IASP Pain Research Forum Podcasts IASP Pain Research Forum

Editor’s note: In 2024, IASP is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, culminating at the IASP 2024 World Congress on Pain. To highlight this milestone, IASP is reflecting on its history and the advances and contributions made by its members over the past 50 years. Throughout the remainder of 2024, Pain Research Forum will be providing a series of podcasts featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and management, including those with major roles at IASP.  
In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, frequent PRF contributor Fred Schwaller spoke with Dr. John D. Loeser – a founder of IASP during its formal incorporation in 1974. During their wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Loeser spoke about his introduction to the field of pain research and management after meeting Dr. John J. Bonica and Dr. Wilbert “Bill” Fordyce, his role in the genesis of IASP during the International Symposium on Pain in Issaquah (Washington, USA), the state of pain education in current medical school curricula, and policy barriers that impact advances in the field. To learn more about Dr. Loeser and his indelible mark on the field of pain research and management, be sure to check out his recently published biography – John Loeser: The Man Who Reimagined Pain.
Podcast participants include:
John D. Loeser, MD, University of Washington, USA Fred Schwaller, PhD, Berlin, Germany (host)

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

This episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast highlights an emerging resource for adults and youths with the lived experience of pain called the Power Over Pain Portal. The Power Over Pain Portal works toward improving access to chronic pain care by providing access to free resources in a “one-stop shop,” including articles, videos, podcasts, courses, workshops, peer support, and even 24/7 one-on-one counseling – offered through Wellness Together Canada. While initiated and designed by a consortium of researchers, clinicians, patient partners, hospitals, and institutions in Canada, the Power Over Pain Portal is freely available worldwide. In this episode, PRF spoke with developers of the Power Over Pain Portal to learn more about its initiation, resources, and plans for the future.
Podcast participants include:
Lynn Cooper, Director of Research & Education – Canadian Injured Workers Alliance Jennifer Stinson, RN-EC, PhD, CPNP, FAAN, SickKids, Toronto, Canada Yaad Shergill, DC, MSc, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and One Elephant Integrative Health Team Inc., Ontario, Canada Gregory Carbonetti, PhD, IASP Associate Director of Publications (host)

This 16th episode of The Pain Beat highlights the work of a vibrant consortium of pain researchers working on a project known as Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS). A2CPS is focused on the identification of biomarkers to predict which patients will transition from acute to chronic pain, and which patients living with chronic pain can improve their quality of life with management (see related PRF news story). The Pain Beat invited several Primary Investigators from A2CPS to talk about the work of the consortium, and how listeners of The Pain Beat can get involved themselves!
Podcast participants include:
Kathleen Sluka, PT, PhD, FAPTA, A2CPS Principal Investigator; University of Iowa, USA John Burns, PhD, A2CPS Principal Investigator; Rush University Medical Center, Illinois, USA Chad Brummett, MD, A2CPS Principal Investigator; University of Michigan, USA Michael Olivier, PhD, A2CPS Principal Investigator; Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA. Stephani Sutherland, PhD, A2CPS Communications Director; Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA (moderator)

Editor’s note: The North American Pain School (NAPS) took place 19-24 June 2022, in Montebello, Québec City, Canada. NAPS – an educational initiative of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) and Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks (ACTTION), and presented by the Quebec Pain Research Network (QPRN) – brings together leading experts in pain research and management to provide trainees with scientific education, professional development, and networking experiences. This year’s theme was, “Controversies in Pain Research.” Five of the trainees were also selected to serve as PRF-NAPS Correspondents, who provided firsthand reporting from the event, including interviews with NAPS’ Visiting Faculty members and Patient Partners, summaries of scientific sessions, and coverage on social media. 
In the podcast below, PRF-NAPS Correspondent Joseph Lesnak, a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa, US, spoke with NAPS Visiting Faculty member Rajesh Khanna. Rajesh is a Professor of Molecular Pathobiology and the Director of New York University’s Pain Research Center in the US. His research focuses on the functions of voltage-gated ion channels and the discovery of novel biologics and small molecules targeting pain and neurodegenerative diseases (see related PRF news article). Joseph and Rajesh discussed targeting Nav1.7 for pain relief, the challenge of moving a pharmacologic through the regulatory process, and a serendipitous finding that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts here and Spotify here.

This 15th episode of The Pain Beat is the third and final of a three-part series discussing the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – awarded to David Julius, University of California, San Francisco, USA and Ardem Patapoutian, Scripps Research, California, USA – for their work on molecules important for somatosensation (see PRF related interview here, PRF related news story here, part one of this series here, and part two of this series here). In this episode, The Pain Beat spoke with a group of collaborators and former mentees to discuss what the discoveries mean for the somatosensory field, as well as stories and insights about what it was like working with Drs. Julius and Patapoutian during that time.
Podcast participants include:
Allan Basbaum, PhD, FRS, University of California, San Francisco, USA Diana Bautista, PhD, University of California, Berkeley, USA Alexander Chesler, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Maryland, USA Ellen Lumpkin, PhD, University of California, Berkeley, USA Tayler Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, USA (Host)