significant challenges due to research gaps, such as a limited understanding of its mechanisms, a lack of disease-modifying therapeutics, and unpredictable symptomatic treatment responses. Additionally, clinical gaps exist in the assessment, diagnosis, and management of PDN, including a lack of familiarity with emerging evidence among frontline healthcare providers. This symposium aims to bridge these gaps by offering a transdisciplinary overview of PDN, covering the latest molecular findings, clinical approaches to diagnosis and treatment, and advances in interventional and neuromodulatory therapies. Participants will leave with an enhanced understanding of PDN’s underlying mechanisms and be better equipped to utilize and describe the limitations of evidence-based treatments for patient care. Audience engagement will be encouraged through an interactive Q&A session, fostering a dynamic exchange between attendees and presenters. This symposium is unique as it incorporates both foundational and innovative perspectives, integrating translational research with cutting-edge interventional techniques to improve the care of PDN patients. Treating Pain Takes “Guts": Targeting the Gut Microbiome to Facilitate Pain Care Innovation Erin Young, MA, PhD, Arkady Khourtosky, DVM, PhD, Kristen Smith-Edwards, PhD University of Kansas Medical Center, McGill University, Mayo Clinic The vast community of “bugs” (bacteria, viruses, and fungi) colonizing the gastrointestinal tract, collectively referred to as the gut microbiome, has been shown to differ between patients with and without chronic pain. The specific nature of the reported dysbiosis (differences in microbial colonization) varies significantly between studies and the type of chronic pain condition being examined. As a result, historically, the majority of the studies have focused on characterization and observation of dysbiosis, but in the last few years, the mechanisms by which differential colonization may increase pain sensitivity or facilitate the transition from acute to chronic pain states has garnered more attention. The speakers will present novel findings from three painful conditions (fibromyalgia, visceral hypersensitivity, and pain due to neurogenic bowel), each characterized by alterations in the bacterial colonization of the gut. Presentations will prioritize describing methods for determination of location specific bacterial abundance within the gut and establishing mechanisms by which gut microbes may drive changes in host cell structure and function. Further, each speaker will unpack specific mechanisms of communication between gut bacteria and host cells with a focus on microbiome-neuronal interactions, highlighting the new models and state-of-the-art approaches utilized to move beyond characterization and directly test their hypotheses. Identification of pathogenic changes in the gut thought to contribute to chronic pain development or persistence will provide context for the presentations and discussion of the varied definitions of pain-relevant dysbiosis. The translation potential of precision microbiome manipulations will be outlined along with caveats and considerations going forward. 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Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar

Login Menu‎ ‎ ↓ Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Posters Pre-Conference Workshops Awards and Grants Registration Rates Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Special Interest Groups Committees and Taskforces Awards and Grants See All Awards Here 2025 Travel Award USASP Fellows G.F. Gebhart Young Investigators Award USASP MAYDAY Award Rita Allen Foundation Award Gold-Haythornthwaite Lifetime Achievement Membership Login Become a Member Donate to USASP 2025 Annual Meeting Journal of Pain Donate to USASP Login Menu‎ ‎ ↓ Annual Meeting Registration Rates Program at a Glance Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Posters Sponsors Pre-Conference Workshops Awards and Grants Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Special Interest Groups Committees and Taskforces 2025 Board of Directors Election Contact Awards and Grants See All Awards Here USASP Fellows G.F. Gebhart Young Investigators Award USASP MAYDAY Award Gold-Haythornthwaite Lifetime Achievement DEI Scholarship Membership Login Become a Member The Journal of Pain The Journal of Pain Explore the Journal Editorial Fellows Assistant Editors Become a Member Open doors to a wealth of resources and networking opportunities. DONATE Donate to USASP Together, we can make a tangible difference in the lives of those experiencing pain. DONATE Search 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting Register Now Save your spot at the 2024 USASP Annual Conference in Chicago, IL Secure your Stay Make the most of our event by securing your accommodations. Pre-Conference Workshops Attend the 2025 Pre-Conference Workshops on April 29th Awards and Grants Offering a range of awards and grants for outstanding contributions. Advancing Pain Research: Innovations to Enhance Care April 29 to May 2, 2025 in Chicago, IL 'OUCH' Talking Pain with USASP Scientists, clinicians, health-care providers, and policymakers stimulate and support the study of pain that translates into improved care. An association comprised of a of a diverse representation of researchers across the nation, each contributing invaluable expertise to our collective understanding of pain. Together, we pioneer advancements that not only enhance the lives of those suffering from pain but also shape policies and practices that promote equitable access to effective treatments and compassionate care. BECOME A MEMBER Promoting the scientific advances that reduce the burden of pain. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration Learn More Jan 15, 2025, 7:00 PM northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff Learn More Jan 18, 2025, 9:00 AM EST – Jan 21, 2025, 5:00 PM EST Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD Learn More Feb 03, 2025, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Feb 26, 2025, 7:00 PM Location is TBD Share Load More Upcoming Events Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Program at a Glance Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP Jan 15, 2025, 7:00 PM northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Jan 18, 2025, 9:00 AM EST – Jan 21, 2025, 5:00 PM EST Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Feb 03, 2025, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Feb 26, 2025, 7:00 PM Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location Mar 18, 2025, 11:55 PM EDT – Mar 19, 2025, 12:00 AM EDT No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar

2025 Annual Meeting Program at a Glance REGISTER HERE Pre-Conference Workshops Tuesday, April 29th 2025 Workshop Time Sickle Cell Disease Pain Analgesia and Integrative Network (SCDPAIN) 8:00-4:30 PM 2025 Updated Essentials of Primary Care Management 8:00-3:30 PM Empowering Pain Research: Leveraging PCORI for Funding and Stakeholder Engagement 1:00-4:30 PM CST Conference Agenda Frida, May 2nd - Thursday, May 1st, 2025 Agenda Time Welcome/USASP Business 8:30 AM-9:00 AM Plenary Session 9:00-10:00 AM Poster Sessions 10:00-11:15 AM Symposia Session 11:30-1:00 PM Lunch (committee meetings and round table discussions) 1:00-2:00 PM Poster Sessions 2:00-3:15 PM Friday, May 2nd 2025 Agenda Time Welcome/USASP Business 8:30-9:00 AM Plenary Session 9:00-10:00 AM Poster Awards 10:00-11:30 PM Symposia 11:30-1:00 PM Plenary Speakers 2025 Plenary Speakers Cameron Young, Person with Lived Experience Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, University of Maryland, “Breaking Boundaries of Pain Management: Harnessing the Value and Power of Virtual Reality” Beth Darnell, PhD, Stanford University, “Enhancing access to pain relief through innovative patient-centered formats, technologies, and trial designs” Theodore Price, PhD, University of Texas at Dallas, "Insights into neuropathic pain mechanisms from studies of human dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord" View Selected Symposia Abstracts Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Program at a Glance Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar

2025 Annual Scientific Meeting Register Now Save your spot at the 2024 USASP Annual Conference in Chicago, IL Secure your Stay Make the most of our event by securing your accommodations. Pre-Conference Workshops Attend the 2025 Pre-Conference Workshops on April 29th Awards and Grants Offering a range of awards and grants for outstanding contributions. Advancing Pain Research: Innovations to Enhance Care REGISTRATION IS OPEN April 29 to May 2, 2025 in Chicago, IL Program at a Glance Cameron Young Cameron is a college freshman who has experienced chronic pain for his entire life. In the past few years, he’s become an outspoken advocate for the disabled community, and he is very passionate about disability and LGBTQ rights and the intersections between them. Guided by his experiences as a disabled person and what he’s learned from years of advocacy within the disabled community, he is excited to speak at this conference and share what he’s learned with you all. Theodore Price, PhD Ted works at The Center for Advanced Pain Studies, UT Dallas and Ashbel Smith Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at University of Texas at Dallas where is the Director of the Center for Advanced Pain Studies. Ted did his PhD with Ken Hargreaves at UT Health San Antonio and his postdoc with Fernando Cervero at McGill. Ted started his independent lab in 2007 at University of Arizona and moved to UT Dallas in 2014. Ted’s lab’s goal is to identify molecular mechanisms causing chronic pain with emphasis on developing new drugs to treat pain. His lab’s focus is on human molecular neuroscience with specialization on dorsal root ganglion and spinal dorsal horn. Ted has published more than 200 peer reviewed studies, and has been continuously funded by NIH for more than 15 years. He is co-founder of many companies, including 4E Therapeutics. Beth Darnall, PhD Beth is a Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of the Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab. A psychologist-scientist, she leads NIH and PCORI-funded national studies that on scalable behavioral analgesic interventions and patient-centered opioid reduction. Her work centers on developing, investigating and disseminating solutions that offer more equitable access to evidence-based behavioral pain care for diverse and underserved populations. She created Empowered Relief® a 1-session group intervention that rapidly equips individuals with effective pain relief skills for acute, chronic, and post-surgical pain. Empowered Relief® is being delivered by certified instructors in 29 countries and in 8 languages. She has three times briefed the U.S. Congress and the FDA on patient-centered pain care and opioid stewardship. She is a scientific member of the NIH Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee, served on the CDC Opioid Workgroup (2021), is Chief Science Advisor for AppliedVR, and is author of four books for patients and clinicians. She has keynoted national pain society conferences in Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K. In 2018 she spoke on the psychology of pain relief at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Stanford Faculty Profile and full CV: https://profiles.stanford.edu/beth-darnall Twitter: @bethdarnall Luana Colloca, MD, PhD Luana is a Power Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the Director of the Placebo Beyond Opinion Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Dr. Colloca holds an MD, a Master’s degree in Bioethics, and a PhD in Neuroscience. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and a senior research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, USA. Dr. Colloca has conducted studies on the behavioral, neural, and pharmacological mechanisms of pain modulation related to placebo and nocebo effects. Her lab has also developed an interest in virtual reality as a non-pharmacological approach to relieving pain and other symptoms. She has published in top-ranked international journals, including Biological Psychiatry, Annual Reviews of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Nature Reviews Rheumatology, Pain, Nature Neuroscience, JAMA, The Lancet Neurology, Science, and The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Her research has been cited over 19,200 times (H-index 64) and has been featured in National Geographic, The New Scientist, The Washington Post, Science Daily, The Boston Globe, The New Yorker, Nature, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, and USA Today. Dr. Colloca has received the Dubner and Patrick Wall awards from the International Association for the Study of Pain and the UMB 2024 Researcher of the Year award, among others. She is committed to science dissemination, including podcasts (one with Jason Alexander of Seinfeld) and a TEDx talk. Plenary Speakers Discussing current information related to pain mechanisms, pain prevention an intervention, alongside other supporting topics. Empowering Pain Research: Leveraging PCORI for Funding and Stakeholder Engagement Join Drs. Mark Bicket and Erin Krebs for a unique pre-conference workshop to help our members learn about the funding process from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). "Empowering Pain Research: Leveraging PCORI for Funding and Stakeholder Engagement" is crafted specifically to help researchers including but not limited to mid-career and senior researchers unlock the full potential of their work to make a bigger impact in the field of pain management. LEARN MORE HERE 2025 Updated Essentials of Primary Care Management Updated Essentials of Primary Care Pain Management is a one-day course offered for physicians, NP/PAs, nurses, and other clinicians interested in education by expert faculty regarding the management of patients with complex pain conditions. The course will target pressing topics related to pain management with didactic presentations and in-person discussion and demonstration sessions. The learner objectives include understanding effective evaluation and diagnosis of the patient in pain as well as implementation of evidence-based treatment options for pain. This program will offer CMEs for eligible participants. LEARN MORE HERE Sickle Cell Disease Pain Analgesia and Integrative Network (SCDPAIN) A new NCCIH-funded U24, Sickle Cell Disease Pain Analgesia and Integrative Network (SCDPAIN) is planning a pre-conference workshop at USASP. This multidisciplinary network aims to fulfill critical unmet needs of SCD pain mechanisms by engaging investigators with diverse expertise, incentivizing novel initiatives through pilot funds and sabbaticals, catalyzing the future generation of scientists to accelerate SCD pain research through summer workshops, promoting diversity and equity and disseminating findings to the investigators, community and caregivers through meetings, publications and networking. LEARN MORE HERE 2025 Pre-Conference Workshops Session A Monday, April 15th, 10:00-11:15 am Session B Monday, April 15th, 2:00 - 3:15 pm Session C Tuesday, April 16th 10:00- 11:15 am Session D Tuesday, April 16th 2:00 - 3:15 pm Research Poster Presentations Poster Session Assignments Specifications What are Rigor icons? Download Rigor Icons for my Poster Setup and Takedown Schedule Updated Essentials of Primary Care Pain Management OUR ACCREDITATION STATEMENT Sunday, April 14th, 2024 — $100USD Brett Stacey, MD (University of Washington) Scott Fishman, MD (University of California, Davis) Target pressing pain management topics with didactic presentations, in-person discussions, and demonstration sessions. The learner objectives include understanding effective evaluation and diagnosis of the patient in pain and implementing evidence-based treatment options for pain. This program will offer CMEs for eligible participants. In-person attendance only features complimentary coffee, lunch arrangements are at your discretion. VIEW AGENDA Optimizing Mentorship to Ensure a Bright Future for Pain Research Pre-Conference Workshop — Sunday, April 14th, 2024 — $100USD Dr. Roger Fillingim (University of Florida) and Dr. Tonya Palermo (Seattle Children’s) Mentorship is critical to the success, persistence, and satisfaction of trainees and early career investigators. In pain research specifically, workforce and lack of pipeline have been raised as limiting factors, particularly in clinical pain research. The intended audience includes early and mid-career faculty who are actively engaged in mentoring (or want to be) and are interested in optimizing their mentoring relationships. The co-facilitators have extensive experience in mentorship and mentor development across the spectrum of training from undergraduate students to early career faculty in pain science. The workshop will apply a facilitative learning process to promote interaction, discussion, and self-reflection. Attendees will leave with a set of tools and strategies they can implement to enhance their mentorship with pain research mentees. This program will offer CMEs for eligible participants. In-person attendance only features complimentary coffee, lunch arrangements are at your discretion. VIEW AGENDA 2024 USASP Early Career Forum and Lunch Forum — Sunday, April 14th — FREE The USASP’s annual information and networking session specifically designed for trainees and early-stage investigators (individuals who completed their training <5 years prior). The event will close with a reception open to all USASP Meeting registrants. The Early Career Forum is the perfect way to kick off the 2024 meeting – low-pressure networking with individuals who you’ll likely see at this meeting for years to come! In-person attendance only, free with registration. Please select this even when registering. VIEW AGENDA Explore our Full Conference Agenda Here Join us at the forefront of innovation as we collectively contribute to the evolving landscape of pain research. Workshops and Forums Leading pain experts, researchers, and practitioners covering a spectrum of topics, from the latest advancements in pain research to innovative approaches. THE FINE PRINT Refund requests for cancellations will not be accepted after Friday, March 28th, 2025. For any other requests please contact us . 2025 Early Career Forum Join us at the 2025 USASP Early Career Forum, a dedicated pre-conference event on April 29th designed to support trainees (currently completing their degree) and early-career professionals. Note that junior faculty are considered early-career professionals and are strongly encouraged to participate in this event. LEARN MORE HERE Your Stay at The Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel BOOK YOUR ROOM HERE Getting Here The Radisson, Blu Aqua Hotel 221 N Columbus Dr Chicago, IL 60601 +1 312-638-6686 Our Conference Hotel Room Block Secure your accommodations within the conference hotel block. If you are booking outside of the site, use booking code LH72G7. Parking at the Hotel Covered Parking Valet Parking Public Parking around the Hotel Virtual Attendance Symposia and plenary sessions will be streamed through Zoom, with select presentations being recorded. More information to come when we open virtual attendance closer to our meeting. Agenda Pre-Conference Workshops : April 29, 2025 Early Career Forum: April 29, 2025 Main Conference: April 30-May 2, 2025 Symposia Proposals Share your groundbreaking research and innovative ideas by submitting a proposal and contribute to the expansion of pain science. Submissions close on October 15, 2024 with accepted abstracts being notified in early December. LEARN MORE Poster Abstracts Showcase your research and engage in insightful conversations with members of the field. We encourage submissions on all aspects of pain research, including clinical and basic science. Submissions close on December 2, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST. LEARN MORE Symposia and Poster Abstracts Submission deadline has passed Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Program at a Glance Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar 2025 Travel Award Seize the opportunity to present your research and secure funding to present your innovations at our annual meeting. MORE AWARD INFORMATION USASP Fellows The highest class of membership within the US Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) — is an acknowledgment of outstanding and continuing work in the field of pain. MORE AWARD INFORMATION Gold-Haythornthwaite Lifetime Achievement Award Celebrating exceptional contributions to the realm of pain research and clinical practice. MORE AWARD INFORMATION 2025 DEI Scholarship 2025 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship The USASP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Scholarship is designed to support trainees and young investigators from underrepresented or disadvantaged backgrounds as they pursue careers in pain research and clinical practice. This scholarship provides an opportunity to attend the 2025 USASP Annual Scientific Meeting, where awardees can engage with leading experts, present their research, and participate in professional development sessions. Deadline to Apply: Wednesday, February 26, 2025 MORE AWARD INFORMATION Awards and Grants for our 2025 Annual Meeting

Financial Conflict of Interest ABOUT US United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) Policy Description: All USASP members and non-members have the responsibility to disclose financial conflicts of interest (FCOI) when presenting as a speaker at any USASP-sponsored events (hereinafter the “Speakers”) or participating in USASP leadership activities (e.g., member of the Board of Directors, member of a committee or task force) and/or acting as key personnel in USASP-sponsored activity (hereinafter the “Leaders”). Purpose/Rationale: To promote objectivity by establishing standards that preserve the integrity of leadership, decision making, and activity; protect the rights and safety of activity subjects; and prevent bias. Applicability: For purposes of financial disclosure only, this regulation also covers the spouse and dependent children of Speakers and Leaders. Failure to Comply: Failure to comply with this policy may lead to disciplinary or corrective action including but not limited to removal from leadership or other USASP activities, and any other remedies that may be legally available. 1.Employee and Member Responsibility Any USASP employee or member who is acting as a Speaker or Leader must disclose to the USASP-FCOI Officer (USASP’s program coordinator or Board president) any significant financial interest (and those of the individual’s spouse and dependent children) no later than the date of the USASP-related work using the FCOI form provided by the USASP-FCOI Officer (USASP’s program coordinator or board president). Annual disclosures of significant financial interest (and those of each individual’s spouse and dependent children) must be made no later than April 15, 2022, and every year thereafter, using the prescribed FCOI form. Annual FCOI reports submitted to the USASP-FCOI Officer (USASP’s program coordinator or Board president) shall include any information that was not previously disclosed. 2. Within 30 days of discovering or acquiring a significant financial interest, any USASP employee or member who is acting as a Speaker or Leader shall submit an updated FCOI form to the USASP-FCOI Officer (USASP’s program coordinator or Board president). 3.Institution Responsibility USASP shall update and enforce this written policy in accordance with 42 CFR 50, Subpart F and will make the policy and applicable federal regulations available on the association’s website (USASP.org). USASP will inform each Speaker and Leader about the following: Information about this policy and the corresponding federal regulations; Responsibility to disclose any significant financial interest to the USASP- FCOI Officer (USASP’s program coordinator or Board president); Mandatory FCOI training requirements include: Completion of FCOI training every four years; Completion of the NIH training module (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coi/tutorial2018/s tory_html5.html) OR a similar FCOI module required by the individual’s primary institution of higher education, provided the institution meets the definition provided in 20 U.S.C. 1001(a), will be required. Submission of the FCOI form to the USASP office serves as the individual’s certification that training has been completed as required. Additional training when USASP-FCOI Officer (USASP’s program coordinator or Board president) finds that a Speaker or Leader is not in compliance with this policy or a prescribed management plan; and Updated information on any revisions to this policy that affects the responsibilities of Speakers and Leaders to report FCOI. If USASP subcontracts elements of a PHS-funded activity to an outside entity, each subrecipient investigator or key personnel shall be required to comply with this policy or provide documentation that the subrecipient institution is in compliance with 42 CFR Part 50, Subpart F. A written agreement with the subrecipient must identify whether the subrecipient investigator and key personnel will comply with the FCOI provisions of the subrecipient institution or USASP; If the subrecipient will comply with his or her institutional FCOI policy, the written agreement must specify that any FCOI disclosures reported to the subrecipient’s institution must be reported to the USASP-FCOI Officer (USASP’s program coordinator or Board president) within 30 days. USASP will report subrecipient significant financial interest to the PHS prior to the expenditure of any funds or within 60 days of receiving subrecipient disclosure of significant financial interest. USASP will identify an official to seek and review disclosures of significant financial interest. This official will serve as the USASP-FCOI Officer (USASP’s program coordinator or Board president). All records relating to disclosures of financial interest, including any review and actions taken by USASP, will be maintained by the USASP-FCOI Officer or designee for a period of at least five years. In the case of disclosures relevant to a PHS grant, records will be maintained at least five years from the date the final grant expenditure report is submitted to the PHS. The USASP shall certify in each application for PHS-funded activities that it: Has in effect a financial conflict of interest policy for all PHS-funded activities; Shall promote and enforce compliance with this policy; Shall manage financial conflicts of interest and provide initial and ongoing reports to the organizational unit of the PHS that funds the activity; and Agrees to make information promptly available to PHS relating to the disclosure and review of any financial conflict of interest. 3. Reviewing Disclosures Within 60 days of receipt of a significant financial disclosure, the USASP-FCOI Officer shall review the report to determine whether each significant financial interest is related to USASP-funded activities, and if so, whether the significant financial interest is a financial conflict of interest. A significant financial interest is related to any PHS-funded activity if the significant financial interest: could be affected by the PHS-funded activity; is in an entity whose financial interest could be affected by the activity; or could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct or reporting of the PHS-funded activity. In reviewing a disclosure, the USASP-FCOI Officer may seek additional information from the individual in determining whether the disclosure is a significant financial interest that relates to the PHS-funded activity. If the USASP-FCOI Officer determines that a significant financial interest exists that is related to the USASP activity, the Officer shall identify actions, if any, that must be taken by the individual to manage the financial conflict of interest. Actions to manage the financial conflict of interest may include but are not limited to: Public disclosure of the financial conflict of interest when presenting at an activity; Informing activity participants directly about the financial conflict of interest; Appointment of an independent monitor that is capable of taking appropriate measures to protect the activity against bias resulting from the financial conflict of interest; Modifying the activity; Changing the individual in all or part of the activity; Disqualifying individuals from participating in the activity; vii. Reducing or eliminating the financial interest; or Severing relationships that create the financial conflict. The actions required to manage the financial conflict of interest shall be identified in a management plan and compliance with the management plan shall be monitored by the USASP-FCOI Officer or designee on an ongoing basis until completion of the activity. Depending on the nature of the significant financial interest, the USASP- FCOI Officer may determine that additional interim measures are necessary with regard to the individual’s participation in activities between the date of disclosure and the completion of the USASP-FCOI Officer review If the USASP-FCOI Officer identifies that a significant financial interest exists that was either not disclosed or not disclosed in a timely manner by a Speaker or Leader, the USASP-FCOI Officer shall follow the same procedures as outlined in this section. If a financial conflict of interest is not identified or managed in a timely manner including failure by a Speaker or Leader to report a significant financial interest that constitutes a FCOI, failure of USASP to review or manage a FCOI, or failure by the Speaker or Leader to comply with a management plan, the USASP-FCOI Officer shall: Within 120 days, complete a retrospective review of the individual’s activities to determine whether the work conducted during the time period of the noncompliance was biased in design, conduct or reporting of such work. In the case of PHS funded activities, the retrospective review will be documented and include the following elements: Project number; Project title; Name(s) of project director or principal investigator; Name of the investigator or key personnel with the FCOI; Name of the entity with which the investigator or key personnel has a FCOI; Reason(s) for the retrospective review; Detailed methodology of the review process, composition of the review panel and the documents reviewed; Findings of the review; and ix. Conclusions of the review. Based on the findings of the retrospective review, if appropriate, the USASP-FCOI Officer shall update any previously submitted FCOI reports, specifying actions taken to manage the FCOI. In the case of PHS funded activities and if the retrospective review determines that the activity was biased, the USASP-FCOI Officer will promptly notify the PHS organizational unit that funds the activity and submit a mitigation report. The mitigation report will include, but is not limited to, the following information: All information described in (3)(f)(B); A description of the impact of the bias on the activity; USASP’s plan of action or actions taken to eliminate or mitigate the effects of the bias. Such a plan may include requesting an addendum to previously published presentations. Reporting FCOI to DHHS, Public Health Service The USASP-FCOI Officer or designee shall provide initial and ongoing financial conflict of interest reports to the DHHS, PHS. Reports shall be issued no less than once per year for the duration of the project period. The annual report for FCOI previously reported where the activity is an ongoing PHS-funded activity shall address the status of the FCOI and any changes to the management plan for the duration of the project. The annual report shall also specify whether the FCOI is still being managed or explain why the FCOI no longer exists. Prior to the expenditure of any funds under a PHS-funded activity, the USASP-FCOI Officer shall provide the organizational unit of the PHS that funds the activity an FCOI report regarding any investigator’s or key personnel’s significant financial interest determined to be conflicting and that includes information about the management plan. In the event that USASP identifies a FCOI and eliminates it prior to expending any PHS funds, the USASP-FCOI Officer or designee shall not submit an FCOI report to the PHS. Remedies Subsequent to any initial FCOI reports during an ongoing PHS-funded activity, any new disclosures that are determined conflicting shall be reported within 60 days to the PHS in accordance with section (3). FCOI reports submitted to the organization unit of the PHS that funds the activity shall include sufficient information to allow the PHS to understand the nature and extent of the FCOI and assess the appropriateness of USASP’s management plan. Information in the report shall include, but not limited to, the following; Project number; Investigator or key personnel contact; Name of investigator or key personnel with the financial conflict; D. Name of the entity with which the individual has the conflict; Nature of the financial interest; Value of the financial interest; Description of how the financial interest relates to the PHS-funded activity and basis for the determination that the financial interest conflicts with the activity; Description of the key elements of the management plan including: Role and principal duties of the conflicted investigator or key personnel; Conditions of the management plan; How the management plan is designed to safeguard objectivity in the activity; Confirmation of the Investigator’s agreement to the management plan; v. How the management plan is monitored to ensure compliance; and Additional information as needed. If a Speaker or Leader fails to comply with this policy or a FCOI management plan appears to have biased an activity, the USASP-FCOI Officer or designee shall promptly notify the Board of Directors of the USASP for consideration. In the case of a PHS-funded activity and if a Speaker or Leader fails to comply with this policy or a FCOI management plan appears to have biased an activity, the USASP-FCOI Officer or designee shall promptly notify the organizational unit of the PHS that funds the activity about any corrective action taken or to be taken. The PHS will consider the information submitted and may require or recommend additional action. USASP will submit, or permit on site review, all records pertinent to the review of a financial disclosure or FCOI to the PHS. The PHS may determine on the basis of any review that the FCOI will bias the objectivity of the activity to such an extent that further corrective action is needed. This may include the imposition of special award conditions or suspension of funding or other enforcement action. Public Accessibility to FCOI Information Prior to the expenditure of any funds under a PHS-funded activity, the USASP-FCOI Officer or designee must respond in writing within five days to a requestor for information concerning any significant financial interest disclosures that meet the following criteria: Any significant financial interest disclosed and is still held by the investigator or key personnel; The significant financial interest was determined to be related to the PHS- funded activity and The significant financial interest was determined to be an FCOI. b. The information released to the requestor must include the following: Investigator or key personnel name and title; The role of the investigator or key personnel in the activity; The name of the entity in which the significant financial interest is held; and The nature of the significant financial interest and the approximate dollar range of the significant financial interest; or A statement that the value cannot be readily determined through reference to public prices or other reasonable measures. The written response will note that the information provided is current as of the date of the correspondence, that FCOI information is updated biannually or within 60 days of identification of a new FCOI. Requestor would have to make subsequent request to receive information. USASP may choose to post FCOI disclosures on its website and if posted will update information every six months. Additional financial interest not previously disclosed or disclosure of financial interest of an investigator or key personnel new to a PHS-funded activity where the USASP-FCOI Officer has determined that the updated information relates to the PHS funded activity and is considered a FCOI, will be posted to the web within 60 days. If information is posted on the website, the web page will note that the information provided is current as of the date listed and is subject to updates within 60 days of receiving updated information or on a biannual basis. Information concerning significant financial interests that meet the criteria in (5)(b) shall remain available for public information requests for at least three years from the date that the information was most recently updated. Form(s) that apply: Financial Conflict of Interest Disclosure Definition(s): Disclosure of significant financial interests: A Speaker or Leader’s disclosure of significant financial interests. Financial conflict of interest (FCOI): A significant financial interest that could directly and significantly affect the professional duties or responsibilities of a Speaker or Leader, including the design, conduct, or reporting of research or presentation of educational material. FCOI report: An institution’s report of a financial conflict of interest; for example, to an organization unit of the PHS that funds an activity. Financial interest: Anything of monetary value, whether or not the value is readily ascertainable. Institutional responsibilities: Investigator’s professional responsibilities on behalf of the Institution which may include for example: activities such as research, research consultation, teaching, professional practice, institutional committee memberships, or service on panels such as Institutional Review Boards or Data and Safety Monitoring Boards. Leader: An individual participating in USASP leadership activities (member of the Board of Directors, member of a committee or task force). Investigator: The project director or principal investigator and any other person, regardless of title or position who is responsible for the design, conduct or reporting of activities funded by the PHS, or proposed for funding. The investigator may include collaborators or consultants. Manage: Taking action to address a FCOI, which can include reducing or eliminating the financial conflict of interest, to ensure, to the extent possible, that the design, conduct, and reporting of research and other professional activities will be free from bias. PHS: The Public Health Service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and any components of the PHS to which the authority involved may be delegated, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Activity: A systematic investigation, study or experiment designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge relating broadly to public health, including behavioral and social sciences investigations. The term encompasses basic and applied resarch (e.g., a published article, book or book chapter), product development (e.g., a diagnostic test or drug), and the production of educational material (e.g., literature overview or review or presentation of treatment approaches). Speaker: A speaker at a USASP-sponsored event. Key personnel: The Investigator(s) and any other person identified as senior or key personnel by the Institution in the grant application, progress report, or any other report submitted to the PHS by the Institution. Significant financial interest (SFI): A financial interest consisting of one or more of the following interests of the individual (or those of the individual’s spouse and dependent children) that reasonably appears to be related to the individual’s institutional responsibilities: With regard to any publicly-traded entity, an SFI exists if the value of any remuneration received from the entity in the twelve months preceding the disclosure, when combined with the value of any equity interest in the entity at the time of the disclosure, exceeds $5,000. For purposes of this definition, remuneration includes salary and any payment for services not otherwise identified as salary (e.g., consulting fees, honoraria, paid authorship); equity interest includes any stock, stock option, or other ownership interest, as determined through reference to public prices or other reasonable measures of fair market value; With regard to any non-publicly traded entity, an SFI exists if the value of any remuneration received from the entity in the twelve months preceding the disclosure, when aggregated, exceeds $5,000, or when a Speaker or Leader (or their spouse and dependent children) holds any equity interest (e.g., stock, stock option, or other ownership interest); or Intellectual property rights and interests (e.g., patents, copyrights), upon receipt of income related to such rights and interests. In addition to disclosures identified in (1), individuals must also disclose the occurrence of any reimbursed or sponsored travel (that which is paid on behalf of the Speaker or Leader or Key Personnel and not reimbursed to the individual so that the exact monetary value may not be readily available) related to their institutional responsibilities. Travel disclosure is not required if the travel is reimbursed or sponsored by a federal, state, or local government agency, an institution of higher education, an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or an institute that is affiliated with an institution of higher education. The following travel details are required: Purpose of trip; Name of sponsor/organizer; Destination (city and state or country if outside the U.S.); Duration of trip; and Total cost of trip including lodging; registration; fare for mode of travel (air, train, car, etc); per diem and any other miscellaneous expenses. Significant financial interest does not include: Salary, royalties, or other remuneration paid by the institution to the Speaker, Leader or key personnel if the individual is currently employed or otherwise appointed by the institution. This includes intellectual property rights assigned to the institution and agreements to share in royalties related to such rights; Salary, royalties, or other remuneration paid for any ownership interest in the institution held by the Speaker or Leader or key personnel if the institution is a commercial or for-profit organization; Income from investment vehicles, such as mutual funds and retirement accounts, as long as the Speaker or Leader does not directly control the investment decisions made in these vehicles; Income from seminars, lectures, or teaching engagements sponsored by a federal, state, or local government agency; an institution of higher education; an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or an institute that is affiliated with an institution of higher education; o Income from service on advisory committees or review panels for a federal, state, or local government agency; an institution of higher education; an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or an institute that is affiliated with an institution of higher education. Subrecipient: An organization or individual that participates in an activity with the awardee Institution (e.g. subcontractors or consortium members). Reference(s): 42 CFR 50 – Policies of General Applicability 45 CFR 94 – Responsible Prospective Contractors DHS/OHA Policy: Conflict of Interest Contact(s): Name: Jennifer Haythornthwaite Phone: (443) 858-2811; Email: admin@usasp.org Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar

2025 Travel Award SUBMIT & APPLY Seize the opportunity to present your research and secure funding to present your innovations at our annual meeting. Apply for the travel award when you submit your poster abstracts. Eligibility Scholarships are limited to applicants who meet ALL of the following criteria: Applicant must be a trainee/young investigator (i.e., enrolled in an education/training program, or are still in training if they completed their terminal degree within the last 5 years (e.g., a postdoctoral fellow)) Must be listed as a first author on a research abstract accepted for poster presentation at the conference Only one travel award will be awarded per research abstract/ poster. The Scientific Program Committee will assess applications on the apparent quality, novelty and potential impact of the abstract submitted, diversity, and financial need. In order to determine financial need, applicants will be asked to report potential sources of funding for their travel should they not be selected for the Travel Award. This report should include sources of funding including their own grants, their mentor’s/PI’s grants, other institutional support (i.e. T32 travel assistance), and other sources of support. To determine diversity, applicants will answer questions during the application form that address demographic attributes including: gender, race, ethnicity, disability, and the NIH criteria for an individual from a disadvantaged background . Detailed Submission Guidelines Submit the following materials in the Final Section of your poster abstract submission. Cover letter describing your career stage, why you are applying for this award and your commitment to pain research. Curriculum Vitae listing your previous research presentations and publications related to pain research You should receive a confirmation email after you submit your poster abstract. This email will also include a link to allow you to edit your submission if you need it. Key Dates and Deadlines Submitted with your poster abstract . Awardees will be notified by Friday, January 31st, 2025 . If you are applying for the travel award please hold off on registering until you find out the status of your application. About the Award For this award, a Trainee / Young Investigator is an individual who has not yet completed their terminal education/training (MD/DO, PhD, RN); OR an Individual that has completed their terminal degree within the last 5 years AND is continuing their training (e.g., clinical or research fellowship). A limited number of travel awards are available to assist Trainee / Young Investigators attending the conference in order to present their research in the form of poster presentations by helping to offset expenses related to conference attendance. The Scientific Program Committee will select individuals to either receive either; Full Travel Award that will cover registration, up to 3 nights stay (double occupancy with another awardee), and travel reimbursements (airfare, mileage, and ground transportation). Partial Travel Award which will cover registration. All reimbursements will be issued following the meeting and upon receipt of the USASP Reimbursement Form, which requires copies of receipts. Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar

Acute (to Chronic) Pain Chair: Paramita Basu, Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research Co-Chair: Mollie Meffert, Johns Hopkins University SOM Understanding of mechanisms, assessment, prevention, and management of acute pain, including the transition from acute to chronic pain. We achieve our goals by highlighting the importance of collaboration, promoting the study of acute pain, exchanging information, improving programs, and fostering education through events and workshops. Upcoming Events and Resources Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each Month at 1400h ET. Explore preclinical models of post-surgical pain, mechanisms involved in the transition from menstrual to chronic pain in adolescents, molecular mechanisms of chronic pain, acute to chronic postsurgical pain in adolescents, the genomics and psychosocial factors of acute to chronic post-surgical pain in pediatric patients, the effects of THC in patients with neuropathic pain. Login to SIG Portal Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar

Newsletter Archive CALENDAR OF EVENTS Revisit the highlights of editions of our newsletters and explore the updates that have contributed to the growth and evolution of pain studies. Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar November 1, 2024 Seattle, WA OPEN January 1, 2024 Seattle, WA OPEN December 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN November 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN October 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN September 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN August 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN July 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN June 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN May 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN March 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN February 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN January 1, 2023 Seattle, WA OPEN December 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN November 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN October 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN September 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN August 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN July 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN June 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN May 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN April 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN March 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN February 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN January 1, 2022 Seattle, WA OPEN December 1, 2021 Seattle, WA OPEN November 1, 2021 Seattle, WA OPEN Filter Newletter by Year 2021 2022 2023 2024

Diversity, Inclusions, and Anti-Racism in Pain Chair: Martha Kenney, Duke University Co-Chair: Troy Dildine, National Institutes of Health Engaging in meaningful conversation, self-reflection, collaboration, and information dissemination about diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism across the pain continuum and promote affirmative practices that address the needs and challenges faced by marginalized, minoritized, and diverse populations. Researching, serving and advocating for equity and inclusivity across the pain continuum. Upcoming Events and Resources Connect with us @USASP_DIA_SIG Resources & Events: Research With Activities Related to Diversity (ReWARD) (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-23-122.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=GovDelivery&utm_campaign=UNITE_Update&utm_content=August_2023 NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) (R25 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-23-137.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=GovDelivery&utm_campaign=UNITE_Update&utm_content=August_2023 Currently seeking members who might be interested in presenting. If you would like to share your work, please reach out to co-chair Martha Kenney. Previous meetings opened upcoming opportunities for collaboration, particularly for USASP symposium proposals and The Journal of Pain special issue. To facilitate these collaborative efforts, we have set up a Google sheet where you can list your contact details and specify if you are seeking collaboration on a symposium proposal, JoP special issue or other projects. Login to SIG Portal Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar

Sickle Cell Disease Pain Analgesia and Integrative Network (SCDPAIN) Registration for workshops is part of the 2025 Annual Meeting registration form. Full meeting registration is not required for Conference Workshop attendance. REGISTER HERE Sickle Cell Disease Pain Analgesia and Integrative Network (SCDPAIN) Date: April 29, 2025 Location: Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago, Illinois Time: tentatively 8:00-4:30 PM CST Registration Fee : $25 *This workshop is funded by NCCIH, which provided funds to offset the cost of registration to attend this workshop. A new NCCIH-funded U24, Sickle Cell Disease Pain Analgesia and Integrative Network (SCDPAIN) is planning a pre-conference workshop at USASP. This multidisciplinary network aims to fulfill critical unmet needs of SCD pain mechanisms by engaging investigators with diverse expertise, incentivizing novel initiatives through pilot funds and sabbaticals, catalyzing the future generation of scientists to accelerate SCD pain research through summer workshops, promoting diversity and equity and disseminating findings to the investigators, community and caregivers through meetings, publications and networking. The pre-conference will include working group presentations, early career poster presentations and network building activities. Please consider joining this inaugural event. OPEN AGENDA

MAYDAY Clinical/Translational Research Award OUR ANNUAL MEETING Two meritorious candidates will be awarded $50,000 for one year with the potential for a no-cost extension for a second year. Eligibility Eligible candidates will be an early career investigator within four years of their faculty appointment, except those who have received tenure at the time of the application. Eligible candidates s hould demonstrate a commitment to the field of pain research and they must conduct their research and be appointed at an institution in the United States or Canada. Research Topics Competitive research proposals address clinical/ translational research related to the management of pain. Applicants should describe the proposed research in pain and describe how it is innovative and cutting edge. In addition, the applicant should describe their vision for a career in pain research and provide information or any examples of leadership in pain-related activities. Key Dates and Deadlines Applications for the 2025 USASP-MAYDAY Clinical/Translational Research Award will be open early 2025 . THE MAYDAY FUND DETAILED APPLICATION PROCESS PREVIOUS WINNERS Previous Winners 2024 Fenan Rassu Johns Hopkins School of Medicine “Place-based Disparities in Pain Care” Hong Chen The Ohio State University “Pilot of Autonomic Dysfunction and Multisystem TMD in First Year College Students” 2023 Hadas Nahman Averbuch Washington University “Peripheral and central mechanisms of endometriosis pain in adolescents” Jie Chen Florida State University “Gut-Brain Axis and Meditation for Older Adults with Low Back Pain and Depression” Detailed Application Process A signature page signed by the Applicant/PI and the Institutional Official responsible for submitting applications for extramural support. An abstract (no more than 3,000 characters/300 words). A Personal Statement summarizing the candidate's vision for their career and their contributions as a leader in the field of pain research (no more than 3,000 characters/300 words). An NIH Biosketch (no more than 5 pages; see template ). A list of current and pending research support from all sources, as well as clarification as to whether there is any overlap between projects funded/submitted elsewhere and the current proposal (overlap should be avoided). A Research Proposal that is no more than 6 pages, with no less than 11-point Arial font and 0.5-inch margins. A timeline for completion of the project is required. Applicants may include a 7th page for references. An Environment section that is no more than 2 pages that describes subject populations, collaborative arrangements, institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigator for the proposed research One page describing the Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Individuals Across the Lifespan: How the proposed research will include (or exclude) individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults). Budget requests should not exceed $50,000. The budget should include a detailed request and justification for all study-related expenses. This grant does not allow indirect costs. Three letters supporting the candidate’s application; names and addresses (including email) of these individuals should be included in the application. Only one letter will be included in the application and USASP will solicit two letters: One letter appended to the application from the candidate’s Department Chair or Division Chief that demonstrates strong support for the candidate’s proposed research and career development (start-up funds, lab space, and a tenure-track position), and the acknowledgment that other sources of funds will cover indirect costs associated with this grant. Name, mailing address, and email addresses for two individuals: the candidate’s post-doctoral advisor (or influential advisor) and/or mentor(s) who have impacted the candidate’s research. When completing the application, candidates will provide email contact information for two individuals. Once your application is submitted, these individuals will be contacted by a representative of USASP about the submission process for these letters. Completing The Application, Step-By-Step Guide USASP Login/Sign-Up If you are already a USASP member, you may log into the site using your USASP member credentials. If you are not a USASP member, please follow the new user prompt to gain prospective membership status to log into the site. Applicant/PI Profile Information If you are already a member of USASP, the majority of this section is populated from the USASP database. If there are fields that contain incorrect or missing information, the applicant should complete/update the requested information. All non-members will have to fill out each question accordingly (completing this section will save your credentials for the possibility of purchasing full membership access later). Please note that items marked with a red asterisk are required fields. Application Submission Details Please select the "Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award In Pain Grant Application" option. Then proceed to name your submission title following the example given: "John Doe - RAF 2024". Next, you will be prompted to write down the title of your intended research project. Finally, you will be asked to answer questions regarding your eligibility for the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award in Pain. Please note that items marked with a red asterisk are required fields. Lead Institution The applicant should complete the requested information regarding their primary/lead institution. These details will involve the lead institution's name, address, phone number, and fax number. Please note that items marked with a red asterisk are required fields. Organization Assurances The applicant should complete the requested information regarding their proposed research project. These details will involve the type of research your project involves and/or approval status. Please note that items marked with a red asterisk are required fields. Letters of Support Completed applications will require three letters of support. These must include one letter from the candidate’s Department Chair/Division Chief that demonstrates strong support for the candidate’s proposed research and career development. The other two letters should come from the candidate’s Ph.D./fellowship advisor, influential advisor, or mentor who has impacted the candidate’s research. In this section, the applicant will provide contact information pertaining to each of the letter providers. Upon submission, these two individuals listed to provide letters of support will be contacted directly by a representative of USASP requesting that their letters be sent by Friday, December 15. Attachments The Applicant will upload all required documents as a single PDF in the following order: 1) Signed Signature pages, 2) Abstract, 3) Leadership/vision statement, 4) NIH Biosketch, 5) Research proposal narrative, 6) Letter of support from the Department Chair/Division Chief, 7) Summary of Current and Pending Funding Signed Signature Pages All applications must be signed by the Applicant/PI and the Institutional Official responsible for submitting applications for extramural support. The signature page may either be printed out, signed and scanned, or electronic signatures may be used on the PDF. Abstract The abstract should be limited to 300 words or up to 3,000 characters. Applicants are advised to check spelling, word, and character count before pasting their abstract within this section. Leadership in Pain Research The applicant will provide a personal statement detailing his/her vision for a career in pain research and provide information and/or examples of leadership in pain-related activities. The statement should be limited to 300 words or up to 3,000 characters. NIH Biosketch The applicant will provide an NIH Biosketch that should be no more than 5 pages long (see template ) Research Proposal Narrative The applicant will append a research proposal narrative that is limited to six pages in 11-point Arial font and 0.5-inch margins. A 7th page may be included for references. Letter of Support from a Department Chair/Division Chief Completed applications will require one letter from the candidate’s Department Chair/Division Chief demonstrating strong support for the candidate’s proposed research and career development. Research Support The applicant will provide information about all current and pending research support. The research plan should include something other than a project already funded or for consideration for funding elsewhere. Suppose the applicant has received or has pending research support. In that case, the applicant should explain how the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award in Pain will enhance the applicant’s pain research and how the project submitted for the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award in Pain differs from other funded or pending projects. Summary It is necessary for applicants to review their completed application in this section. The summary function is a way to ensure that all of the required application fields are completed and accurate. Please review all questions and inputs before submitting. Submit The Applicant/PI can submit their completed application in this section. Applications with missing sections, that do not meet eligibility requirements, or do not adhere to the application instructions, including required formats (font size and page lengths) and use of signature pages, are considered ineligible. Assistance with Applications For technical support (including questions about trouble logging in and technical issues completing an application) or questions regarding eligibility, please contact us . Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar

2025 Board of Directors Election Call for nominations for the USASP Board of Directors, including Treasurer. Nominations Due December 6th Submit Nominations Here The USASP is looking to fill three director seats on the board of directors, as well as the treasurer. The USASP is committed to (1) transparency in the nomination and election process and (2) board membership that reflects the diversity of the membership of the USASP. Therefore, the USASP will accept nominees who meet the criteria for any of the seats described below. DEADLINE December 6, 2024 Board Member and Officer Responsibilities Attend in-person board meeting at the Annual Scientific Meeting (2025 meeting in Chicago, board meeting to be held on April 29) Attend at least 2 virtual meetings (October/November and January/February) Participate in USASP committees (1-2) to provide feedback and updates to the board Participate in strategic planning Timely response to email discussions and responses to asks for voting, etc. General Eligibility Criteria for Open Positions: An active member of the USASP in good standing Recent experience serving on USASP committees or working groups or comparable experience in other organizations. An active member of the International Association for the Study of Pain Board of Directors (three open positions)*: Term: Three years Directors on the Board provide advice to the President and guidance on issues brought to the USASP and support the Board’s decision-making process. Directors will serve concurrently on at least one other USASP Committee and/or Task Force as the liaison between the Committee/Task Force and the Board. The below criteria for open seats are defined based on the required characteristics to balance the experience and expertise on the Board. Seat 1: Mid- to Senior-career investigator (Assoc./Full or Senior Scientist/Director) whose primary designation** is Basic Research -Preclinical Seat 2: An individual from any career stage whose primary designation** is Clinical Care and/or Patient Advocacy Seat 3: An individual from any career stage whose primary designation** is Behavioral and Social Sciences or Population Health and Health Services **Primary Designation is how an individual’s career classification is self-identified on their USASP membership profile. Treasurer Term: 3 years Oversees financial matters for the USASP including managing accounts, overseeing payments and deposits of all moneys and reporting to the Board and membership an account of the financial condition of the association. The Treasurer serves as the Chair of the Finance Committee and oversees the budgeting for the USASP each year. Eligibility Criteria: Mid- to Senior-career individual (Assoc./Full or Senior Scientist/Director) with demonstrated proficiency in financial management and budgeting. Nominating Materials: Please indicate in your application materials which seat/position you would like to be considered for (e.g., Director Seat #1, Director Seat #2, etc.). The Nomination Committee will only consider a member for one seat/position on the ballot within an election year. The following materials will be required for a complete application: a Curriculum Vitae evidence that they meet the criteria listed above for a seat or position a one-page personal statement of why they would like to serve the USASP on the Board or as an Officer. Nominees are expected to include their experience and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. a picture to accompany their personal statement on the election and ballot material Nomination Process: Deadline for submissions: December 6, 2024 Please submit materials using the following link: Could be a button to “Submit Your Nomination Here” https://event.fourwaves.com/2025usaspelection/pages The Nominations Committee will review submitted materials, and applicants that meet the criteria for the position sought will be included on the ballot. At the USASP, we believe that diverse voices and approaches are required to address the substantial challenge and cost of reducing the burden of pain. We strive to entwine diverse perspectives into all aspects of our work, including our membership and leadership, our interactions with other professional organizations and the community, our educational activities and engagement with early career investigators, and our national role in advocating for improved pain relief. Therefore, the USASP will continue to support incorporating individuals from underrepresented and disadvantaged/ underprivileged backgrounds to enhance our diversity, promote equity, and model an inclusive and accessible organization. View Current Officers and Directors remaining on the Board 2024-2025 Here Annual Conference 2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers Secure your Stay Submit Symposia and Abstracts Awards and Grants Pre-Conference Workshops Registration Rates Education Calendar of Events Leadership Academy 'OUCH' Pain Podcast Newsletter Archive Previous Events About USASP About Us Our History See All Awards Here Committees and Taskforces Special Interest Groups 2025 Board of Directors Election Membership Member Login Become a Member Donate to USASP JOIN We are looking forward to connecting with you! Subscribe and Stay in the Know. Wed, Jan 15 Application Deadline: North American Pain School / northamericanpainschool.com/registration RSVP northamericanpainschool.com/registration Share Sat, Jan 18 Keystone Symposia: Neural Influence on Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology / Banff RSVP Banff, 405 Spray Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada Share Mon, Feb 03 MAYDAY Application Portal Opens / Location is TBD RSVP Location is TBD Share Wed, Feb 26 Deadline to Apply: 2025 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Scholarship / Location is TBD Location is TBD Share Tue, Mar 18 MAYDAY Deadline for Completed Applications / No Location No Location Share Load More Upcoming Event Calendar